In a relatively swift verdict in a high-profile trial, Steven Hayes was found guilty Tuesday on 16 of 17 charges, including the murder of three members of the Petit family at their home in Cheshire in July 2007.
Hayes, who has been held in custody since the day of the crimes, was found guilty of three each of murder and the kidnapping of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters. He was also found guilty of the first-degree sexual assault of Jennifer Hawke-Petit.
Hayes was found not guilty on only one charge - the arson of the Petit family home. Jurors had raised questions about the details of the charge of first-degree arson and had questions of whether Hayes had actually set the fire.
Hayes now faces the death penalty, which could be his sentence after a separate trial by the same jury that found him guilty. That phase of the case is expected to start on October 18 in state Superior Court in New Haven.
The jury deliberated over 17 criminal charges in a case with a large amount of evidence. They started deliberations on Monday afternoon, and they returned to the courthouse on Tuesday morning. Shortly after 12 noon, the foreman sent a note to Superior Court Judge Jon Blue, who is among the most veteran criminal court judges in the state.
The father of Jennifer Hawke-Petit spoke briefly to the press outside the courthouse, saying that the family was "pleased with the verdict'' and that "justice is being served.''
Dr. William Petit, the only survivor of the attack, thanked all those who had supported the family through the trial.
"We did our best to keep our faith in God that justice would be served,'' he said, adding it was "an appropriate verdict.''
"There is some relief, but my family is still gone. It doesn't bring them back. It doesn't bring back the home we had, but certainly a guilty verdict is a much better sense of relief than a not-guilty verdict.''
Petit's wife, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, had raised money to help fight the disease.
"I thought the evidence was fairly overwhelming,'' Petit said, crediting New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington for successfully presenting the case to the jury.
Petit remained relatively stoic throughout the proceedings, and he said he has often been asked about how he can endure the trial and the grief from the murders of his family. He turned to the reporters outside the courthouse and told them that they are "good human beings'' who would have reacted in a similar fashion under the same circumstances.
"I think you would do the same thing for your families if your family was destroyed by evil,'' Petit said to the reporters. "It's the one thing you can do. ... I do it for my family.''