Re: UPDATE: Dr. William Petit, Sole Survivor, Takes Stand in Home Invasion Murder Trial

On Sep 17, 1:50 pm, robbielynn <robbielynnw...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sep 16, 11:30 pm, Mick <m...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:



On Sep 15, 9:00 pm, robbielynn <robbielynnw...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sep 15, 6:43 pm, "bella" <tinydan...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"bella" <tinydan...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CBS/WFSB) Dr. William Petit took the stand on Tuesday,
the second day of the capital murder trial of Steven Hayes, who is accused
of masterminding the 2007 home invasion that ended with Dr. Petit's wife
and two young daughters brutally murdered.

Hayes and another man, Joshua Komisarjevsky, are charged with murder,
sexual assault and other crimes in the killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit,
17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela, at their Cheshire home. Both
defendants face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted..
Komisarjevsky is awaiting trial.

Dr. Petit told jurors that he woke early Monday morning in July 2007 to
pain and felt something warm running down the side of his face; he soon
realized it was blood from being beaten with a baseball bat, according to
CBS affiliate WFSB.

He told jurors how the night before he and his wife and their two
daughters had enjoyed a normal Sunday evening, eating a family dinner and
hanging out together before Dr. Petit says he fell asleep on the couch
reading, the station reports.

He then told jurors about being tied up and taken to the basement of the
house, fearing the worst was happening to his wife and children. Dr. Petit
said a piece of cloth he would later learn was a blanket that belonged to
his youngest daughter was placed over his head. One of the men asked him
at one point where the safe was, telling him "If you give us what we want,
we won't hurt you," according to WFSB.

That would apparently turn out to be a lie.

Dr. Petit described his attempts to free his hands while he heard
commotion upstairs and a male voice telling his wife to get dressed and
grab the checkbook so they could withdraw money from their bank. He also
recalled hearing his wife call his office to tell them he was feeling ill
and would not be in that day.

Dr. Petit said he heard some sort of moan from upstairs and when he yelled
upstairs he says he was answered by a sinister voice he had not heard
before that morning. It told him "Don't worry, it's going to be over in a
few minutes."

According to Dr. Petit's testimony, the tone of the voice provided him
with the adrenaline boost he needed to finally break the ties around his
hands and escape the house. He described trying to jump, crawl and finally
roll to his neighbor's house for help, the station reported.

Unfortunately, Petit's actions did not save his family.

The state showed jurors photos of Petit's injuries, including a gash on
his forehead and several gashes to the back of his head. Jurors were also
showed photos of the Cheshire home's basement area, which show a massive
amount of blood around the pole Petit was tied to. Also presented were
photos of the pressure marks on Petit's legs from the ties, according to
WFSB.

After the attacks, the state testified that Petit needed a blood
transfusion after losing 6 to 7 pints of blood.

article continues at link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20016551-504083.html

More in-depth history of the crime below:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-504083_162-504083.html?keyword=william+pe...

Complete article at link:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/14/police-captain-questioned-police...

Timeline and questions as to the swiftness of police response to bank
tellers 911 call.

On Wednesday, defense attorney Thomas J. Ullmann questioned Vignola on the
timeliness of his department's response and possible mishaps in police
procedure.

Ullman pointed specifically to a timeline that showed 33 minutes elapsed
from a 911 call about a possible hostage situation to police confirmation
that at least one family member -- Dr. Petit -- was in distress, CTnow.com
reports.
At 9:21 a.m., police reportedly received a phone call from an employee at a
Bank of America branch in Cheshire, alerting them that Hawke-Petit had just
withdrawn $15,000 in cash and had told a bank teller her family was being
held hostage.

At 9:25 a.m., all police units were alerted to a possible hostage situation
at the Petit home, CTnow.com reports. By 9:45 a.m., patrol units had been
set up at each end of the Petit's street and at 9:54 a.m., Petit was
reportedly found severely beaten in his neighbor's driveway.

Vignola said he told officers not to enter the home until a perimeter was
set, CTnow.com reports. He said he had no information to indicate there was
violence inside the home and said police followed proper protocol in their
response to a possible hostage situation.

Ullman also questioned Vignola about an officer who reportedly went to the
police department first to get SWAT gear before driving to the family's
home.

"No phone call was made from any police officer to the home?" Ullmann
reportedly asked.

"That's correct," Vignola said.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That whole SWAT delay was ridiculous. There were two men in the
house, why couldn't 6 officers surrounded the house and worked
their way in? That delay killed those women.

Of course, NOT having the delay might not have saved the women and
might ahve killed a few cops, too.  It's really hard to second guess a
hostage situation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Right, but no phone ccall or bull horn to distract the horrors going
on inside might have helped!!!

And maybe not. You weren't there.
.

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