Parole Procedures to Be Reviewed After Grisly Conn. Home Invasion

Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes face charges tied to the three killings.

ByABC News
July 25, 2007, 5:41 AM

July 25, 2007 — -- Connecticut officials have promised to review parole procedures that put two accused killers on the street, after a horrific home invasion and arson left three family members dead, a father badly beaten and the small town of Cheshire reeling.

The state medical examiner confirmed Tuesday evening that Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, was strangled to death and that her two daughters Hayley, 17, and 11-year-old Michaela died of smoke inhalation. Cheshire Police Lt. Jay Markella told ABC's "Good Morning America" that additional charges would come. "I'll fully expect murder charges to be added," he said.

Prosecutor Michael Dearington said he had not yet decided whether to pursue the death penalty. "I know the public consensus is they should be fried tomorrow," he told The Associated Press.

So far, the two suspects, 44-year-old Steven Hayes of Winsted, Conn., and 26-year-old Joshua Komisarjevsky of Cheshire, Conn., have been charged with various counts of aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary and arson. They are being held on a $15 million dollar bond.

Both men were on parole at the time of the killings and they both have extensive criminal records, mostly for burglary. But Robert Farr, chairman of the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Parole, said neither man had a record of violent crime. He promised a review of parole procedures.

"Three people died," Farr told The Associated Press. "We're not going to say, 'Those things happen.' We've got to see if there is anything we can do that would reduce the likelihood of this happening in the future."

Police expressed frustration with the parole system in Connecticut. "That is troubling," Markella told "GMA."

"I understand the court system and prison system is overburdened. As a police officer, it's frustrating," he said.

The crime has jolted this quiet neighborhood of half-million-dollar colonials. Deborah Raducha lives around the corner from the Petits. "We're terrorized right now because we don't know if this was random or if there was some connection, some workplace thing." Raducha has lived in the neighborhood for eight years and she has two children. "This could have been any one of us."

Even in the dog days of summer here the lawns are a lush green a testament to the diligence of various landscaping services that seem to be everywhere. Wooden swing sets and trampolines fill the backyards. And even one day after a triple murder, children can be seen riding their bikes in their driveways. Signs remind drivers to slow down and "Keep Our Children Safe." Quite simply, it's the kind of neighborhood where people say this kind of crime "just couldn't happen here."