Dr. William Petit, the lone survivor of the gruesome Connecticut home invasion that left his wife and two daughters dead, took the stand today and described hearing the loud thumps upstairs -- the sounds of his wife being raped and strangled -- as he lay battered and bound on the basement floor of his suburban home.
Wearing a dark grey suit and purple tie, Petit answered questions from prosecutor Michael Dearington as pictures of his wife and daughters flashed onto a screen in the courtroom.
Petit said he heard one of the intruders upstairs say, "Don't worry, it will all be over soon" shortly before Petit made his escape from the basement to a neighbor's driveway.
It is the second day of testimony in the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, who faces the possibility of the death penalty for his role in the 2007 rape and triple murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11.
For the first time, Komisarjevsky's father, Benedict Komisarjevsky, showed up in court. Just before court was convened, the Rev. Richard Hawke, Jennifer Hawke-Petit's father, walked over to introduce himself and, according to the Hartford Courant said to the elder Komisarjevsky, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened….God Bless You." Komisarjevsky nodded.
Komisarjevsky's accomplice, Steven Hayes, was convicted in a trial last year and sentenced to death. Hayes is currently on death row.
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In a calm and clear voice, Petit described his home and family life before the attack on July 23, 2007. He talked about the charity work his daughter's performed on behalf of multiple sclerosis, a disease his wife struggled with for most of her life. As he talked about his daughter's accomplishments, Petit choked up briefly and then continued with his answers.
Describing the normal, summer day before the murders, Petit said he golfed with his father and the girls took a day trip to the beach. Pasta and bruschetta were on the menu for dinner. After falling asleep downstairs on the couch, Petit woke up with blood gushing from his head and heard a male voice say, "If he moves, put a bullet in him."
The pain and blood, Petit would later learn, were allegedly caused by Komisarjevsky who beat him with a baseball bat. Jurors were shown pictures of blood-soaked pillows and blood around a basement pole where Petit had been tied up.
The doctor said he never heard his daughters, but he did hear his wife make a phone call to his office to tell them he wouldn't be in to work that day. He also heard her say she needed to get dressed and get her checkbook to make the trip to the bank.
On Monday, the first day of the murder trial, jurors saw surveillance video of Jennifer Hawke-Petit at the Cheshire, Conn., branch of Bank of America withdrawing $15,000 in a desperate bid to save her family's life.
During Hayes' trial, testimony stated that after returning from the bank with money, Hawke-Petit was raped and then strangled by Hayes.
During most of today's testimony, Komisarjevsky, 31, stared straight at the man whose life he is accused of destroying, occasionally passing notes to his lawyer.
This courtroom encounter between the two men was all the more dramatic today because of Komisarjevsky's jail house writings that came to light during the sentencing of Hayes.
In the 43 pages of diary writings that were introduced in court last year, Komisarjevsky wrote that Petit was a "coward" and "passive" toward saving his family. "He ran away when his own life was threatened…time and time again I gave him the chance to save his family," wrote Komisarjevsky.
In his writing, Komisarjevsky also claimed he did not rape 11-year-old Michaela as suggested during Hayes trial. Instead, he admitted to sexually assaulting the girl. "In a vulgar display of power, I ejaculated on her," wrote Komisarjevsky.
"I am what I am and make no excuses," he wrote. "I am a criminal with a criminal's mind, and my anticipated death sentence will be a sentence of mercy."
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