Deadly Home Invasion: Family Terror
COOPER (on camera): We learned tonight that the two men accused of killing a mother and her two daughters in a home invasion in Connecticut -- in Connecticut will be charged with capital murder. Now, if convicted, they could face the death penalty. The defendants are career criminals, arrested dozens of times both in and out of prison. And, tonight, we have new details about their lives, their pasts, and how their paths crossed. CNN's Randi Kaye investigates.</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky did attack the Petit family, this is where they may have hatched their plan, Silliman halfway house in Hartford, Connecticut, where they lived for four months. (on camera): Hayes and Komisarjevsky were roommates here, until last November, when the company that runs the halfway house says Hayes tested positive for cocaine. He was immediately sent back to prison. Komisarjevsky stayed on and completed the program, until he was paroled in March. (voice-over): Hayes got out of prison two months ago, and they hooked up again. Bob Pidgeon heads the company that runs Silliman and the residential drug treatment center where the two suspects first met. (on camera): Was there any sign that this might have been coming?</s>BOB PIDGEON, CEO, COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS INC.: You always second- guess yourself when something like this happens. What did we miss? Did they do something that would have indicated that somebody could have predicted this? And we went -- we went through the files. We talked to the staff. There was just nothing.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Pidgeon says the two men worked full-time, but had plenty of free time to hang out together. (on camera): What have you been able to learn from your staff about them? What were they like?</s>PIDGEON: They were routine residents, that there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy about them. There was no talk of violence in the house and there were certainly no violent actions taken by either of them while they were in the house.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Yet, both have long criminal histories. Hayes has been in and out of prison for two decades. His rap sheet includes 27 arrests, including illegal possession of a firearm, burglary, and forgery. Komisarjevsky's past is just as ugly, 20 arrests for burglary and larceny. And that doesn't even include juvenile crimes. Police say he started robbing homes when he was just 14 and sometimes used night- vision goggles. One sentencing judge called him a cold, calculating predator. Hayes grew up in Winsted, Connecticut, about 40 miles from the Petits' home, where Jennifer Hawke-Petit and the couple's two daughters were murdered -- Mrs. Petit strangled, the girls left to die in the fire set by their attackers. Komisarjevsky grew up here, less than two miles from the victims' home. A source close to the Komisarjevsky family says he was adopted as an infant. His grandfather was a leading Russian theatrical director and the son of a princess; his grandmother, a well-known modern dancer. That same source says his parents, born-again Christians, had trouble controlling him. He was home schooled, along with his sister. In recent months, he's been in a custody fight with an ex- girlfriend over their 5-year-old daughter. We tried to talk to Komisarjevsky's parents, but nobody answered the door. His uncle, Chris Komisarjevsky, released this statement: "The crime and the murder of members of the Petit family in Cheshire are horrible. It was a monstrous, deranged act, beyond comprehension. We cannot and will not condone anything the accused have done. Justice needs to take place."</s>COOPER: Randi joins us live now from Cheshire, Connecticut. Randi, you have learned some new information about what the suspects may have been doing within hours of the attack of the Petit home. What -- what have you learned?</s>KAYE (on camera): That's right, Anderson. We have learned that police are investigating -- at least, there are reports tonight that police are investigating these two men in two other burglaries in the same neighborhood, Anderson, within just 24 hours of the attack on the Petit family. We're also learning that those families, too, were at home asleep with their young children. In one case, we're -- we're being told that the -- a carving knife was left on a table. In another case, a picture of the family was taken -- one of those families reportedly saying tonight that we were just one family away from being the family. Police are not commenting on this -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: Unbelievable. Randi Kaye, thanks for that. Up next, in "Raw Politics," the presidential race meets "The Simpsons." Trust us, you will -- you will want to see this. Also ahead, one of the NFL's biggest stars has his day in court. Michael Vick faces a judge, a lot of boos from the crowd, and dog fighting charges. And the bizarre story and dramatic video behind this police chase and fiery crash, ahead on 360.