Doctor who heard his wife and daughters being raped and murdered devastated as killer’s death sentence is overturned for being cruel
Dr William Petit was tied up in a basement and forced to listen to brutes rape and murder his wife and daughters
A DOCTOR who was forced to listen as two brutes raped and murdered his wife and daughters has slammed a court's decision to overturn the killer's death sentence.
Dr William Petit was tied up in the basement of his Connecticut home during a brutal robbery in July 2007.
The powerless dad could only sit and listen as Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky raped his wife and daughter, before Hayes murdered all three.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky were sentenced to death after being found guilty of the horrific crimes, but Hayes yesterday had his sentence revoked as it was considered "cruel".
Furious William took to Twitter to slam the decision, saying: "It is a very sad day when a prolonged trial and decision and sentencing by a jury that took 4.5 months to seat is overturned by a legislature that ignores the wishes of the people of CT (Connecticut)."
Hayes raped Dr Petit's wife Jennifer, 48, before strangling her to death, while Komisarjevsky raped their 11-year-old daughter Michaela.
Michaela and her sister Hayley, 17, were then tied to their beds before Hayes set the house on fire - killing them both.
After hearing Hayes rape his wife and one of the brutes say "it will all be over soon" Petit managed to break free from his bonds, realising they were going to kill the whole family.
William managed to crawl to a neighbour's home with his feet still tied, but was unable to get help in time to save his daughters.
After learning of the sentence overturn, the devastated dad added: "The insult is compounded by a Supreme Court that rules on not one but two cases, based on personal opinions and politics and not the law."
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Hayes was sentenced to death in 2010 after being convicted of murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault and 13 other counts.
Komisarjevsky was also sentenced to death in 2011. He and nine others are yet to be re-sentenced after the Connecticut House of Representatives voted to repeal capital punishment in 2012.
Eleven people were on death row in the state when the law was passed, and the death sentence was not offered as an option in any future cases.
They were originally due to still face execution, but this was deemed to be a "cruel and unusual punishment" and their sentences were overturned.
Hayes was the first man to face a re-trial, which ended on Wednesday, and was given six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, as well as an extra 106 years in prison.
Petit and his family, Hayes and his public defender all declined to give evidence in court, saying they had given all the evidence they needed in the first trial.
Superior Court judge Jon C. Blue said: "With the gravity of these crimes and the depravity of your character, nothing more needs to be said."
The pair broke into the Petit family home in what was originally planned to be a robbery.
Dr Petit was badly beaten with a baseball bat before being tied up in the basement as the pair demanded money from him.
They ransacked his home and after finding a banking book with $30,000 in it, ordered Jennifer to a bank forced her to withdraw $15,000.
Terrified Jennifer told the teller what was going on, but the police did not arrive in time to save the tragic family.
When they got home Hayes raped and murdered Jennifer while Komisarjevsky raped the 11-year-old.
Hayes then doused the home in gasoline before setting it alight.
Hayley was able to free herself from the ties, but died in the hallway due to superheated fumes.
Michaela's body was found on her bed but it was unclear how she died.
Facing execution in 2013, Hayes told the New Haven Register: "Death for me will be a welcome relief and I hope it will bring some peace and comfort to those who I have hurt so much."
William has remarried wife Christine since the brutal murders in 2007 and had a son, William Petit III, in 2013 - but never got over the loss of his first family.
A Tweet from Easter shows an image of Michaela, Hayley and Hawke-Petit looking down from Heaven, with the message: "Easter 2016 / Gone but not forgotten."
Connecticut is the 19th state to remove the death penalty from its books.
