A psychatrist who examined convicted killer Steven Hayes said he asked for the death penalty because he felt remorse and did not like his cell conditions.
Hayes, 47, was convicted earlier this month for killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11. during a night of terror in the family's Cheshire home in 2007.
The penalty phase for Hayes began on Monday and the jury is hearing testimony and help decide whether to sentence Hayes to death or to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Hayes' psychiatric history is a major part of the testimony on Wednesday.
Dr. Paul Amble said Hayes told him he wanted the death penalty to "end the process" because he feels guilt and remorse and because he didn't like his cell conditions.
The state asked Amble whether he's ever seen someone fake a suicide attempt to obtain lenency from a jury, but Amble said he could not guess Hayes' thoughts.
According to testimony, Hayes tried to kill himself about eight times while in jail, several times before that and told doctors he was stressed about the death penalty, about mother asking him to move out of her house and also about a conflict with his brothers about drug use.
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As the penalty phase began on Monday, Hayes’ defense attorney, Patrick Culligan, said that his client had a powerful drug addiction that controlled his life.
The doctor said Hayes’ drug addition affected his psychiatric history.
The testimony comes the day after the jury heard disturbing testimony from the diaries of Joshua Komisarkevsky, the other man accused in the murders.
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