William Petit

Last updated
Jennifer Hawke
​
​
(m. 1985;died 2007)​
Christine Paluf
​
(m. 2012)​
William Petit
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 22nd district
In office
January 4, 2017 –January 4, 2023
Children3 (2 deceased)

William A. Petit Jr. (born September 24, 1956) [1] is an American former physician and politician. A Republican, he represented District 22 (Plainville and formerly part of New Britain) in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023. A former physician, he was the sole survivor of the 2007 Cheshire home invasion, in which his wife and two daughters were murdered.

Contents

Early life and education

Petit was born in Southington [1] and grew up in Plainville, where his father had a general store and was on the school board and the town council as well as being a member of the Republican state central committee. [2] [3] After graduating from Plainville High School, he earned an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in endocrinology at the Yale University School of Medicine. [4]

Practice as a physician and home invasion

In 1989, Petit entered private practice in Plainville. In 1989, he also became medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center at New Britain General Hospital, now a campus of The Hospital of Central Connecticut, and from 1994 to 2008 he served as Director of Public Health for Plainville. [4]

On July 23, 2007, Petit's wife, Jennifer, and two daughters were murdered in a home invasion robbery and arson at their house in Cheshire. Mrs. Petit and one of her daughters were raped before their deaths. Despite serious injuries from a baseball bat, Petit escaped and was the only survivor. [3] [5]

Philanthropy and advocacy

In the years following the loss of his family, Petit attended the trials of the two attackers who were later both convicted of murder, [3] [5] and devoted himself to philanthropy. In 2007, he founded the Petit Family Foundation, which supports education, especially of women in science; people affected by chronic illnesses (his wife had multiple sclerosis); and assistance to victims of violence. [3] [4] [6] He also advocated for victims' rights and in defense of the death penalty. [7]

In 2012, the Democratic-controlled state legislature of Connecticut and Governor Dannel Malloy abolished the death penalty for future crimes. 11 men remained on the state's death row until 2015, when the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled, by a vote of 4-3, in State v. Santiago, that applying the death penalty only for past cases was unconstitutional, thus ending the death penalty in Connecticut. The two attackers were subsequently re-sentenced to life without parole. [2] [3] [8]

Political career

In 2014 Petit, a Republican, considered running for Congress in the 5th district against then freshman Democrat Elizabeth Esty, but decided against it. [3] [5] [7] He also declined to run for the seat in 2018. [9]

In the 2016 election, he won election to the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 22nd district, defeating 11-term incumbent Democrat Elizabeth "Betty" Boukus. [2] [3] He defeated Democrat Richard Ireland Jr. for his second term in 2018 [6] and ran unopposed for reelection in 2020. [10]

Petit declined to run for reelection in 2022. [11] [12]

Personal life

On April 13, 1985, Petit married Jennifer Hawke (1958-2007), [13] in Meadville, Pennsylvania with whom he had two daughters:

Petit's daughters, Hayley and Michaela, were 17 and 11 when they and his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit were murdered. In 2012, he remarried to Christine Paluf, a photographer whom he met when she volunteered for the Petit Foundation. [3] [16] They have a son:

Petit and his family reside in Farmington, Connecticut. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jodi Rell</span> Governor of Connecticut from 2004 to 2011

Mary Carolyn "Jodi" Rell is an American former politician who served as the 87th governor of Connecticut from 2004 to 2011. Rell also served as the state's 105th lieutenant governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004 under Governor John G. Rowland, and became governor after Rowland resigned from office. She remains the most recent Republican governor of Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dannel Malloy</span> American politician (born 1955)

Dannel Patrick Malloy is an American politician, who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. On July 1, 2019, he began his tenure as the Chancellor of the University of Maine System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Caligiuri</span> American politician

Sam S. F. Caligiuri is an American lawyer and former Connecticut State Senator. In 2010, he ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, but switched for a House seat in Connecticut's 5th congressional district. He was ultimately unsuccessful, losing behind Chris Murphy, 54-46%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew J. McDonald</span> American judge (born 1966)

Andrew J. McDonald is an American judge and former politician from Connecticut. He serves as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denise Merrill</span> American politician

Denise W. Merrill is an American politician who most recently served as the Connecticut Secretary of the State from 2011 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Merrill was previously a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheshire home invasion murders</span> 2007 triple-murder in Cheshire, Connecticut, US

On July 23, 2007, Linda Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky invaded the residence of the Petit family in Cheshire, Connecticut. Though initially planning only to rob the house, Hayes and Komisarjevsky murdered Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit. Their father, Dr. William Petit, escaped with severe injuries.

Crime rates in Connecticut are lower than in the United States as a whole and have fallen significantly over the past decade, according to the 2021 Crime in Connecticut Report. This pattern holds true overall, and for most types of crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Aresimowicz</span> American politician

Joe Aresimowicz is a former American Democratic politician serving as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives and former Speaker of the House. From 2013 to 2017, he served as Majority Leader.

Henri Martin is a Republican member of the Connecticut State Senate. First elected to the Senate in 2014, he has represented Connecticut's 31st State Senate district since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Bronin</span> American politician and lawyer

Luke Aaron Bronin is an American politician and lawyer who was the 67th mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, serving from January 1, 2016, to January 1, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Connecticut gubernatorial election</span>

The 2018 Connecticut gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor and lieutenant governor of Connecticut, concurrently with the election of Connecticut's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. This race's Democratic margin of victory was the closest to the national average of 3.1 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Sampson (politician)</span> American politician

Robert Charles Sampson is an American politician from Connecticut. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 2010 to the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 80th House district, serving four terms (2011–2018). Since 2019, he has been a member of the Connecticut State Senate, elected from the 16th Senate District.

Shawn T. Wooden is an American attorney and politician who served as the state treasurer of Connecticut between January 2019 and January 2023. Wooden previously served as a member of the Hartford City Council.

Thomas Drummond Ritter is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and retired politician from Connecticut who was the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1993-1998.

Edwin Vargas Jr. is an American politician who served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 6th district in 2013. Before his election to the state house, Vargas made numerous runs for local office in Connecticut, stretching back to 1977, which mainly focused around the theme that Hispanic communities were not represented sufficiently in politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Connecticut Senate election</span>

The 2018 Connecticut Senate election was held on November 6, 2018, concurrently with the elections for the Connecticut House of Representatives, to elect members to the Connecticut General Assembly. All 36 seats in the Connecticut Senate were up for election. The election resulted in Democrats expanding control in both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly, ending the split control in the Senate, that had been in place since the 2016 elections. Primary elections were held on August 14, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayoral elections in Hartford, Connecticut</span> Elections for mayor in Hartford, Connecticut

Elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Hartford, Connecticut.

Joseph M. Suggs Jr. is an American politician who served as Connecticut State Treasurer from 1993 to 1995.

Miles S. Rapoport is an American politician who served as Secretary of the State of Connecticut from 1995 to 1999. A progressive Democrat, he went on to serve as president of Demos and Common Cause.

References

  1. 1 2 "William Petit, Jr.'s Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Leukhardt, Bill (November 8, 2016). "William Petit Jr. Unseats Longtime Incumbent Betty Boukus". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on July 7, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Foderaro, Lisa W. (March 2, 2018). "From Gruesome Tragedy Emerges a New Life in Politics". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "About State Representative William A. Petit Jr". Connecticut House GOP. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Altimari, Daniela (July 21, 2017). "From Years Of Despair, Petit Rebuilds Family, New Life". Hartford Courant.
  6. 1 2 Murphy, Kayla (November 7, 2018). "Petit wins second term in 22nd House District". New Britain Herald.
  7. 1 2 Pazniokas, Mark (February 5, 2014). "Dr. William Petit will not run for Congress". The Connecticut Mirror.
  8. ↑ Death Penalty info by state, deathpenaltyinfo.org. Accessed 21 January 2023.
  9. ↑ Pazniokas, Mark (April 25, 2018). "GOP fails in its courtship of Bill Petit for Congress". The Connecticut Mirror.
  10. ↑ Corica, Susan (November 3, 2020). "Petit, running unopposed, to begin third term as state rep for Plainville, New Britain". New Britain Herald.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Brian M. (May 10, 2022). "Rep. Bill Petit will not seek reelection". The Bristol Press.
  12. ↑ Buchanan, Jesse (May 12, 2022). "Petit not seeking re-election in House district that now includes Southington". Record-Journal.
  13. ↑ "Jennifer Hawke-Petit Obituary (2007) - Plainville, CT - Hartford Courant". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  14. ↑ "Hayley Petit Obituary (2007) - Plainville, CT - Hartford Courant". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  15. ↑ "Michaela Petit Obituary (2007) - Plainville, CT - Hartford Courant". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  16. ↑ Egan, Nicole Weisensee (August 9, 2012). "Dr. William Petit Remarries Five Years After Family Tragedy". People.
  17. ↑ "Dad rebuilds life after family was bound, tortured and murdered". 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.