Jury selection starts in Conn. home invasion trial

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A judge says he won’t delay jury selection for the trial of a second Connecticut man accused of killing a mother and her two daughters in a brutal home invasion.

Judge Jon Blue said today in New Haven Superior Court that he’ll consider later a defense motion filed to allow Joshua Komisarjevsky to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Jury selection is starting Wednesday and is expected to take months.

Authorities say Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley, in their Cheshire home in 2007. The girl’s father, Dr. William Petit, was beaten but survived.

Hayes, who has blamed Komisarjevsky, was sentenced to death last year.