Connecticut Home Invasion Survivor William Petit Releases Wedding Photo
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Copyright 2012 John Benoit/Courtesy Dr. and Mrs. Petit(NEW YORK) — Dr. William Petit, who survived a home invasion rampage that took the lives of his wife and two daughters in 2007, is remarried and — from the looks of a photo released by the new couple and their photographer — happily so.
Petit, 55, and his bride, Christine Paluf, 34, who were married Sunday in West Hartford, Conn., are shown toasting with full champagne flutes and smiles on their faces — she with a broad open-mouthed smile and he with a fainter, closed-mouthed grin.
According to a description of the event released with the photo, “the bride wore ‘Autumn,’ an ivory lace gown by Connecticut-based designer Modern Trousseau.”
But the tragedy at Petit’s Connecticut home in July 2007 still was on minds, evidently.
“A blessing written by Dr. Petit’s former father-in-law, Rev. Richard Hawke, was shared in remembrance of his family,” the wedding description noted.
Petit’s wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and the couple’s two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were killed during a home invasion carried out by Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky. The mother was raped and strangled, while the girls, tied to their beds, died when the house was set ablaze.
William Petit was the only one to survive. Brutally beaten with a baseball bat and left bound in the basement, he managed to escape to a neighbor’s house. Petit sat in the front row throughout the separate murder and sentencing trials of Hayes and Komisarjevsky.
Both men were convicted and sentenced to be executed and are currently on Connecticut’s death row.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio