00:00:19
Jen and Bill were such awesome parents.
00:00:25
They located to Cheshire and decided to
00:00:29
raise their girls there and I think had
00:00:32
like a beautiful life there.
00:00:37
My aunt was Jennifer Pettit and my
00:00:39
cousins were Haley and Michaela.
00:00:44
I think my earliest memory is being at
00:00:46
their house in Connecticut.
00:00:52
Michaela was just like my very best
00:00:53
friend.
00:00:57
Haley would make sure we were all like
00:00:58
kept in line.
00:01:00
It couldn't be more like siblings when
00:01:02
we were all together.
00:01:06
On July 22nd, 2007,
00:01:11
I was sitting here and my sister had
00:01:15
given me a call. She was at the beach.
00:01:19
When I picked up the phone, I said, "So,
00:01:22
how are you?" And she said, "I'm great.
00:01:25
There's not a cloud in the sky. It is
00:01:27
the most beautiful blue sky. It is just
00:01:31
the most perfect day.
00:01:38
There's your emergency.
00:01:38
>> I'm the banking center manager at Bank
00:01:40
of America. We have a lady who is in our
00:01:43
bank right now who says her husband and
00:01:46
children are being held at their house.
00:01:48
Her name Jennifer Pettit.
00:01:53
>> We clearly have a fire fatality. I know
00:01:58
that there's bodies inside, but how many
00:02:00
deaths are we looking at?
00:02:03
The activities at the home took the
00:02:05
police by surprise.
00:02:08
>> None of those officers had ever
00:02:10
encountered a scene like they
00:02:11
encountered inside that house. It was
00:02:13
pretty clear right from the beginning
00:02:15
that this was going to be a terrible
00:02:17
story.
00:02:18
>> For this to occur to this family is the
00:02:21
worst thing most people could ever
00:02:24
imagine.
00:02:26
It was outrage that these guys could do
00:02:29
something this horrendous to wipe out an
00:02:31
innocent family.
00:02:34
>> They were wonderful human beings. And we
00:02:38
lost a lot in losing these three women.
00:02:43
>> These women did everything that they
00:02:46
were told to do. So it was hard.
00:02:50
>> This was a all-American family living in
00:02:52
a beautiful suburban town. And then
00:02:54
horror came to their house.
00:02:57
>> I miss all of the future that we had,
00:02:59
like the the future memories, the future
00:03:01
fun events. My mom should have gotten to
00:03:04
be with my aunt. And I feel so sad that
00:03:07
she doesn't get to have that.
00:03:09
>> I don't know how anyone can do this.
00:03:12
Like, you're not human to me if you do
00:03:14
things like this.
00:03:21
[Music]
00:03:43
[Music]
00:03:50
This one's when the girls came to visit
00:03:53
us and Jen and Uncle Billy and we had I
00:03:58
believe it was an anniversary dinner
00:04:00
party for our parents
00:04:05
and the four of you are standing on the
00:04:07
stairwell here
00:04:12
and then you're up in the bonus room on
00:04:14
this brightly colored floral couch we
00:04:16
had.
00:04:17
>> You probably picked out our outfits.
00:04:18
Would you like chat with her about like
00:04:20
I'm going to dress her in this and
00:04:21
you're going to dress her in that? Like
00:04:22
they coordinate well. Did you guys
00:04:24
pre-plan things like that?
00:04:26
>> I think we always just made sure we
00:04:28
thought you had cute clothes on.
00:04:32
[Music]
00:04:36
>> This is the one where they're out
00:04:38
catching fireflies and we're standing on
00:04:40
the porch.
00:04:43
My like first clear memory is like
00:04:45
playing with fireflies and catching them
00:04:47
with all of them in my grandparents
00:04:49
front yard in Pennsylvania and it was
00:04:52
really sweet.
00:04:53
[Music]
00:05:00
As a Methodist minister's family, you
00:05:02
tend to move around a lot.
00:05:05
I feel like Jen and I were a lot closer
00:05:08
because we always knew we'd be there for
00:05:10
each other.
00:05:12
As an older sibling, she was constantly
00:05:14
giving me advice and she had a lot of
00:05:18
finesse about how to dress, how to wear
00:05:20
her hair, what looked pretty.
00:05:23
I think Jen was very caring about other
00:05:26
people and their feelings. I feel like
00:05:28
that's kind of what guided her into
00:05:32
being interested in becoming a nurse.
00:05:36
She was working at children's hospital
00:05:39
in Pittsburgh. And she said, "I'm going
00:05:42
to go out with this guy. He's in med
00:05:45
school here. His name is Bill. He's
00:05:49
taking me to a place downtown called
00:05:51
Tramps." And I was like, "Wait, I got to
00:05:55
get this." Like, you're going out with a
00:05:57
guy named Bill and he's taking you to
00:05:59
like a nightclub named Tramps.
00:06:02
I was like, "I don't know, Jen. this guy
00:06:05
just doesn't sound good to me. Like he
00:06:07
just might be a loser. She went out with
00:06:10
him and she had a really good time. And
00:06:13
it was just a success story after that.
00:06:20
When they got pregnant with Haley, I
00:06:22
couldn't wait for it because I'd never
00:06:24
had a child.
00:06:29
When I first met Haley, I could see how
00:06:32
Jen and Bill just loved her so much.
00:06:36
I just loved rocking her when she was a
00:06:40
newborn. And I think I loved her like
00:06:43
she was my own.
00:06:45
After Jennifer had Haley, two years
00:06:49
later, I was pregnant with Evan. And
00:06:53
then 2 years after I had my daughter
00:06:56
Lydia.
00:06:57
2 years later, Jen had Michaela. They
00:07:00
started to just call her KK or KK Rose
00:07:03
Bud.
00:07:04
>> Hi.
00:07:06
Show me what you have there.
00:07:08
Can you show me in the morning before
00:07:10
you go how you ride the zipline
00:07:13
so nicely?
00:07:18
KK was super softspoken,
00:07:21
but I think she went out of her way to
00:07:22
look out for other people. She would be
00:07:24
the person that would look around and be
00:07:25
like, "Oh, you're by yourself. I'm going
00:07:27
to make sure that you're included." She
00:07:28
was just like my little best friend.
00:07:31
[Music]
00:07:33
There wasn't anything Haley wasn't good
00:07:35
at. She was like classic older child. I
00:07:39
never got to have an older sister and I
00:07:41
never got to have a younger sister. And
00:07:42
that's what it felt like when we were
00:07:43
all together.
00:07:46
Hi.
00:07:48
>> I had to get you on video before you go
00:07:50
home.
00:07:51
>> Lydia, did you have fun with your
00:07:52
cousins?
00:07:56
>> You liked sleeping with that one? You
00:07:59
girls had a big slumber party in here,
00:08:01
huh?
00:08:01
>> Yep.
00:08:06
[Music]
00:08:13
The last time that I saw Haley,
00:08:15
Michaela, and Auntie Jen, all of us went
00:08:18
to our boat in Carolina Beach.
00:08:21
And we just spent every day like sun up
00:08:22
to sun down at the beach. And it's the
00:08:26
same beach that my mom grew up going to
00:08:28
with Auntie Jen.
00:08:30
Haley would make sure we were all kept
00:08:32
in line and like everyone had sunscreen
00:08:34
on and we were all ready to go and play.
00:08:36
And my brother would always want to go
00:08:38
off and do some sporty thing. Her and
00:08:40
Evan could just like hang. She could
00:08:43
like rough and tough with any of the
00:08:44
boys. I'm sure she could kick his butt
00:08:46
like up and down in every sport. So, it
00:08:48
was I feel like he had a best friend
00:08:50
there, too.
00:08:53
I was sitting here and my sister had
00:08:57
given me a call. She said, "It was so
00:09:00
fun when Haley and Michaela and I all
00:09:02
came down and visited your boat. like we
00:09:05
really want to come back and bring
00:09:06
Billy.
00:09:08
>> I'd been texting back and forth with
00:09:09
Michaela excited about it and calling
00:09:12
her about it. We kept kind of going
00:09:14
between all of us and the more excited I
00:09:17
could get Michaela, the more she would
00:09:18
then go to her mom and be like, "We're
00:09:19
so excited. We're going to make sure
00:09:20
this happens."
00:09:22
I remember hanging up and being like,
00:09:24
"Okay, talk tomorrow. Love you." Like
00:09:26
just real fast. Like things weren't
00:09:28
done. Like our conversations weren't
00:09:30
over. Um but that was it. Like Yeah.
00:09:35
[Music]
00:09:46
In 2007, Cheshire was the kind of town
00:09:49
where people would feel comfortable if
00:09:50
they didn't lock their doors.
00:09:53
>> Cheshire is one of those places that
00:09:56
felt like it was picture perfect. Like
00:09:58
you just couldn't imagine that you
00:10:01
weren't safe. Was there crime there?
00:10:04
Yes.
00:10:06
But it was typically very low-level type
00:10:10
things.
00:10:12
I cannot recall in my 39 years of being
00:10:15
a prosecutor,
00:10:18
you know, this something like this never
00:10:20
happens there. It just doesn't.
00:10:30
[Music]
00:10:34
There's your emergency.
00:10:34
>> I'm the banking center manager at Bank
00:10:36
of America. We have a lady who is in our
00:10:39
bank right now who says her husband and
00:10:42
children are being held at their house.
00:10:44
Her name Jennifer Pettit.
00:10:49
>> The 911 call was from the bank manager
00:10:52
and I think the police didn't really
00:10:54
understand what it was.
00:10:56
It took them 5 minutes to respond to the
00:10:58
bank. And in that time frame, Jennifer
00:11:01
left the bank, got in the car, and they
00:11:03
drove back to the house.
00:11:06
The police arrived uh shortly after
00:11:09
receiving the call from the bank teller.
00:11:12
They surrounded the house in different
00:11:14
locations. Approximately 5 to 10 minutes
00:11:17
later, they observed some flames coming
00:11:21
from the house.
00:11:23
I got a call from one of my co-workers
00:11:26
and she said, "Just wanted you to know
00:11:28
we have a report of a house fire in
00:11:30
Cheshire. It sounds pretty bad."
00:11:33
By the time I got there, I knew very
00:11:36
clearly this was far more than just a
00:11:39
house fire.
00:11:42
At the time, I was a reporter at the
00:11:44
Harford Current and I got a phone call
00:11:46
from a state police source that this was
00:11:49
going to be a bad case. over the
00:11:51
scanner. You could hear that they were
00:11:53
trying to get in because they knew there
00:11:55
were people in there.
00:11:57
>> It was difficult for anybody to know
00:11:59
where to turn first.
00:12:01
>> We had people running down there, you
00:12:03
know, photographers and reporters
00:12:04
running down to the scene. So, it was a
00:12:07
pretty hectic situation.
00:12:17
[Music]
00:12:19
I'm watching them desperately trying to
00:12:21
get in the doors and they can't. That
00:12:24
tells me there is somebody still inside.
00:12:27
They would not be so frantic to get in
00:12:28
if they were not trying to save a life.
00:12:31
Then we start hearing smatterings of
00:12:34
they've got people they're putting in
00:12:36
handcuffs.
00:12:37
>> The police had arrested two people
00:12:40
leaving the scene at a high rate of
00:12:42
speed.
00:12:44
There was a roadblock. They tried to
00:12:46
smash through the road block and didn't
00:12:48
succeed. And they were arrested at
00:12:50
gunpoint while the fire was burning.
00:12:55
>> As reporters, we're all just beginning
00:12:58
to get bits and pieces of information.
00:13:00
Things changed very fast, not just for
00:13:03
us, but for all of the first responders.
00:13:06
Neighbors are telling me they think at
00:13:09
least some of the family members were
00:13:11
still in the house. But then another
00:13:14
neighbor said to me that an ambulance
00:13:17
was in the area of the back of the
00:13:19
Pettit house and that Dr. Pettit came
00:13:22
out of the basement and they're not sure
00:13:24
what that was all about.
00:13:27
>> Mercy, are you please? Yes. I got Bill
00:13:31
Pett here who hurt my neighbor. The
00:13:34
neighbor at first didn't recognize him.
00:13:36
He was screaming for help. He had
00:13:38
multiple head injuries that were
00:13:40
bleeding. His hands were bleeding. His
00:13:42
wrists were bleeding. When they they got
00:13:44
him to the hospital, they determined he
00:13:46
had lost almost seven pints of blood.
00:13:55
From the information that we were given,
00:13:59
Dr. Pettit had fallen asleep in the sun
00:14:01
room watching TV.
00:14:04
In the middle of the night, he woke up,
00:14:06
found himself being struck by hard
00:14:10
object in the head numerous times. Uh,
00:14:14
he began bleeding profusely. It was in
00:14:17
his eyes. He couldn't see, but he could
00:14:20
make out there were two people. He had
00:14:23
heard a voice saying, "If he moves,
00:14:26
shoot him. Put a couple of bullets in
00:14:28
him." He was led downstairs into the
00:14:31
basement. His hands and ankles were
00:14:34
bound with plastic zip ties. He was tied
00:14:38
up to a support uh pole.
00:14:41
During the 6 hours or so that they were
00:14:44
in the house, police believe he was
00:14:46
unconscious because of the beating.
00:14:52
[Music]
00:14:58
I was only 13 when everything happened.
00:15:02
My mom was trying to convince me to do
00:15:03
some kind of math worksheet or something
00:15:05
and I remember trying to distract her by
00:15:08
being like, "Well, why don't we call
00:15:10
into Jen?" And then our home phone rang
00:15:13
and it was my uncle's sister.
00:15:17
I remember handing my mom the phone and
00:15:19
before she picked up the phone, she
00:15:22
said, "Something happened to the girls."
00:15:25
cuz I'm thinking in my mind like why
00:15:28
would you be calling me like you never
00:15:29
call me? You would only call me if they
00:15:32
can't. Something must be wrong. And I
00:15:35
said, "Are they dead?" And she said,
00:15:37
"How did you know?"
00:15:41
She said, "Well, there were these two
00:15:43
men and they like came into their home
00:15:45
in the night. They like broke in somehow
00:15:48
through the basement, tied the girls to
00:15:50
their beds, and they beat Billy really
00:15:54
badly." And I was like, "You mean he's
00:15:57
still alive?" And she said, "Well, for
00:16:00
now,
00:16:02
I remember going out on my deck and just
00:16:06
thinking, "Oh my goodness, like I have
00:16:09
to call my parents and I have to tell
00:16:11
them that not just their daughter whom
00:16:14
they love dearly
00:16:16
is dead, but their two grandchildren are
00:16:20
also gone." And I just screamed, this
00:16:24
guttural scream.
00:16:26
[Music]
00:16:28
>> I sat next to her as she told my
00:16:30
grandparents what had happened to their
00:16:32
daughter and their grandkids.
00:16:34
[Music]
00:16:38
That's tough.
00:16:45
[Music]
00:16:48
I remember when we got to Connecticut,
00:16:50
we were staying with my uncle's sister.
00:16:54
It just felt like this like terrible
00:16:55
movie that we were in.
00:16:59
I had fears of being in public.
00:17:03
I thought, if two men could do this,
00:17:07
how do we know we're not in the company
00:17:08
of people that can do other horrible
00:17:10
things to us?
00:17:12
We went on to see Billy in the hospital
00:17:16
because it was really all we wanted to
00:17:18
do was just to like see him.
00:17:24
I remember going to the hospital and
00:17:26
seeing my uncle for the first time and
00:17:27
just being like, I cannot believe that
00:17:29
he's alive. Like touching and holding my
00:17:31
hand like I can't believe you look like
00:17:33
that and you're responding and you're
00:17:35
alive. Like that was a miracle in
00:17:37
itself.
00:17:39
seeing him there laying in that bed and
00:17:41
hearing him saying, "I'm so sorry. Like,
00:17:44
it's me and not her laying here. I know
00:17:47
you would rather wish it would be her
00:17:49
and not me." And I was like, "No, Billy,
00:17:52
don't think like that.
00:17:55
We wish it could have been all of you.
00:17:58
But at least you're here."
00:18:02
>> It was clear that he was having a very,
00:18:04
very difficult time dealing with what
00:18:07
happened. And that's understandable.
00:18:10
I mean, he's lost everything.
00:18:15
>> They said he'd lost so many pints of
00:18:17
blood that he really shouldn't have
00:18:19
lived.
00:18:23
>> The two people arrested were Steven
00:18:27
Hayes and Joshua Cerjeski.
00:18:32
Both of them had extensive criminal
00:18:34
records.
00:18:36
Hayes had a raft of petty larsenies and
00:18:39
burglaries. The last one that had put
00:18:41
him in prison was for breaking into a
00:18:43
home through a window. Joshua Thomaseski
00:18:46
was 26 at the time.
00:18:48
>> He was known to the Cheshire Police
00:18:50
Department as someone who was a problem.
00:18:53
>> He prided himself on breaking into
00:18:56
people's houses at night and literally
00:18:58
watching them sleep.
00:19:00
>> It gave him a feeling of superiority
00:19:03
over others. and he liked that feeling
00:19:06
of power. He had been sentenced to a
00:19:10
significant sentence in jail.
00:19:13
>> Thomas Ojeski and Hayes had been
00:19:16
released early from prison. So
00:19:18
technically both of them still should
00:19:20
have been in jail when this occurred.
00:19:22
>> Once released, they both met up at a
00:19:25
halfway house and decided that they were
00:19:28
going to hang out together and commit
00:19:31
crime.
00:19:33
These guys had broken in and brutally
00:19:36
murdered this family. It could have been
00:19:38
any house in any suburb in Connecticut
00:19:42
where this happened and people were
00:19:44
freaked out.
00:19:49
[Music]
00:19:53
Commerce Ojeski and Steven Hayes did
00:19:56
confess to certain aspects of the crime.
00:19:59
They both fully admitted, "Hey, look,
00:20:02
I'm a burglar. I broke into the house.
00:20:04
We were planning to steal money." Both
00:20:07
of their stories was, "Well, it was the
00:20:09
other guy who started the fire. He's the
00:20:11
one who killed these people, and it was
00:20:13
never supposed to get that far.
00:20:16
[Music]
00:20:21
They broke into the house at 3:00 a.m.,
00:20:23
hit Dr. pet it with a bat, tied them up
00:20:26
in the basement, tied up all the girls
00:20:28
in their bedrooms.
00:20:30
The perpetrators found a bank statement,
00:20:34
and it was at that point they directed
00:20:36
Mrs. Pettit that she was to go to the
00:20:39
bank and withdraw the $15,000.
00:20:44
Jennifer Pettit went to the bank with
00:20:47
Steven Hayes and she managed to pass a
00:20:49
note to the teller saying, "My family is
00:20:52
being held hostage. Call the police."
00:20:56
Steven told Mrs. Pettit that if she did
00:21:00
anything to alert a teller that they
00:21:03
would kill her children and her husband.
00:21:06
So even with that very credible threat
00:21:09
being laid, she still took the risk to
00:21:11
try to save her family.
00:21:14
>> I think she looked distraught. I know
00:21:16
she probably had the fear
00:21:21
of what was happening to the girls back
00:21:23
at the house on her mind. I don't know
00:21:26
if she knew what was going on with Billy
00:21:28
because he was kind of
00:21:30
absent and in the basement.
00:21:40
Dr. Pettit also provided us with some
00:21:42
new information concerning the event
00:21:46
>> right at the time when Jennifer and
00:21:49
Steven Hayes returned from the bank.
00:21:53
>> Dr. Pettit heard like a thud
00:21:56
as he described it. It sounded like a
00:21:59
body or something hitting the floor
00:22:00
above him.
00:22:02
Dr. Dr. Pettit really didn't know what
00:22:04
was going on upstairs. He didn't know.
00:22:08
He also heard a voice saying, "Don't
00:22:11
worry, it'll be over in a few minutes."
00:22:14
>> Jennifer was killed in the living room
00:22:18
right above where he was tied up. So
00:22:21
that's part of what he heard.
00:22:24
>> It was at that point when he realized he
00:22:27
needed to do something and he had to get
00:22:30
out of there.
00:22:32
As a medical doctor, he knew the extreme
00:22:35
amount of blood he had lost that his
00:22:36
blood pressure was actually lowered as a
00:22:38
result. He was trying to take steps such
00:22:42
as standing up just to raise his blood
00:22:44
pressure enough that he had a hope of
00:22:47
getting help for his wife and children.
00:22:50
>> He was able to break free and he ran out
00:22:54
the back bulkhead that the two guys had
00:22:58
come in, which was still open.
00:23:00
He could barely stand up or walk. He
00:23:03
literally log rolled to a neighbor's
00:23:06
house.
00:23:07
>> Back upstairs, they started spreading
00:23:10
the gasoline around the living room, on
00:23:13
the stairs, into bedrooms, and then lit
00:23:16
the fire as they were running out of the
00:23:19
house.
00:23:20
>> They were running at the same time that
00:23:23
Jennifer had just been murdered. And
00:23:27
Bill is out the back door. And it's all
00:23:30
happening at once, but the girls were
00:23:33
still alive.
00:23:36
[Music]
00:23:37
>> To think that these young girls were
00:23:40
restrained and having gasoline poured in
00:23:43
their bedrooms knowing that eventually
00:23:46
someone's going to light a fire.
00:23:49
I I I can't imagine what that was like.
00:23:52
[Music]
00:24:04
[Music]
00:24:09
So these are Wet and Wild. The four of
00:24:12
you on laying on a towel.
00:24:14
>> That's so cute.
00:24:21
And this one you all went to get cotton
00:24:24
candy. So you're stuffing your mouths
00:24:26
with cotton candy.
00:24:29
Look at her face.
00:24:31
>> She's so happy.
00:24:35
Michaela was a lot of fun. She always
00:24:37
like had this cute little smirky grin
00:24:39
that I could relate to.
00:24:44
What do we have in here? two sleeping
00:24:48
cousins.
00:24:49
>> Haley was so strong, so smart, all of
00:24:53
the like perfect first child things.
00:24:56
[Music]
00:24:58
Haley was just like brilliant
00:25:01
and was just like insane at athletics.
00:25:04
>> She was definitely on a path to
00:25:06
something greater and to think that that
00:25:09
was all cut short was just so sad.
00:25:12
[Music]
00:25:19
I wanted to go to their home because I
00:25:21
wanted to see that it was all real and
00:25:25
it did all happen. The outside didn't
00:25:28
portray really what happened inside the
00:25:30
home.
00:25:32
>> Going into that house is not something
00:25:34
I'll ever forget.
00:25:37
Upon going into the front door, you were
00:25:40
confronted with
00:25:42
just a black charred mess
00:25:46
and the smell of smoke and burnt
00:25:49
material. It's all you could smell.
00:25:52
The most disturbing of all though was
00:25:55
going up those stairs
00:25:58
because we knew when we went in there
00:26:00
that two young girls had died on that
00:26:02
second floor. And that was very hard to
00:26:06
uh to deal with.
00:26:09
It was quite evident that there had been
00:26:12
accelerants poured. You could see the
00:26:14
pore patterns on the floor.
00:26:16
>> The police literally tracked the
00:26:18
gasoline that was left up the stairwell
00:26:21
into the rooms of the two girls. This
00:26:24
leaves a very different mark than if
00:26:27
there was just a regular fire occurring.
00:26:29
So they could actually see the exact
00:26:31
pathway the fire took.
00:26:40
There were ties still attached to the
00:26:44
beds.
00:26:47
>> Haley was able to untie herself and like
00:26:49
she got out of her like restraints and
00:26:52
instead of going to leave, she went to
00:26:54
go try to untie Michaela.
00:26:56
It was clear that she was running to her
00:26:59
sister's room when she was overcome by
00:27:01
the fire and the smoke and her body was
00:27:04
found at the top of the stairs, not too
00:27:06
far from the entrance to Michaela's
00:27:08
room. Michaela never was able to get
00:27:11
free.
00:27:12
>> I'm sure Haley was trying to figure out
00:27:14
a way to get Michaela out of her
00:27:17
bindings and she would never have left
00:27:20
that home without her little sister.
00:27:25
Haley was just 17 years old and Michaela
00:27:27
was only 11.
00:27:29
These two offenders had no intention of
00:27:32
leaving these victims alive.
00:27:36
Going into the house, as difficult as it
00:27:39
was, it was a necessary thing.
00:27:42
The two people arrested had given
00:27:45
versions of what happened and it was
00:27:47
necessary to go into the house to see
00:27:49
whether or not the evidence that was
00:27:52
found in the house matched up with what
00:27:54
they were telling police.
00:27:56
>> Police wanted there to be no ambiguity
00:27:59
on this. They wanted as much physical
00:28:01
and forensic evidence to make sure they
00:28:03
were both found guilty in court.
00:28:06
There are a number of feelings that go
00:28:08
through your head when you go to a crime
00:28:11
scene such as this.
00:28:14
Anger,
00:28:15
frustration that it couldn't have been
00:28:17
stopped, and sadness of the tragedy that
00:28:21
the community had lost three vibrant
00:28:25
young women.
00:28:28
Uh yeah, I had a family
00:28:32
[Music]
00:28:37
Yeah, it was hard.
00:28:44
When you have a young daughter who's the
00:28:46
same age as the younger victim here, it
00:28:49
kind of hits home.
00:28:56
[Music]
00:29:01
When the memorial service happened, Bill
00:29:04
had been in the hospital still and so we
00:29:07
didn't know if doctors were going to
00:29:09
release him to even come.
00:29:12
I remember seeing Billy before he came
00:29:16
to the church. We observed a doctor
00:29:19
removing the stitches from his head. I
00:29:23
just remember thinking,
00:29:25
he's so black and blue.
00:29:28
watching my uncle leave the hospital and
00:29:31
sitting behind him and like still seeing
00:29:33
all like the stitches and like the open
00:29:34
wounds in his head and like it's unreal
00:29:37
to picture that he was like, "Okay, like
00:29:39
I have to be there for my family now."
00:29:42
>> I remember when I saw Billy get up to
00:29:45
speak just thinking, "Oh my gosh, like
00:29:48
he's really getting up. He's going to do
00:29:50
this." I couldn't believe it.
00:29:53
>> There was a collective gasp in the room.
00:29:58
He talks about Michaela as like the kid
00:30:01
that would go out of her way to like
00:30:02
take care of the FLKs and he like
00:30:05
explained it as like funny looking kid.
00:30:07
KK was just showing those like little
00:30:10
things that she was going to be a great
00:30:11
human.
00:30:14
He was immensely proud of his daughters
00:30:17
and I think he relished every moment
00:30:20
with them.
00:30:22
I remembered him talking about Haley and
00:30:24
just like how strong and athletic she
00:30:26
was and how close she was to her dad was
00:30:28
really special.
00:30:31
I wanted someone to love me the way that
00:30:33
he like loved my aunt.
00:30:35
He was talking about her like she was
00:30:37
glowing.
00:30:40
It was very clear that his family was
00:30:42
the center of his world, that Jennifer
00:30:45
was his best friend. His general message
00:30:49
was when you leave here, remember who
00:30:53
they were and let that guide you to do
00:30:57
things in their memory that exhibits
00:31:00
their kindness and their compassion and
00:31:02
their excitement for life. You know, it
00:31:05
was a message of
00:31:07
this was a horrible thing, but this
00:31:10
cannot be how we remember them. We have
00:31:13
to remember who they really were.
00:31:16
If we can keep doing the good that they
00:31:18
would have, then that's the best that we
00:31:19
can do.
00:31:21
[Music]
00:31:34
Because this was a death penalty case,
00:31:36
it took several years for them to
00:31:37
actually go to trial. The trials were
00:31:39
held in New Haven's Puria Court.
00:31:42
Each of them were blaming the other for
00:31:45
basically escalating the event which led
00:31:48
to the murders
00:31:50
and so they had to be tried separately.
00:31:53
>> Hayes went to trial on September 13th,
00:31:57
2010.
00:31:59
>> Steven Hayes was tried on 17 counts.
00:32:03
Those involved assault charges,
00:32:06
kidnapping,
00:32:08
home invasion,
00:32:10
and felony murder. as well as arson
00:32:12
murder.
00:32:14
>> Commiy went on trial about a year later
00:32:16
in September of 2011.
00:32:20
Joshua Commer Jesi was tried for the
00:32:23
same crimes as Steven Hayes.
00:32:30
[Music]
00:32:33
It was clear that the case really
00:32:34
started the night before when Joshua
00:32:37
Okamajeski happened to go to the stop
00:32:40
shop at the same time as Michaela and
00:32:42
Jennifer to get supplies to make some
00:32:45
pasta dinner.
00:32:47
>> Kasujeski
00:32:48
saw Michaela in the grocery store and
00:32:52
immediately took a liking to her.
00:32:55
>> He had a weird infatuation with young
00:32:58
girls. He followed him home and watched
00:33:02
the house for a bit and then called
00:33:04
Hayes and told him to come down to
00:33:07
Cheshure that they were going to make a
00:33:08
big score.
00:33:11
He sexually assaulted Michaela after
00:33:14
hours of having her be tied up. This, I
00:33:17
think, was the primary goal. The robbery
00:33:20
was actually just a an additional thing
00:33:23
that they were able to get out of this
00:33:24
horrific crime.
00:33:27
The sexual assault on Michaela took
00:33:31
place while he had sent Hayes and Mrs.
00:33:34
Pettit to the bank. When Steven Hayes
00:33:38
got back from the bank with Mrs. Pettit,
00:33:41
Thomas kept pressuring him. I assaulted
00:33:44
the girl. Now you have to assault the
00:33:46
mother. Steven Hayes did uh strangle her
00:33:51
to death after sexually assaulting her.
00:33:54
They were intent on getting rid of
00:33:57
whatever evidence could connect them to
00:33:59
those sexual assaults and that was a big
00:34:02
reason for the fire to cover up their
00:34:06
culpability.
00:34:08
There was accelerant on both of the
00:34:12
defendants on their footwear on their
00:34:15
pants and so forth.
00:34:17
As far as we were concerned, they were
00:34:19
both entered up to their eyeballs.
00:34:29
I think some people never heard autopsy
00:34:31
results before, especially involving a
00:34:33
crime.
00:34:35
It's always hard.
00:34:39
>> Haley and Michaela Pettit both had died
00:34:42
from smoke inhilation. They had also
00:34:44
suffered burns from the fire having
00:34:48
direct contact with the flames.
00:34:52
>> I think one thing that did seemed to
00:34:56
really strike people was that Haley had
00:34:58
managed to get free and make it to the
00:35:01
top of the stairs before she collapsed.
00:35:04
She'd fought so hard to save Michaela
00:35:08
and just didn't quite make it.
00:35:12
There was extensive accelerants that
00:35:15
were poured on that stairway.
00:35:19
That clearly showed the intention of the
00:35:22
perpetrators was to make sure that no
00:35:25
one was going to be able to escape down
00:35:26
the stairway.
00:35:30
Jennifer's body had been extensively
00:35:32
burned, which appears to be an effort to
00:35:35
destroy evidence of a sexual assault.
00:35:39
Despite the fact that it was said
00:35:40
numerous times by these defendants that
00:35:43
there was no intent to do that, they did
00:35:45
it. It's kind of a an explanation that
00:35:49
doesn't really make much sense.
00:36:02
There were 12 jurors in total. They all
00:36:04
had to agree unanimously that the
00:36:07
defendant was guilty.
00:36:09
They found Steven Hayes guilty of 16
00:36:12
charges. He was found not guilty of the
00:36:15
arson.
00:36:17
>> And that's because the jury was not
00:36:19
convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that
00:36:20
he's the one that set the match that lit
00:36:22
the fire that started the arson.
00:36:25
>> But they felt that the death penalty was
00:36:28
the appropriate penalty.
00:36:32
>> Joshua was convicted on all 17 counts
00:36:35
and sentenced to death.
00:36:37
I was satisfied with the verdicts. I
00:36:40
thought justice was done.
00:36:44
>> Not long after Joshua was convicted,
00:36:47
Connecticut did decide to eliminate the
00:36:49
death penalty. And so their cases were
00:36:52
commuted into a sentence of life in
00:36:55
prison without the possibility of
00:36:57
parole, which means they will die in
00:36:59
jail.
00:37:01
>> Three young women are gone and it's a
00:37:04
loss. It's a big loss to the community.
00:37:07
It was a big loss to the family. It's
00:37:09
just unfortunate that they never had the
00:37:11
opportunity to do the good things that
00:37:15
they were destined to do. Uh, and that's
00:37:18
tragic.
00:37:19
[Music]
00:37:24
When we finally did get the 911 records
00:37:26
and the dispatch, it showed that police
00:37:30
were outside the house for roughly 26
00:37:33
minutes.
00:37:35
how that could have changed the
00:37:37
trajectory of this horrific case. I'm
00:37:39
sure that just weighs on the rest of the
00:37:41
family members. Did it have to happen
00:37:43
like this?
00:37:46
There were no blinds and no curtains on
00:37:48
my sister's windows. How could they not
00:37:50
have seen what was going on there? You
00:37:52
could have just looked in and seen that
00:37:54
my sister was like already laying there.
00:37:56
But at least you could have saved the
00:37:58
girls.
00:38:01
they were outside their house and they
00:38:02
should have done something. I can't like
00:38:04
harp on that because it destroys me, but
00:38:06
that stuff matters.
00:38:08
When people are taken hostage and
00:38:11
there's a intruder in a home, the police
00:38:14
are always concerned. Is this person
00:38:16
armed? Will they just shoot and kill the
00:38:19
hostages immediately?
00:38:22
A lot of illogical thinking happens and
00:38:24
that's what police are afraid of and
00:38:26
they take extra precautions to make sure
00:38:29
that they're protecting the lives of
00:38:30
these victims so these terrible outcomes
00:38:33
don't occur. However,
00:38:36
there are rules that allow police to
00:38:38
deviate from that because they think
00:38:40
there is imminent danger or time is of
00:38:43
the essence. There's a crime ongoing and
00:38:45
if they don't do it immediately then in
00:38:48
fact lives or evidence could be lost.
00:38:51
But in this small town where they hardly
00:38:53
ever experienced this, they probably
00:38:55
weren't that well verssed in these types
00:38:57
of rules.
00:38:58
>> The fire was lit right before the
00:39:02
defendants fled the scene. So certainly
00:39:06
had the police gone in there before the
00:39:08
fire was lit, good chance the girls
00:39:10
would have been saved.
00:39:12
But it's very difficult when you're
00:39:14
presented with a situation and you
00:39:16
simply don't have all the facts to make
00:39:19
a decision that could end up costing
00:39:21
people's lives.
00:39:23
The police afterwards felt terrible.
00:39:27
They might have been saved. The pettit
00:39:29
women and unfortunately it didn't turn
00:39:32
out that way.
00:39:35
[Music]
00:39:40
Billy, my brother-in-law, was like,
00:39:41
"What would you do with that property if
00:39:43
you were me?" I'm like, "That house just
00:39:45
needs to be taken down. Nobody wants to
00:39:47
try to refurbish a house where that
00:39:50
awful thing happened."
00:39:53
>> He turned it into a memorial garden for
00:39:55
them
00:39:57
and people in the community helped tend
00:39:59
it and it is beautiful.
00:40:04
After the verdicts, I felt we should go.
00:40:09
Yeah.
00:40:11
And uh
00:40:14
it was kind of like to get some closure
00:40:17
for myself.
00:40:21
It's uh a peaceful place. I think it's a
00:40:24
place that people go to remember the
00:40:27
family that lived there
00:40:30
[Music]
00:40:31
to remember the pet the Pettit girls and
00:40:34
Mrs. Pettit
00:40:36
and uh kind of reflect on their lives.
00:40:42
They were extraordinary people and so uh
00:40:47
they'll always be in my thoughts.
00:40:51
Cheshure carries this. It was a
00:40:55
tremendously traumatic event. They'd
00:40:58
never had anything like this and haven't
00:41:01
had anything like it since then.
00:41:03
[Music]
00:41:08
I still do feel like I'm lucky that I
00:41:10
have such special people to grieve. And
00:41:12
I think that all comes from like
00:41:13
watching my mom handle it because she
00:41:16
lost everybody. Like it felt like she
00:41:18
was like left behind kind of. and she
00:41:20
met it with grace.
00:41:24
>> At my daughter's wedding, she was given
00:41:26
very small charm that I keep on the
00:41:29
mirror in my car and it had like a
00:41:34
picture of the three girls in the middle
00:41:36
of it. It was wrapped with a ribbon at
00:41:40
the bottom of my daughter's bouquet. So,
00:41:42
we felt like walking down the aisle, the
00:41:45
girls were right there with her.
00:41:48
[Music]
00:41:53
Who's getting ready to go home?
00:41:55
>> We can have a great time.
00:42:00
>> Hey, what'd you get? Back seat book.
00:42:03
[Music]
00:42:07
>> Go Santi Chen back for Connecticut.
00:42:12
Bye.
00:42:14
>> Bye.
00:42:19
Bye-bye.
00:42:24
>> This past summer, we finally like buried
00:42:26
my aunt's ashes. Like, it took this long
00:42:29
because my grandparents wish was like
00:42:31
them to all be buried together. And
00:42:34
I like got to hold my husband's hand
00:42:36
through all of that and be like, he got
00:42:38
to see, I guess, that side of
00:42:39
everything.
00:42:42
And that was my like full circle moment
00:42:45
where like I got to show Sullivan where
00:42:47
I grew up and made all these memories
00:42:48
with my cousins and we got to catch the
00:42:50
fireflies and like do all of the things.
00:42:54
The positive things that I think of when
00:42:56
I see my daughter with her son are
00:42:59
things like what a great mother my
00:43:02
sister was to her daughters and what a
00:43:05
good family they had and how they worked
00:43:09
very hard at trying to educate their
00:43:12
daughters to make them be the best
00:43:14
people they could be.
00:43:17
>> It's been so long since I've gotten to
00:43:19
like have them and be around them and
00:43:20
like listen to them laugh.
00:43:24
I love I always get called like a mini
00:43:26
Jennifer.
00:43:28
I thought she was like this perfect
00:43:29
beautiful human. I just wanted to be
00:43:32
her. Like I love that we match and look
00:43:35
similar, but like
00:43:38
I would have loved the comparison now.
00:43:39
Like I would have loved to get to stand
00:43:40
next to her and take those pictures.
00:43:43
Yeah.
00:43:45
[Music]
00:44:31
[Music]
