Conn. man convicted in '07 slaying of Greenville, Pa., native

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- A paroled burglar was convicted Thursday of murdering a woman, formerly of Greenville, Pa., and her two daughters in a gruesome 2007 home invasion in an affluent Connecticut suburb in which family members were tied up, molested, doused in gas and left to die in a fire. He now faces a possible death sentence.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, whose accomplice is already on Connecticut's death row, stood as jurors declared him guilty of all 17 charges he faced, including capital felony killing, kidnapping, arson and sexual assault. He then sat back in his chair and rocked slightly back and forth. He yawned as he was led out of the courtroom.

The only survivor of the attack, Dr. William Petit, bit his lip and closed his eyes as the verdict was read.

"I thought from the beginning that he was a lying sociopathic personality and probably at this moment he doesn't think he is guilty of anything," he told reporters outside the courthouse.

The New Haven Superior Court jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days before delivering a verdict and will decide later whether Komisarjevsky, 31, should be executed or sentenced to life in prison. The penalty phase will conclude the second and final trial in a case that unsettled suburb dwellers across the country and bolstered efforts to keep the death penalty in Connecticut.

Komisarjevsky's co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death last year after he was convicted of raping and strangling Jennifer Hawke-Petit and killing her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley, who died of smoke inhalation.