On Monday, the trial for Joshua Komisarjevsky will begin, four years after the brutal slayings of a Cheshire mother and her two young daughters.
This is the second trial in a case that shocked people in the state of Connecticut and beyond.
Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughter, Michaela, 11, were raped during a night of horrors on July 3, 2007. Michaela, and her sister
Hayley, 17, were also restrained in their home, which was set on fire.
Steven Hayes was the first of two defendants to be tried for the home invasion and murders.
As the second trial begins, here are some of the key moments from the first court case.
January 2010: Jury selection began for Hayes’ but was delayed when Hayes tried to kill himself and was found unconscious in his prison cell. He hoarded medication and tried to overdose, officials said.
April 2010: Hayes changes his plea to guilty. His attorneys immediately ask the judge to deny the plea. A week later, Hayes changes his plea back to not guilty. Around the same time, Komisarjevsky’s lawyers offer for him to plead guilty if he is spared the death penalty.
Local
Sept. 13: Trial begins and jurors see graphic evidence of the crimes.
October 2010: Jury finds Hayes guilty and penalty phase of the trial begins, during which Komisarjevsky’s diary entries are read in court. The entries include Komisarjevsky calling himself a "brazen" master burglar whose life "is defined by risk."
November 2010: Jury decides that Hayes is eligible for the death penalty.
After the trial, the state makes the unprecedented decision to offer post-traumatic stress help for the jurors.
December 2010: Hayes is sentenced to death.
