For his part in a deadly home invasion which took place in a suburban Connecticut home, where he raped and strangled a woman and her two daughters; then tied them to their beds before dousing the house with gasoline and setting it on fire.
The details of this crime are so horrific, the thought that it happened realistically is equally disturbing.
I’m usually not for the death penalty, but I’m so glad that jurors in a New Haven Superior Court, voted unanimously to send Steven Hayes to death row after deliberating over the span of four days. Judge Jon Blue will impose the sentence on Dec. 2.
“You have been exposed to images of depravity and horror that no human being should have to see,” Blue said in thanking the jurors for their service.
Dr. William Petit, the husband and father of the victims, said the verdict was not about revenge.
“Vengeance belongs to the Lord,” Petit said. “This is about justice. We need to have some rules in a civilized society.”
Hayes will join nine other men on Connecticut’s death row. The state has only executed one man since 1960, so Hayes will likely spend years, if not decades, in prison.
Conversations Of A Sistah 
This man is an animal.
and yes ms. bell the crime was horrible that he and his partner committed. i live in ct. so this stayed in the news. and just to think, this poor doctor has to live with the fact that, his wife and daughters were murdered for the rest of his life. smh.., what a shame.
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Lisa,
if this isn’t a case for the rights to bear arms then I don’t know what is. If the good doctor had access to a firearm that fateful day then this might have been avoided. cause i would of blown dem 2 mtherfers to smithereens.
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They should set Hayes and the other murdering maggot on fire.
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Give the father a baseball bat and 20 minutes with this lowlife SOB tied up. Then give him a can of gasoline and let him douse his azz and finish him off.
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That’s what I’m sayin Man,
Tie him and his partner to beds, pour gas on them and burn them alive. what they did was RUTHLESS!
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yep malika,
one down, one to go.
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Man,
I suggest the EXACT same thing., kill him the same way he killed those people, and before they douse his azz w/gasoline., light up cigarettes while he burns his way into hell.
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BBallen
Since they were cruel, the court should be cruel? Execute them in the exact same way their victims were killed? How civilized is that? Do civilized societies execute?
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@Starr,
If we kill those who kill others, then how are we different from them?
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I’m sorry @rezzie,
But….this is pure evil that will test anyone’s beliefs!
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@Rezzie,
STFU!!!! This crime is so grotesque and hideous that I wouldn’t rule out whoopin yo azz for defending them. now go run n tell dat!!!
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@starr,
we still gotta respect the sistas opinion regardless. lmao!
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Starr, and that is because your goal is to be grotesque and hideous too? which makes you no better!
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justice would have been him being raped and then dosed with gasoline and set on fire.
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Torturing and finally killing little girls, why is this not a capital offense in every state?
What happened to the length of time between trial and execution? In the early part of the 20th century it seemed to be no more than a year, now days it seems to last about 15 years.
WTF?
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ain’t that something @Adam,
Yet it took them (Wash/VA) LESS than a year to kill that baltimore sniper who was on death row. smh.
Now the tax payers of CT will pay to keep this murderous mtherfer alive. unreal.
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I CO-SIGN CeoDawg,
Why is this azzhole still alive? The good ole doctor shoulda killed him right in front of his burning house.
This would save the taxpayers money and the horror the jury had to go through listening to the details of this horrific crime.
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@Mrs,
the jurors didn’t only listen to this, what? are you kiding? they were subject to the photos and everything. these fools took pictures of their croches all open, them being tied to the bed. one of them i think urinated on one of the girls. if it had been me, i would of wanted to die cause had i survived, i’d be in jail for killin theses bastards.
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I hope this motherfucker rot in hell…he’s a monster!
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they’re wasting too much time and taxpayer money on this killing bastard.. nothing will bring those girls back. if he wants to die.. then somebody shoot him. This is ridiculous.
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they shouldn’t kill him, the inmates and gaurds should torture his azz. by pullin and burnin hairs from his balls one by one.
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I co-sign ashanti,
dont kill him. Just physicaly and mentaly tourcher his azz every day for the rest of his life.
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Ashanti,
I believe they should let the victim’s family torture him. little by little i agree.
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“the inmates and gaurds should torture his azz. by pullin and burnin hairs from his balls one by one.”
LMAO!!!!! wow @Ashanti, you sound mean as hell girl! but it’s understandable. lol
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Ashanti,
And what would Jesus do?
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Jesus would douse his azz with gasoline, then allow him to see his victims around HIS throne while he burn in aan eternal fire for all eternity! Jesus don’t play!!
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@Rezzie,
you are the reason people hate christians – do you think Jesus would approve of you? God ain’t call nobody to be no fool.
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“what would Jesus do?”
Kill dey azzes!!! quicker.
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First of all look @ this dude. he look every bit as evil as evil gets. I think Jesus would kill him too.
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I agree with everything erbody said here!!
I’d like to see him fry tomorrow!!!!
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Sometimes death is not enough punishment, I’d love to have this guy tied up in my basement for 2 weeks, but would becoming a monster myself be the right thing? Is vengeance really that satisfying? Would the hole in my heart be closed? I sure would feel healed/fullfilled(?) it’s not worth it! losing yourself or your souls over.
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Put this animal in the general population of a prison & they will kill him for us. trust. what happened was a god awful shame!!!
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@Lisa,
agreed! jaihouse justice!!! to the highest!
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Rezzie,
they should burn his azz alive!! an eye for a eye.
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@anthony.,
i would be sayin the lawd’s prayer while pouring the gasoline on em and lighting the match.
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@Starr,
Tie him to a bed pour gasoline on him and light a match!
The punishment should fit the crime!
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The death penalty is never justified. In this case, why put the monster out of his misery? Let him rot in a jail cell the rest of his life. How do you pro-death penalty people figure executing this man is justice? He’ll be strapped to a table, get a painless injection of toxic drugs and go bye bye.
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THIS STORY…unlike so many others has made an impact on all of us…I never knew this family…but forever will they be in my heart and on my mind …it just makes you ache knowing what that monster did to them.
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Rezzie,
This is terribly un-Christian of me but I must admit, I would not object to him being put to death in the same manner he killed those innocent girls and their mother.
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@Anthony,
I agree with Punishment should fit the crime . An “eye for an eye” is what I say. He should have no rights what so ever and we as taxpayers should not be paying for him to sit and live for another 30+ years.
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@Anthony, Xmen and anyone else who agrees,
This is where an “eye for an eye” makes perfect sense to me.
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Trust me ya’ll,
there is a special place in hell for this man and his freind.
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@Civil, Anthony and X,
Giving into one’s barbaric side and suborning cruelty, torture, and commission of crimes in retaliation for other crimes is not what a civilized person/world should do.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. and it’s just not right.
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I agree ashanti,
home invasion, my ass (so to speak) .. the mother and daughters were raped.. photographed…restrained…and then the mother was taken to her bank to withdrawal money to save the lives of her children… that sounds like home invasion to me… and in this case, the news story represents what one out of four women live in their lifetime.. rape…terror..emotional longitude…
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I am opposed in principle to the death penalty and to any termination of life, but cases like this are so difficult and I do not have a good answer. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.
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trust me nicole,
if this was done to any members of your family, you’d have a real good answer.
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Nicole,
I am so against the death penalty too and have been for my entire life, all the way up until this case. If there was EVER a case for executing someone it is now. When I read the details of this case I can’t articulate even one reason why this person should be spared his life.
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The victims called 911 but the police did not repond for 45 minutes. I quess they had to finish their doughnuts
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Can you imagine what Dr. Petit must be going through? To be a man and not be able to protect your family is a dreadful thing to live with.
Hayes will spend the rest of his life in prison. Connecticut has proven that although it has the death penalty, it’s a sissy state that doesn’t have the balls to follow through with it.
We can only hope Hayes meets the same fate as Jeffery Dalmar (spelling?) in prison.
Death by lethal injection is bullshit! The law should be “Death in the same manner you killed your victim.”
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Ionna,
I agree but…..he probably won’t LIVE to his execution..
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The family of the victims have to live with what happened over and over and over again.
And Dr. Petit is right…there is no closure. I hope he finds some peace. I feel so sorry for him and the family. There is nothing worse than this.
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I say “kill him! and kill him now!!”
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That would have never happened to my family in my home because any intruder in my house will receive the death penalty instantly on the spot. I will not wait around to see if they have killing on their minds and justice will be swift and final.
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Oh please @Elovely,
The father was asleep on the couch when they SERIOUSLY beaned him with a baseball bat, even if he HAD had a gun, he was asleep and could not have used it, get real!!!!
We can all say what we would do but unless we’re actually in a situation like this will we never know.
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I agree w/you lisa!
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@Elovely,
He was beaten to a pulp, knocked unconscious and when he came to, probably just trying to get help for his family was what was on his mind. Who knows, we weren’t in his shoes, we didn’t go through what he went through. If he had gone back up the stairs maybe he would have been killed also, is that what you want? My big question is why the police didn’t go in the house? Why did they stay outside?
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@Keisha,
I still can’t figure out why the father left the house.
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atleast the family have closure now.
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Angel-hair,
do you really think that Dr. Petit will have ” Closure” now?
read his comments on that idea. This man has a hole in his heart the will never close – regardless of life in prison or death for this azzhole who killed his family…closure is a rediculous concept in this case. At best Dr. Petit will somehow learn to live with the pain that will be with him for the rest of his life. As he said, “there has to be some rules in this country” that is why he wanted to see Hayes get death instead of life…it wasn’t becasue he would experience closure.
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I co-sign danny,
It doesn’t seem to be enough – his fear and pain and rotting in jail will be nothing compared to the fear, panic and pain that Hayley, Michaela and Mrs. Petit endured.
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Unfortunately, this scumbag will still be on death row 20 years from now, probably in his own cell with a tv, books, writing material oh and he will probably become very religious etc… it’s a shame but that’s how the system works.
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The state needs to wake up and stop spending any more money on this Stephen…he has been sentenced to death so why wait DECADES!!!
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Thanks to the jury for having the guts to order death for this heinous monster.
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Petit pleaded with the bank personnel to help and they did nothing?! They could have at least contacted police and asked they go to the residence. Maybe the lives would have been spared.//Death sentence is definitely worthy. May it be carried out quickly. It won’t bring the family back, but at least they cannot cause others such harm and they won’t be a burden to the rest of society.
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“Petit pleaded with the bank personnel to help her and they did nothing?!”
@Gia,
Isn’t that sad? I hope that person’s conscious EATS them alive.
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@Lisa,
Oh no, you mean the wife was AT the bank and they CALLED the police WHILE she was still ALIVE!!??? OMG. Just omg. I
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I agree 100%.
It gives me chills to think of what that woman was going through and likely thought her family would be saved from these demons when she was able to go into the bank unaccompanied and ask for help. My heart goes out to that family and the father who tried to save his family.
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If you do a little more research yourself you will notice that it took 30 minutes from the moment the police were notified of the invasion/hostage situation to have a single squad car show up on the scene. Disgusting!
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This is all over the news right now.
The death penalty is way to easy of a punishment. He should made to suffer as he made those people suffer. My heart goes out to the Petit family.
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He IS pure evil. No heart exists in him. heartless bastard!
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@Brown,
This man embraced an evil that led to this event. He became an assassin of human kind. This is the nature of evil; to rob, kill, steal and destroy. No good can be found in him. No heart exists in him that will weep even for himself.
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“…we still find it difficult to accept that they happened in one of our communities,” said Rell. ” Crime happens everywhere…and to think that it cannot happen in your community is just silly. I wish there was a way that this convicted killer could suffer the way this family has..endure hours on end of not knowing if you’re going to live or die. Regardless of the community or social status NO ONE should have to endure this type of torture and disregard for life.
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Finally!
Criminals need to be held accountable for their actions. This family’s life was shattered and this guy deserves the death penalty. We need to stand together as a nation and start demanding stronger sentences.
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I HOPE THIS MAN BURNS IN HELL!!!
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DIDO!!!!
I AGREE!
I CO-SIGN!
you and me both!!!
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My heart is with Mr. Petit, such suffering and pain I cannot imagine.
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He also lost his pets2. From his interviews, he seems like he doesn’t want to talk about it.
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If your family was killed in such a horrible way would you want to talk about it?? This man’s life has been 4ever changed! and that’s got 2 hurt.
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How about putting gasoline on them and lighting them on fire, just as they did to those two beautiful children. Damn right it hurts @ Nicole. This is way too sad.
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