HARTFORD, Conn., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A man charged with murder in a home invasion robbery in Connecticut could face the death penalty if convicted, authorities said.
Steven Hayes is one of two men charged in the July 2007 killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, during a home invasion in Cheshire, Conn., the Hartford Courant reported.
Hayes faces capital felony and multiple murder, kidnapping, rape and arson charges in a trial set to start Monday.
Hayes has repeatedly offered to plead guilty to the charges in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release, offers refused by prosecutors.
Dr. William Petit Jr., the only survivor of the break-in and attack in the family home, will attend the trial despite defense efforts to bar him from the courtroom except when he is testifying, the Courant reported.
All other witnesses in the trial are allowed in the courtroom only when they testify.
The attempt to keep Petit out of the courtroom "only serves to delay the proceedings, insult the victim, again, and revictimize the victim," Michelle S. Cruz, the state's victim advocate, said.
Cruz cited state law that allows victims who are also witnesses to attend court proceedings.
