A jury recommended Friday that Joshua Komisarjevsky receive the death penalty for his role in a deadly Connecticut home invasion in 2007 . The decision was made after more than five days of deliberations following a six-week penalty phase of a case whose grisly details may have helped slow efforts to abolish capital punishment in Connecticut . `` We believe justice has been served , '' said William Petit , the sole survivor of a brutal attack that left his wife and two daughters dead in their Cheshire , Connecticut home . `` We think society will be a little safer with he and his co-defendant locked up and facing the death penalty . '' Flanked by family members , Petit thanked jurors for Friday 's decision , acknowledging the public support he says he 's received throughout the duration of the trial . Still , Petit said , there 's never complete closure when you lose your family . Judge Jon Blue is expected weigh the jury 's recommendation in sentencing Komisarjevsky , who was convicted in October on six capital felony charges . The 12-member jury voted for death by lethal injection on each of the six counts . Sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. January 27 . Blue also instructed jurors not to comment on Friday 's decision to avoid jeopardizing the verdict . `` You have done something many people find impossible , '' said Blue , acknowledging that jurors had been `` exposed to profoundly disturbing evidence . '' Komisarjevsky , 31 , showed little emotion as authorities led him out of the courtroom in handcuffs . His accomplice , Steven Hayes , the first defendant to stand trial in the case , was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him on 16 of 17 charges last year . Prosecutors argued that Hayes and Komisarjevsky went into the Petit home , beat and tied up William Petit , raped and strangled his wife , molested one of their daughters and set the house on fire before attempting to flee . Before assaulting and killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit , Hayes forced her to go to a bank and withdraw $ 15,000 from an account after finding evidence that the account held between $ 20,000 and $ 30,000 , authorities said . The two daughters , who were both tied to their beds , died of smoke inhalation , while William Petit managed to escape from the basement , where he had been held . Before the home invasion and murders , Hayes had been charged with third-degree burglary in 2003 and sentenced to five years in prison . He was released only three years later to a halfway house , where he met the man who would later become his accomplice . Komisarjevsky 's attorneys have petitioned for leniency , arguing that their client had no prior history of violence , was abused as a child and had been committed to a mental hospital for depression . `` Its just wrong ( for jurors ) to give their authorization ... to kill this man , '' attorney Jeremiah Donovan said . `` Appropriate punishment in this case is to confine Joshua in a state prison . '' He called Komisarjevsky 's family dysfunctional , pointing to his uncle , Chris , who told reporters that he supported the jurors ' decision and that Joshua had to take responsibility for his actions . `` The crime was monstrous and beyond anyone 's comprehension , '' he said , offering his apologies to the Petit family .
Cohen 's lawyers say that defending their client is wrong . Komisarjevsky was convicted in October on six felony charges . His attorney , Steven Petit , has been sentenced to death . ` ` We believe justice has been served , '' Judge Petit says .