Connecticut abolishes the death penalty

04-26-2012 • http://www.rawstory.com, Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK — Connecticut abolished the death penalty on Wednesday, but the repeal will not affect 11 people still on death row, including two men convicted over a gruesome 2007 “home invasion” attack.

The bill, signed into law by Governor Dannel Malloy, makes Connecticut the fifth state in as many years to end capital punishment and the 17th overall, meaning one in three US mainland jurisdictions now outlaws the practice.

The legislation was introduced following the high-profile trial of two men sentenced to die for their role in a vicious 2007 attack on the home of prominent doctor William Petit.

Petit was beaten with a baseball bat and tied up while his wife was dragged off to a bank to withdraw money. One of the assailants then raped and strangled her, while his accomplice raped the doctor’s 11-year-old daughter.

The girl and her 17-year-old sister were tied to their beds, doused in fuel and left to burn as the intruders set the house ablaze and fled.