Trial Begins For The Second Suspect In the Petit Family Murder Case

The grisly case revolves around the seven-hour abduction of Dr. William Petit, his wife  Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, who were held hostage in their Cheshire, Connecticut home on July 22, 2007.

Komisarjevsky and his accomplice, Steven Hayes, followed Jennifer and Michaela home from a grocery store and claimed they only planned to tie up the family and rob them, but upon discovering William asleep on a couch on the porch, they bludgeoned the father of two and went on to massacre his family as he was restrained by gun point in the basement.

While the man of the house was held hostage, Komisarjevsky allegedly sexually assaulted one of the daughters as they were both tied to their beds.

The abduction came to the attention of the authorities when unsatisfied by what they got from the house, the attackers drove Jennifer to the bank to withdraw $15,000 and the teller called the police.

The nature of the crime escalated as Jennifer was raped and then strangled, and the house was doused in gasoline and set on fire.

Dr. Petit managed to escape and crawl to a neighbor's house to cry for help, but it was too late to save his daughters, who died in the blaze from smoke inhaltaion while still tied to their beds with pillow cases on their heads.

Steven Hayes stood trial last year for his role in the horrifying attack, and it took just hours for a jury to find the bald-headed killer guilty, after which he told the court that, "death would be a welcome relief." He will soon get his wish as he is now on death row awaiting execution.

The trial of 31-year-old Komisarjevsky is expected to be a sharp contrast to the media frenzy that surrounded his accomplice, which captivated viewers, Twitter followers, and even Oprah, who had Dr Petit on her show to talk about his trauma.

The murder suspect's team of court-appointed attorneys, Walter Bansley III, Jeremiah Donovan and Todd Bussert, have taken an aggressive stance and are attempting to have Dr. Petit banned from the court, despite him being a victim of the crime.

He claims that Hayes wanted to kill and torch the family because he was worried about his DNA being in the house, and Komisarjevsky was "stunned" and told his side-kick, "I'm not killing anyone. No one is dying by my hand today.”

Komisarjevsky, who along with Hayes had a long history of residential break-ins, is described by his lawyers as suffering from cognitive problems that caused him to panic in stressful situations.