Slow Grind

The wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow, but sometimes they do grind.

The judge in the Petit home invasion and murder case has agreed with the jury's recommendation and sentenced one of the sick fucks involved to death. The other will be tried a few months from now.

Steven Hayes, convicted of a brutal 2007 home invasion in which a Connecticut mother and her two daughters were killed, was sentenced Thursday to die for the crime.

In a strong and clear voice, the judge sentences Hayes to death on each of the six capital felonies.

"This is a terrible sentence. But in truth it is a sentence you wrote for yourself in flames on July 23, 2007 . . . your fate is now in the hands of others. May God have mercy on your soul."

A jury found Hayes guilty of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her daughters - 7-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit - in their Cheshire, Connecticut, home in 2007.

It recommended that Hayes, 47, should die for his role in the deaths.

"The impact of these crimes against our family is like the impact of a bomb going off in your house . . ." William Petit, who survived the crime said. "I awoke to a confused terror . . . I'll always remember my father's face when I asked about the girls, and he just shook his head fro side to side and sobbed . . . Our home was no more . . ."

Hayes' lawyer, Thomas Ullman, said he was not surprised by the jury's decision - and that Hayes was actually pleased with the outcome.

Hayes isn't the only one pleased with the outcome. I for one am overjoyed.  

"He wants to die," said Ullman last month. "He has categorized this process as suicide by state. He was unable to kill himself in prison and saw this as a way for the state to kill him."

Just turn him loose in the general population and he'll get his wish about dying in prison.

The only problem is that this POS will stay alive, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars while the automatic appeals process plays itself out.

Prosecutors alleged Hayes and co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky invaded the home of Dr. William Petit on July 23, 2007, beat and tied up Petit, raped and strangled Hawke-Petit, molested one of their daughters and set the house on fire before attempting to flee.

This bare-bones recital of what took place that night doesn't do justice to the horrific nature of the events, or the unendurable impact that they have had on surviving family members and friends. I've posted before about this crime. It disgusts and sickens me.

I just can't imagine what the Petit family went through. Your home is supposed to be a sanctuary, a haven, a place to go where you are safe and in the presence of loved ones. To have it violated in such a manner - well, words fail me.

All I can say is Burn, Baby, Burn...