Steven Hayes convicted of capital murder in Conneticut family killing

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/05/connecticut.murder.trial/index.html?npt=NP1

On July 23rd 2007, 47 year old Steven Hayes and his accomplice Komisarjevsky went into the house of Dr. William Petit in the middle of the night with the full intentions to commit a very violent crime. They tied William Petit in the basement of his home and beat him bloody. The two men then went upstairs into the master bedroom and found his wife, Jennifer and tied her to her bed. Her youngest daughter, 11 year old Michaela was also sleep in the bed, so the two men led the young girl into her bedroom, tied her to her bed, and suffocated her with a pillow. They then went into the bedroom of the eldest daughter, 17 year old Hayley and did the same. The men then took the mother to the bank and withdraw money in the morning and once she returned, the men set the house on fire and fled the scene. The police found evidence that the mother had been raped and strangled, and that one of the daughters had been sexually assaulted and died of smoke inhalation. As for the father, Dr. William Petit, he was able to escape to a neighbor's home and make it out alive.
In the Media and CJ Policy article, it states, "When the justic system is explicity referred to, it is usually the courts that are portrayed, not as institutions but as backdrops to present information about individual cases." (203) I believe that this statement is true for what was being explained in the article. The media used the ruling of capitol murder in the court room was used as the backdrop in order to present information about the case and allowed the media to go into specific details about the case.In my opion, this crime can be seen as entertainment. The media spins this story in an appealing manner to the reader because it is a case that will play off the readers emotions because it is an sensitive and devestating issue when a person's family is murdered and will be able to gain sympathy from the reader. 

Colleen