Defense attorneys Patrick Culligan (left) and Thomas Ullman (right).
Moments after a Judge formally sentenced Steven Hayes to die for his role in a triple-murder in Cheshire, his defense attorney said his client is already “dead inside.”
Hayes was sentenced Thursday morning in Superior Court on Church Street in New Haven. Judge Jon C. Blue handed down six death sentences to Hayes, whom a jury had found guilty of a variety charges stemming from a brutal home invasion, sexual assault, arson, and murder in Cheshire in 2007. That murder took the wife and daughters of Cheshire doctor, William Petit.
In an emotional courtroom scene, Petit said on Thursday morning that he has considered suicide many times since the murder of his family. Read his statement here.
Petit’s tearful statement was a marked contrast with courtroom remarks from Hayes. Reading from a statement laid out in bold type, Hayes flatly expressed his gratitude for the death sentence. He has attempted suicide in the past. Read Hayes’ statement here.
Hayes said he cannot find the words to express his regret for his actions. He said he is tormented by the memories of the incident and welcomed death as a relief.
Afterward, outside the courthouse, Hayes’ defense attorneys, Tom Ullman and Patrick Culligan, faced a phalanx of TV cameras. They spoke about Hayes’ desire to die and decried the death sentence.
“I was embarrassed for us as a society,” Ullman said. “It was a a barbaric sentence.”
Culligan said Hayes is a “very severely depressed person.”
“He’s what you saw of him,” Ullman (pictured below) said to the reporters. He’s emotionless, he said. “He’s basically dead inside. Just a shell of a human being.”
Previous Independent coverage of the Petit trial:
• Day One: Deceptive Calm
• Day Two: It Was All About “The Girls”
• Day Three: Defense Strategy Emerges: Spread The Blame
• Day Four: Pieces Fall Into Place
• Day Five: Numbers Tell A Story
• Day Six: Suffering Takes Center Stage
• Day Seven: A Gagged Order
• Day Eight: A Quilt & A Puppet Theater Bring Home The Horror
• Day Nine: It’s About Specific Intent
• Day Ten: The Notes Told The Tale
• Day 11: To Save A Life, Lawyers Must Humanize Alleged Monster
• Days Twelve & Thirteen: A Life, In Context
• This Time Around, Petit Jurors Are Yawning, Chuckling
• Will “Coward” = Death?
• Is 11 Enough?
• 2 Men In A Courtroom, 2 Living Hells
• No Rush To Judgement
• Hayes Condemned, “Thrilled”