For his part in a deadly home invasion which took place in a suburban Connecticut home, where he raped and strangled a woman and her two daughters; then tied them to their beds before dousing the house with gasoline and setting it on fire.
The details of this crime are so horrific, the thought that it happened realistically is equally disturbing.
I’m usually not for the death penalty, but I’m so glad that jurors in a New Haven Superior Court, voted unanimously to send Steven Hayes to death row after deliberating over the span of four days. Judge Jon Blue will impose the sentence on Dec. 2.
“You have been exposed to images of depravity and horror that no human being should have to see,” Blue said in thanking the jurors for their service.
Dr. William Petit, the husband and father of the victims, said the verdict was not about revenge.
“Vengeance belongs to the Lord,” Petit said. “This is about justice. We need to have some rules in a civilized society.”
Hayes will join nine other men on Connecticut’s death row. The state has only executed one man since 1960, so Hayes will likely spend years, if not decades, in prison.








