The Cheshire Murders Page #10

spreading gasoline,

I mean, so it's not like

he was trying to get himself

out from under in any way.

And yet Josh was getting this story

out that Steven knew was false.

Joshua tried to minimize the sexual

assault, not make it out to be a rape,

that it was just contact and

ejaculation, which is absurd given

the scientific evidence

that exists.

He tried to blame Steven solely for

being the person who initiated

the gasoline and lighting

the gasoline

when there's gasoline

on both of their clothes.

Josh Komisarjevsky was the

one who was suggesting

that they go into a house

where people were,

and for Steven, this was a

foolish thing, because he was

obviously, with a guy

who was uncontrollable.

And I think it haunts him, really haunts

him, as to why he didn't walk away.

Steven's in an isolation

cell 24 hours a day.

He has nightmares. He has nightmares

about his own kid burning.

This is the way his incarceration

will last, forever.

So, you know, I don't know

why we have to kill

someone who's

in a position like that.

It's like being buried alive.

We, the defense

team, always believed

that Joshua never had

the intention to kill anybody.

After he bashed Dr. Petit's

head several times,

later on, he got a towel.

He wiped the blood away

from Dr. Petit's head.

He then got two pillows,

put them behind his back,

and he got two cushions,

and his explanation,

which is in his confession,

was that he did so

because he thought Dr. Petit

wasn't comfortable enough,

and he was concerned

about his comfort.

Why didn't he simply walk

in and undo the bindings?

Dr. Leo Shea,

a neuropsychologist, testified

that Joshua was unable to make quick

decisions in stressful situations.

What occurred with Michaela

is absolutely unexplainable.

Such a horrendous crime

committed on such a young girl.

People go to jail for a long

time for crimes like that,

but you don't get

the death penalty.

When Joshua was apprehended,

when he was pulled from the car,

he was straight with the police.

When Steven Hayes was pulled from

the car, he gave a phony name,

and when asked, "Was there

anybody in the house?",

he said, "I don't know."

When Joshua was pulled

from the car,

he gave his name and he said,

"There's a woman inside,"

"I believe she's dead, and

upstairs there's two girls,"

and he expressed to the police that there

was some urgency to the situation,

which was pretty obvious because at

that time, the house was burning.

To me, these are things that are inconsistent

with intending to kill somebody.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Everybody came here safe,

you know, just to support.

You know, the teachers,

after Michaela died, said, uh...

Whenever, uh...

Whenever someone in the class...

She said, "Dr. Petit,

I just have to tell you that"

"your daughter Michaela

was always the one to"

"go with the kid

who was excluded,"

and I thank you for

standing up for justice

and what is morally

and ethically correct.

Thank you.

Dr. Petit is

pretty much out there

with his foundation, which is obviously a

really good thing and should be supported,

but we're in the middle of the state

trying to get the death penalty.

So, as much as I have

incredible sympathy for him,

I think his outspokenness

in this case

has really affected any

ability to get a fair trial

for either of these

two defendants.

What happened, what was said

during that conversation

with Dr. Petit

that made you just make a 180?

Dr. Petit came in

with his sister-in-law, Mrs. Chapman.

They said if the

legislature this year

votes to repeal

the death penalty,

it'll make it harder

for the jury

to make the decision

of the death penalty

for this monster,

this Komisarjevsky.

I can only imagine that

one-on-one conversation.

You're sitting as close

as probably we are now.

You have no idea.

I could not bring myself

to cause this man

any more stress.

He's a monster.

He is a monster.

And I said, "He's such a monster

"they should hang

him by his penis

"out from a tree

in main streets."

I can't think of anything bad enough

that should happen to that man.

I actually got to see Steve

twice, well, the past two Sundays.

When I first saw him,

I wanted to cry,

because I haven't

seen him in so long,

but I just didn't want to cry

under those circumstances.

You had all the guards

standing right on top of you.

And you can't talk

about the trial because,

like, you know that the

phones are pretty tapped.

I know that that family wants him to

be dead and it all to be over with,

but, like, my side of the family,

we just want him to, like,

take responsibility

for what he did

without the consequence

of the death penalty.

That won't bring anyone back.

What happened, happened,

and his death

isn't gonna bring

about much justice.

Steven

Hayes walked into room 6A.

For the first time,

he saw a familiar face.

It was his brother Matthew.

The first time that we believe a Hayes

family member has been in court.

Prosecutor

Michael Dearington said,

"These two beautiful girls

and loving mother were killed"

"because Steven Hayes

wanted money."

Defense attorney Thomas Ullmann

argued that life without parole

is the harshest punishment

Steven Hayes could be given.

State's

attorney, Gary Nicholson,

did not mince words as

he spoke to the jury

in his closing arguments

this morning,

saying that Joshua

Komisarjevsky is, quote,

"No shrinking violet."

"He played a starring

role in this crime."

Nicholson hammered the point that

Komisarjevsky was first in the house,

the first to use violence, and had

plenty of opportunity to leave the home.

He gave Steven Hayes

directions back to the house,

when Hayes went

and bought gasoline...

It's not fair, is it?

No.

No. Hmm.

You know, all I think of is the impact that

our girls could've made upon the world.

And, of course, none of that

will ever come forth from

Joshua Komisarjevsky.

What's the jury weighing?

Aggravating factors

against mitigating factors.

The aggravating factors brought

out by the prosecution.

The heinous nature

of the crimes.

For the mitigating factors

that the defense presented,

they pointed to a very difficult early

childhood of Joshua Komisarjevsky.

The defense said they

turned to prayer instead.

They also pointed to a series of

concussions when he was a boy,

drug use in his teenage

and early twenty years,

all saying it mitigates

what happens.

It means he didn't really

know what was going on,

couldn't make a decision to stop what was

going on that night in July of 2007,

and so his life

should be spared.

No verdict today. We do expect a

verdict by the end of the week.

We're good.

You guys can reach, right?

Oh, Lord, we gather

around this table as family and friends.

We stand at a place

in the trial where

we wonder what will take place.

But we pray, oh, God, that we

will be able to be strong enough

to accept whatever

the outcome may be,

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