A jury convicted paroled burglar Steven Hayes of capital murder in the July 2007 deaths of the female members of a Connecticut family during a violent home invasion.
Hayes was convicted of 16 of 17 felony counts against him for his involvement in the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley, 17, and 11-year-old Michaela.
The jury will hear arguments on Oct. 18 about whether Hayes should be put to death. Here's an excerpt:
Prosecutors said that Hayes, along with Joshua Komisarjevsky, broke into the Petit home in July, 2007, beat Dr. Petit and tied him up in the basement. They then tied 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela to their beds and forced Jennifer Hawke-Petit to drive to a bank and withdraw a large amount of money before Hayes raped and strangled her, and allegedly set the house on fire.
