The Petit Case

The CBS article.

This is one of the most awful cases of murder and mayhem that I've heard about. Ever. From what I have pieced together from the linked article and various message boards, the bare facts are as follows. (If I have made any glaring errors, please leave me a comment correcting me.)

Around 3:00 AM on Monday morning, July 23rd, two men entered the comfortable home of the Petit family. How they gained entrance has not been revealed. Apparently, they, or one of them, had seen Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her younger daughter, Michaela, 11, in a local grocery, and followed them home. Noting where they lived, the pair then purchased an air rifle. I suppose that, having long criminal records, they couldn't buy a "real" gun.

Anyway, around three in the morning, they dropped in for a little social call. Dr. Petit was not yet home, having been on call. He's an endocrinologist, and apparently, they have to put in some "on call" hours just like family practitioners and internists. For the following six hours, awful things happened in that house. The doctor was beaten with a ball bat and tied up in the basement while his wife and two daughters were raped. When the bank opened at 9:00 AM, one of the cretins forced Mrs. Hawke-Petit to drive him to the bank, where he waited outside while she withdrew 15 grand. In a desperately courageous move, Mrs. Hawke-Petit told the teller that she needed the money because her children were being held hostage. The teller called the police.

When the police got to the house, it was engulfed in flames. The two sub-humans ran out and got into the Petits' car and took off, ramming several police cars before they were captured. The doctor had managed to get to the neighbours' and had also alerted the police. Jennifer had been strangled, Michaela was tied to her bed and dead of smoke inhalation, and reports say that Hayley, 17, was in the hallway, also dead from smoke inhalation.

It is crimes like these that strike fear into the hearts of people everywhere. The Petits lived in a nice area, where crime was not all that common. We all feel nervous, and go around locking windows and loading guns, even in a tract house neighbourhood like ours. The very randomness of it, and LE saying "not random," sets my teeth on edge. Is the "Legal" definition of "random" different from mine?

On the message boards, questions are being asked. I've seen, in several cases where one family member survived the attack, a tendency to accuse the survivor until the whole story emerged. This case is no exception. Now, I know as well as the next person that the survivor is always a viable suspect until cleared. Still, I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that I don't think the doctor had anything to do with this. I feel that any questions or inconsistencies in the media reports will be answered as the investigation continues. Some have also asked why Jennifer didn't stay at the bank. All I can say to that is that I hope I never have to find out. I've a feeling I'd have gone back to the house, if the kidnapper's partner was there with my children and husband.

Speculation and suggestions of this sort are, I think, an attempt to make sense of this crime. If we can pinpoint something this unfortunate family might have done to prevent this, then we can take precautions accordingly, and it won't happen to us.

Magical thinking.

We've all read/seen "In Cold Blood," and "A Clockwork Orange." Maybe these cretins had, or maybe that is giving them too much credit. Maybe they are just soulless thugs.

One of them was a neighbour. A poster on one crime forum said that Komisarjevsky lived with his parents and daughter (yes, he has a daughter), only a few blocks from the targeted family. Not in a million-dollar mansion, however, but in a smaller, unkempt house. Maybe he was consumed with jealousy.

Or maybe anarchy is breaking out across the land, and we should all look to our weapons, and spend a few hours at the target range.