On a humid July night in 2007, the town of Cheshire, Connecticut, was the kind of place where people didn't really bother locking their front doors. It was quiet. Predictable. Then, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky happened. Honestly, the details of what they did inside that house on Sorghum Mill Drive still feel like they belong in a horror script rather than a police report. But it was real. And nearly two decades later, the legal fallout is still reshaping how Connecticut handles its worst criminals.
Most people remember the headlines: a prominent doctor’s family destroyed in a home invasion. But the actual mechanics of how it went down—and the bizarre ways both men have tried to dodge the consequences since—are way more complex than just a "robbery gone wrong."
The Chance Meeting at a Grocery Store
It started at a Stop & Shop. It’s a chilling detail. Joshua Komisarjevsky spotted Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her 11-year-old daughter, Michaela, picking up groceries for a family dinner. He followed them home. He didn't know them. He just saw a nice car and a nice house and decided that was the target.
Later that night, he met up with Steven Hayes. They weren't masterminds. They were career burglars, guys who’d spent most of their adult lives in and out of the system. Hayes was older, battle-scarred by a crack cocaine addiction. Komisarjevsky was younger, a guy who kept weirdly articulate journals about his "dark shadow."
They sat outside the Petit home for hours. They even exchanged texts.
"I'm chomping at the bit to get started," Hayes messaged.
"I'm putting the kid to bed hold your horses," Komisarjevsky replied, referring to his own daughter.
It’s just... gross. They were talking about destroying a family like it was a casual Tuesday night plan.
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Seven Hours of Terror
The actual invasion was a slow-motion nightmare. They broke in through a basement door around 3:00 a.m. Dr. William Petit was sleeping on a sunroom couch because he didn't want to wake his wife, Jennifer, who suffered from MS. Komisarjevsky hit him with a baseball bat. Hard.
For the next seven hours, they held the family hostage. They tied the girls, Hayley and Michaela, to their beds. They forced Jennifer to go to a Bank of America branch the next morning to withdraw $15,000. Think about that for a second. She was in a bank, surrounded by people, knowing her daughters were tied up at home with a predator. She tried to signal the teller. The bank called the police.
But it was too late.
By the time the cops arrived at the house, Hayes and Komisarjevsky had set the place on fire with gasoline. Jennifer had been strangled. The girls died from smoke inhalation, still tied to their beds. Dr. Petit, somehow, managed to roll himself out of the basement and across the lawn just as the house exploded in flames. He was the only one left.
The Death Penalty Tug-of-War
For years, Connecticut was obsessed with the trials of Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky. It wasn't just about the guilt—that was obvious—it was about whether they should die for it. In 2010 and 2011, both were sentenced to death.
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But then things got political.
The state legislature moved to abolish the death penalty in 2012. They tried to write the law so it only applied to future crimes, meaning Hayes and Komisarjevsky would still be executed. It was a "Cheshire-specific" carve-out. But the Connecticut Supreme Court eventually stepped in. They basically said you can't have it both ways. If the death penalty is "cruel and unusual" for new criminals, it’s cruel and unusual for the ones already on death row.
So, in 2016, the sentences were commuted. They’re now serving life without the possibility of parole.
Where Are They Now? (The 2026 Reality)
You've probably heard bits and pieces about their life in prison. It hasn't been quiet. Steven Hayes, now known as Linda Mai Lee, has come out as transgender and began receiving hormone therapy while serving time in a Pennsylvania facility (he was moved there for his own safety).
Joshua Komisarjevsky is also out of state, held in a high-security prison in Pennsylvania. He’s spent years trying to get a new trial, claiming his defense didn't get all the police dispatch tapes or that the jury was biased by the media circus. The Connecticut Supreme Court finally shut down his major appeal in 2021, but his legal team keeps poking at the edges of the case.
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Honestly, it’s a slap in the face to the survivors. Dr. Petit, who went on to serve in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, has been vocal about how exhausting the endless appeals process is.
Why This Case Refuses to Fade
You might wonder why we still talk about this. There are plenty of murders every year. But the Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky case changed the "suburban safety" myth forever. It also highlighted massive failures in the parole system—both men were out on parole despite long histories of breaking into occupied homes.
- The "Mastermind" Debate: During the trials, they pointed fingers at each other. Hayes' lawyers called Komisarjevsky the manipulator; Komisarjevsky's lawyers said Hayes was the one who escalated to murder. The truth is, it took both of them to create that specific storm of violence.
- The Police Response: There is still a lot of bitterness in Cheshire about how the police handled that morning. They were outside the house for quite a while before the fire started. A lot of people believe the girls could have been saved if the perimeter had been breached sooner.
- The Legislative Shift: This case is the reason Connecticut doesn't have a death penalty. It’s the reason home invasion laws were completely rewritten in the state.
Moving Beyond the Tragedy
If there’s any "lesson" here, it’s probably found in the Petit Family Foundation. Instead of just disappearing into his grief, Dr. Petit built something that funds MS research and helps victims of domestic violence.
For the rest of us, it’s a reminder that the legal system is rarely "done" with a case just because a verdict is read. Between the gender transitions, the interstate prison transfers, and the never-ending appeals, the story of Hayes and Komisarjevsky is a messy, ongoing saga.
If you want to understand the impact of this case on modern law, look into the Connecticut "State v. Santiago" ruling. It’s the specific legal precedent that saved these two from the executioner. You can also research the Petit Family Foundation to see how the community has tried to turn a horrific night into something that actually helps people.