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As for the two suspects, both have extensive rap sheets. Hayes, who grew up in nearby Winsted, Conn., has a criminal record, with 26 prior convictions, including burglary and weapons charges, stretching back to 1980. Lately he had been living with his mother in a down-at-the-heels condominium. Komisarjevsky, though, comes from a relatively privileged background. His Russian grandfather and grandmother had been prominent figures in dance and the arts. Adopted as an infant, Komisarjevsky had been raised in Cheshire, where his family owned a good deal of property. By the time he was 14, however, he was already in trouble with the police for burglary. By his early 20s, he had become increasingly brazen in his methods. At a sentencing hearing in 2002 after Komisarjevsky was convicted of burglary, the prosecutor pointed out that in contrast to most burglars – who commit their crimes during the day in order to avoid encountering homeowners – Komisarjevsky worked at night, sometimes listening to his victims sleep. He even used night-vision goggles to aid in his crimes. At that same hearing, Komisarjevsky's attorney cited drug problems and alleged molestation – by foster kids his family had taken in – as mitigating factors. Nevertheless, the judge pronounced Komisarjevsky a "calculated, cold-blooded predator."
