A Connecticut Nightmare
Innocence Lost
Police believe Steven Hayes took four canisters from the Petit family garage and went to fill them with gasoline some time before the sun rose. Hayes had to call for directions three times on the way back because he kept getting lost, according to Komisarjevsky, who was still in the Petit house watching Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters.
Prosecutors have charged Joshua Komisarjevsky with Michaela Petit's rape and murder, saying there is evidence he tied up the 11-year-old girl, sexually abused her, and then forced her to the bathroom to take a shower.
Sources say he used his cell phone to take pictures. Investigators would later seize photos from Komisarjevsky's cell phone after obtaining a search warrant for evidence.
According to the accused killer, it was 17-year-old Hayley Petit who put up the most resistance. She kept trying to escape, Komisarjevsky said. After being bound, she asked him "Why are you doing this?" He just smiled. Later, the two men discovered Hayley with a cell phone trying to call 911. "She was a fighter," Komisarjevsky says.