The jury deciding the fate of a man charged in a chilling triple murder is likely to hear the suspect’s audio confession on Wednesday.
Joshua Komisarjevsky is the second man to be tried for the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and her daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, on July 23, 2007.
In his confession, he explained his part in the brutal killings and sexual assault of Michaela Petit and even drew diagrams, according to police.
Komisarjevsky's defense team fought to get the confession thrown out and argued that their client was sleep deprived when he gave his confession and had been awake for more than 40 hours.
They also said he might not have been thinking clearly because he was injured in the car crash caused when he and co-defendant Steven Hayes tried to escape the crime scene.
Judge Jon Blue disagreed and decided this evidence could be shown to jurors.
Yesterday, Dr. William Petit, the only survivor of the home invasion, took the stand to tell his story. Members of his family and his wife's family were in the courtroom to support him and his father-in-law made a gracious move to walk over to the defendant’s family.
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Joshua Komisarjevsky's father, Ben, sat by himself behind the defense table on Tuesday and Rev. Richard Hawke, Jennifer Hawke-Petit's father, walked over to him before court proceedings began and offered words of support.
“I just welcomed Mr. Komisarjevsky and said, ‘I’m sorry we have to go through this experience.’ Then he God blessed me and I God blessed him,” Rev. Hawke said.
For three hours, Dr. Petit was on the stand and talked about July 23, 2007 -- the day of the horrific attack he survived but his wife and two daughters didn't.
He told jurors he woke up to what he thought was a dream. Instead it was something out of a nightmare. Two men had broken into his home and he’d been beaten with a bat.
Dr. Petit said the men tied him up and he heard one of them say, “If he moves, put a bullet in him.”
Dr. Petit was moved to the basement and faded in and out of consciousness before struggled to get free. He was still tied up when he was able to get to his neighbor's house before his own home eventually went up in flames, he said.
When the defense had its turn to ask questions, attorneys accused Dr. Petit of showing inaccuracies in his testimony and the statement he gave police in 2007.
Dr. Petit replied that he always told what he remembers from that day.
In the trial for Steven Hayes, the first man tried for the murders, the defense never cross examined Dr. Petit.
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