HARTFORD, Conn. -- Legislative fallout cascaded throughout the state Capitol on Wednesday following the deaths of a prominent doctor's family in Cheshire.

Assistant Senate Minority Leader Sam Caligiuri, R-District 16, whose district encompasses portions of Cheshire, called on Tuesday for change in the review process of parolees.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, 26, of Cheshire and Steven Hayes, 44, of Winsted were arraigned Tuesday in Meriden Superior Court and charged in connection with the deaths of the wife and two children of Dr. William Petit Jr., of Cheshire.

Authorities filed against the men charges that include aggravated sexual assault, assault, arson, robbery, kidnapping, risk of injury to children and larceny. State police said Tuesday night more charges are pending.

Judge Christina G. Dunnell on Tuesday set bond for both Komisarjevsky and Hayes at $15 million and transferred the cases to New Haven Superior Court, where both men are scheduled to appear Aug. 7. Dunnell said she agreed with the high bonds recommended by officials, citing both men's lengthy criminal histories.

Eyewitness News Obtains Criminal Records

The two men have criminal records that span several pages and detail several larceny and burglary charges.

A state Department of Correction spokesman, Brian Garnett, said neither man has been convicted of violent crimes, and both were deemed appropriate candidates for supervised parole.

"Both were on a weekly reporting schedule with their parole officers and had been in full compliance with the requirements of their release, including being employed on a full-time basis," Garnett said.

Komisarjevsky has 18 burglary charges on his criminal record, and Hayes was arrested 26 times on charges of burglary, larceny, drugs and issuing bad checks. Hayes also was arrested on charges of stealing a firearm.

The two men's latest alleged crimes are a lot more serious: They have been accused of a home invasion and triple murder of the Petit family.

Now, some lawmakers, like Caligiuri, are asking how the possibility exists that both men were out on parole as recently as this week.

"The state had a role in the process. We need to know how we can change that and what we can do in the future," Caligiuri said.

State Officials Respond

In a statement submitted to Eyewitness News, the state Department of Correction, a separate entity from the Board of Pardons and Parole, said, "Both offenders were deemed to be appropriate candidates for supervised parole based on their criminal history, which involved the minimum level of violence."

"The board took a look at the history. They took a look at crimes and whether they were violent offenses, and under most standards, the individuals had no history of violent crimes they have now been charged with," said Parole Board Chairman Bob Farr.

Sources told Eyewitness News that Komisarjevky and Hayes may have met in a Hartford halfway house after being released from prison.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Susan Raff reported that both Komisarjevsky and Hayes lived at the Stillman House on Retreat Avenue before being released into the community.

They now face charges in the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and the couple's two daughters -- Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11. The medical examiner has ruled that Hawke-Petit died of asphyxiation due to strangulation and the children died due to smoke inhalation. All three deaths were ruled homicides.

Police said William Petit was assaulted and seriously injured in the incident. He remains at St. Mary's Hospital in stable condition.

Caligiuri said these men seem to have conspired to commit even more heinous crimes, instead of being rehabilitated in the state system.

"How do we review candidates for parole? Even though violence is not in their past record, but it shows what they can do in the future. We have to ask that question," Caligiuri said.

Caligiuri said he plans on talking to the Board of Pardons and Parole on action in an effort to prevent future tragedies.

State Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said Wednesday that in light of the Cheshire home invasion, the state needs to reassess the penalties for those convicted of burglary.

Kissel, who serves as a member of the legislature's Judiciary Committee as well as chairman of the Connecticut Sentencing Task Forece's subcommittee on racial and ethnic disparity, said that the current law considers burglaries to be a non-violent crime.

He suggested that the law be changed to require mandatory prison sentences.

"When someone breaks into a home in the middle of the night, there's a very good chance that the residents of the home are in the house. The perpetrators know this and that is why I think when these offenders are sentenced, they should receive a tougher sentence," Kissel said. "They have clearly violated a person's sense of security in their home."

Hayes is being held at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers while Komisarjevsky is at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield. Both are separated from the general prison population, said Department of Correction spokesman Brian Garnett.

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