The father of a man who could be sentenced to death for killing a Cheshire mom and her two daughters in a brutal home invasion in 2007 said in court on Thursday that the state should have helped his family more after a foster teen he took into his home sexually abused his son.
Benedict Komisarjevsky began testifying during the penalty phase of his the trial of his son, Joshua Komisarjevsky on Wednesday and was back on the stand on Thursday.
Komisarjevsky was convicted on Oct. 13 of capital felony killing, kidnapping, arson and sexual assault.
His father told jurors he didn't get his son psychological counseling after the boy was molested as a young child.
Attorneys said Komisarjevsky's ultra-religious family was opposed to psychological counseling, but the state should have helped his family with the issues that arose and told him what help was available.
Komisarjevsky's mother, Jude, took the stand and began to describe her devout religious views. She said she was attracted to her future husband because of his "commitment to the Lord" but waited for a sign from God before accepting his marriage proposal.by
She described numerous photos the defense showed to jurors of Komisarjevsky as a baby and young child eating popcorn, standing next to his birthday cake, putting on his father's clothes around Christmas and playing on a toy horse. Prosecutors objected several times and at one point the judge suggested the number of photos might be "overkill."
Jude Komisarjevsky later broke down crying as she described a collage of photos her son did as a child.
Prosecutors brought up Komisarjevsky's earlier convictions for 19 nighttime residential burglaries and noted that a judge at the time called him a "calculating cold-blooded predator."
The home invasion occurred days after Komisarjevsky's electronic bracelet was removed.
An alternate juror was dismissed Thursday because of illness.
