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Courant.com
Mother, Two Daughters Killed In Cheshire Home Invasion
BY COLIN POITRAS, DAVE ALTIMARI, HILDA MUÑOZ, MATTHEW KAUFFMAN and MARY ELLEN FILLO
Courant Staff Writers
5:36 PM EDT, July 23, 2007
CHESHIRE
A mother and her two daughters were killed during a home invasion Monday morning that ended with the arrest of two suspects who rammed several police cars as they tried to escape, authorities said.
A fourth family member -- the woman's husband and the father of the girls -- was badly beaten in the hours-long invasion. He was in serious but stable condition at St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury.
Sources identified the victims as Jennifer Hawke-Petit, a nurse at Cheshire Academy; William A. Petit Jr., a doctor at New Britain General Hospital; and their two daughters, Hayley and Michaela. "This is a very sad day for us. This is a horrible tragedy," a somber Michael Milone, Cheshire's town manager, said at an afternoon press conference.
Cheshire police Lt. Jay Markella said the invasion started in the early morning -- perhaps 3 a.m. At around 9 a.m., one of the suspects forced Hawke-Petit to drive to a local Bank of America branch and withdraw money, while the other assailant remained in the home with the rest of the family, sources said. Hawke-Petit was able to alert a bank employee that her family was being held hostage.
Bank employees contacted Cheshire police, and an officer dispatched to the home at 300 Sorghum Mill Drive found the house in flames, state police said. Two suspects then attempted to flee in a car and crashed into the officer's cruiser. Two other Cheshire officers set up a roadblock a short distance away and the suspects rammed those police cars as well. The suspects were then taken into custody, state police said. No officers were injured.
Police have not released the names of the two men in custody.
A source said William Petit had been badly beaten around the head, and stumbled out of the house while it was burning. He was able to make it to a neighbor's home to seek help. The other family members were found dead in the home. The cause of their deaths is unclear. The office of the chief state medical examiner plans to perform autopsies Tuesday.
Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, was a nurse at the Richmond Health Center at Cheshire Academy. She had previously been a nurse at Yale-New Haven Hospital and was a Penn State graduate. She also has been involved with the Girl Scouts and Habitat for Humanity.
William Petit, 50, a prominent endocrinologist, is the medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at The Hospital of Central Connecticut, and president of the Hartford County Medical Association. He is a past president of the state chapter of the American Diabetes Association and was elected to the ADA Hall of Merit in 1994.
Hayley, 17, graduated in June from Miss Porter's School, where she was co-editor in chief of Chautauqua, the school's "journal of scholarly writing." She also was co-captain of the crew team and a member of the cross country and basketball teams. She was set to attend Dartmouth College, her father's alma mater, and planned to study medicine.
Jennifer Hawke-Petit was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eight years ago, when Hayley was in fourth grade. The family became active in the Connecticut chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Hayley, inspired by an aunt's efforts to raise money for MS in North Carolina, formed a fundraising team called "Hayley's Hope."
Over the past eight years she raised more than $54,000, and was honored at Miss Porter's this spring by Women Against MS, a grassroots advocacy group.
Her younger sister Michaela was going to take over Hayley's legacy, and "add Michaela's Miracle to Hayley's Hope," according the school's website.
Burch Ford, head of school at Miss Porter's, called Hayley a wonderful human being, loved by her classmates and respected by everyone.
"She was a leader in every way, both publicly and privately," Ford said.
One of 81 young women in Miss Porter's Class of 2007, Hayley was very service oriented, very thoughtful, not someone who drew attention to herself, Ford said. Both parents were active supporters of the school and regulars at parent events and on the sidelines at their daughter's games and regattas.
"This would be terrible for anybody, but this is going to hit the community so hard," Ford said. "Even more so because the family was such a presence."
Bill Gavin, a neighbor of the Petits, said he heard firetrucks roaring down the street and saw the back of the house in flames. He said a firefighter used a ladder to climb to a 2nd floor window, but quickly retreated. He said all of the firefighters then got behind the firetruck and SWAT team members moved in.
Jennifer Ferraiolo at 290 Sorghum Mill Drive said she spoke to William Petit Jr. at 7:30 Sunday night and he appeared fine. "They are the nicest people," she said. "Obviously they were targeted. It's very hard to understand."
