Connecticut home invasion killer loses bid to drop appeals, proceed to execution

VERNON, Conn. – A Connecticut judge has rejected a request by one of two men convicted in the killings of a mother and her two daughters in a home invasion to drop his remaining appeals and proceed to execution.

The Hartford Courant reports (http://cour.at/1dmKn02 ) that a Superior Court judge in Rockville denied Steven Hayes' request for a writ of habeas corpus Wednesday. Hayes says his imprisonment is illegal because delays in his mandatory appeal of his convictions aren't allowing him to be put to death.

Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky (koh-mih-sar-JEF'-skee) are on death row for the 2007 killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, ages 11 and 17, at the family's home in Cheshire. Hawke-Petit's husband, Dr. William Petit, survived.

Hayes, who tried to commit suicide in prison, represented himself in this case.

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Information from: Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com