Prosecutors and defense attorneys have rested their cases in the trial of a man charged with murdering a mother and her two daughters during a 2007 home invasion in Connecticut.
Defense attorneys called two witnesses and read a statement from the mother of defendant Steven Hayes.
Earlier Tuesday, testimony in Hayes’ trial turned to conversations Hayes had with another inmate in prison.
Jeremiah Krob, an “observational officer” who works at Northern Correctional Institute, revealed information from conversations Hayes allegedly had with another inmate through the cracks in doors, sinks or air vents.
Hayes discussed what he did during the ordeal and made statements that seem to contradict with statements Joshua Komisarjevsky’s defense made last week.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky are charged in the deaths of Jennifer Hawke Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, inside their Cheshire home.
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Dr. William Petit was the only survivor of the home invasion that took the lives of his wife and daughters.
Hayes even told the inmate that he thought Dr. Petit was involved because of insurance money.
Hayes, Krob said, told the inmate that Komisarjevsky poured gasoline on Michaela and that he took Jennifer to the bank, where she withdrew $15,000.
When Hayes returned with the money, Komisarjevsky was pacing back and forth, saying he had to “kill Jennifer, get rid of her,” Krob testified.
With police stationed outside the house, Hayes killed Jennifer, he told the inmate.
He also told the inmate that Komisarjevsky had sodomized Michaela, something that Komisarjevsky’s defense denied outside the courtroom last week, despite evidence from the medical examiner that the attack happened.
At that point, the defense requested that the judge send the jury from the room and the judge agreed.
With the jury gone, Krob said Hayes told a fellow inmate that he tied Dr. Petit up “real good” and he thought that Petit could not have gotten free without Komisarjevsky’s help.
The defense objected, but the judge overruled.
The inmate asked Hayes if Dr. Petit could be in on the crime.
Hayes said yes because there was a large insurance payoff.
Nothing about insurance money or allegations that Dr. Petit was involved were ever mentioned in the incident report, according to tweets from court.
Earlier in the day, testimony centered on the fire, which officials determined started in the family room, where Jennifer’s body was found.
There will be no trial on Wednesday and final arguments will be heard on Friday. The judge will explain the charges to the jury on Monday. Jurors will begin deliberating Hayes' fate after that.
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