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This is the story of the murder of the hawk petit family. Im doing a gaian news thing in my journal now. Real news and gaian news!
MERIDEN, Conn. -- Two men with long rap sheets were on parole when they broke into a doctor's home, strangled his wife, who grew up in Western Pennsylvania, and killed the couple's two daughters in a fire they set to cover their tracks, Connecticut authorities said yesterday.
The state medical examiner confirmed last night that Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, was strangled, and that her daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela, died of smoke inhalation. All three deaths were ruled homicides.
Dr. William Petit Jr., 50, remained hospitalized with head injuries. "He's doing OK physically. Emotionally, he is devastated and still worried about others," said Dr. Petit's pastor, the Rev. Stephen Volpe.
Dr. Petit, president of the Hartford County Medical Association, is a noted specialist in diabetes and endocrinology, and is medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at The Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. Dr. Petit was not from Pittsburgh, but he earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. Mrs. Hawke-Petit, 48, was a nurse and co-director of the health center at Cheshire Academy, a private boarding school. Her father, the Rev. Richard Hawke, a United Methodist pastor, was the Pittsburgh district superintendent from 1978-1984. The family had lived in Dormont and attended Christ United Methodist Church, Bethel Park. They later moved to Greenville, Mercer County, where Mrs. Hawke-Petit went to high school. Joshua Komisarjevsky, 26, of Cheshire, and Steven Hayes, 44, of Winsted, were arraigned yesterday on charges of assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, arson, larceny and risk of injury to children. The men did not enter pleas, and their public defenders declined to comment.
Bail was set at $15 million each, which Judge Christina G. Dunnell said was warranted because of the men's criminal histories. More charges are pending, Connecticut state police said last night.
State police said the two men entered the Cheshire home about 3 a.m. Monday, planning to burglarize it. When they found the family at home, the men beat Dr. Petit, then tied up his wife and daughters, police said.
Employees at a bank called police after one of the suspects forced Mrs. Hawke-Petit to make a withdrawal there around 9:30 a.m., officials said. The men were caught in the family's car after ramming several police cruisers as they fled the burning home, authorities said.
Mrs. Hawke-Petit and her daughters were found dead inside. Dr. Petit escaped the blaze and told police what happened.
Dr. Petit's family issued a statement yesterday through the hospital where the doctor was being treated. "Our precious family members have been the victims of horrible, senseless, violent assaults. We are understandably in shock and overwhelmed with sadness as we attempt to gather together to support one another and recognize these wonderful, giving beautiful individuals who have been so cruelly taken from us," the statement said.
Mr. Hayes and Mr. Komisarjevsky each have more than 20 prior burglaries on their records. At the time of the killings, both were free on parole after serving prison time for burglary convictions in 2003, authorities said.
The two spent time last year in the same halfway house in Hartford before being paroled in the spring, Correction Department spokesman Brian Garnett said. Neither man has been convicted of a violent crime, and both were deemed appropriate candidates for supervised parole, he said.
Authorities have not said what they believe led Mr. Komisarjevsky and Mr. Hayes to the Petits' home. The attack shocked Cheshire, an upper-middle class community of 29,000 full of Colonial-style homes just east of Waterbury and about 15 miles north of New Haven.
One of the men charged, Mr. Komisarjevsky, lived less than two miles from the Petits' home.
Mrs. Hawke-Petit was remembered by her friends from Greenville High School, where she graduated in 1976, as a bubbly, outgoing person who was actively involved in school events.
"I was just shocked," said Joy Miller, a Greenville classmate. "You don't expect that to happen to someone you know, someone from Greenville."
Mrs. Hawke-Petit's father was the longtime pastor of First United Methodist Church in Greenville, making the family fairly well-known in the northwestern Pennsylvania community of 6,000 people.
Mrs. Hawke-Petit was listed in the 1976 yearbook as the class treasurer, a member of the Bios Club and a member of the homecoming court.
Mr. Hawke and his wife, Marybelle, moved in retirement to Venice, Fla., but returned to Western Pennsylvania each summer, attending Slippery Rock United Methodist Church. "d**k is very devastated; Marybelle is keeping herself busy. But there is no malice in their hearts toward whoever did this," said the Rev. Pamela Gardner, their pastor at Slippery Rock. She said the parents flew to Connecticut yesterday afternoon in a private jet someone offered them.
Mrs. Hawke-Petit continued working as a nurse despite her own battle with multiple sclerosis, Ms. Gardner said.
Because of that illness, Hayley, the 17-year-old daughter, had founded a non-profit called Hayley's Hope, and raised thousands of dollars for MS research, Ms. Gardner said. Hayley was soon to leave for pre-medical studies at Dartmouth College, and her 11-year-old sister Michaela was preparing to take over the charity.
Marcy Edington, a nurse practioner from Upper St. Clair, last night recalled that a group of UPMC Montefiore nurses would meet up with Dr. Petit and some friends 20 years ago, while he was at Pitt's medical school, for drinks at the now-closed Zelda's Greenhouse in Oakland. She said her mind flashed back to those gatherings when ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" showed his photograph yesterday morning.
He was handsome, smart and a nice guy, she said. "It's a tragedy. It is just so random; the wickedness in this world can be just so random."
RIP
Toxic Love Effect · Tue Aug 14, 2007 @ 12:48am · 0 Comments |
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