NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The jury in a notorious Connecticut home invasion killing began its third day of penalty deliberations Sunday morning.
Jurors deciding the fate of triple-murderer Steven Hayes called it a day Saturday afternoon, The Hartford Courant reported.
Hayes was convicted Oct. 5 of torturing and killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, during a home invasion and arson at their Cheshire home on July 23, 2007.
The jury is deciding whether Hayes will live the rest of his life in prison or die by lethal injection.
Jurors Saturday asked to rehear some of prosecutor Michael Dearington's cross-examination of a defense expert witness, Dr. Eric Goldsmith.
Goldsmith testified that Hayes told him that at one point, accomplice Joshua Komisarjevsky told him he had killed the Petit family. The witness said Hayes became enraged and strangled and then raped Hawke-Petit. Goldsmith said the extreme emotional reaction could be mitigating factor in a capital case.
Komisarjevsky goes on trial next year.
