Jury deliberating in gruesome Connecticut home invasion murders (VIDEO)

The jury in the case of a Connecticut man accused of killing a woman and her two daughters in a grisly 2007 home invasion, began deliberations Wednesday.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, 31, faces a death sentence if convicted over the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17, who died in the attack in Cheshire, Connecticut.

(GlobalPost reports: Second trial in Cheshire, Connecticut home invasion case begins)

Prosecutors say that Komisarjevsky and an alleged accomplice, Steven Hayes, both paroled burglars who had met at a halfway house, broke into the Connecticut home, beat Dr. William Petit with a baseball bat, and — after forcing her to withdraw money from a bank — raped and killed his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Fox News reports.

Michaela and Hayley were tied up and died of smoke inhalation after the home was set on fire, prosecutors say, adding that Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit, and Komisarjevsky sexually molested Michaela.

Hayes was sentenced to death last year for his part in the crime.

Komisarjevsky's attorneys had attempted to reopen their defense Wednesday based on letters from Hayes claiming he had killed 17 people in the Northeast and committed dozens of drugged date rapes.

However, Fox reports, the prosecution said that in fact Komisarjevsky was the leader in the crime, motivated "not just by money but by his interest in 11-year-old Michaela Petit, whom he spotted with her mother earlier at a supermarket."

Judge Jon Blue said that Hayes' claims in the letters, if truthful, would make Hayes one of the greatest serial killers in American history, but that regardless the letters blame Komisarjevsky for much of the home invasion.

The judge denied the request and the jury in the New Haven Superior Court began deliberations at midday on Wednesday after three weeks of graphic testimony.

The 17 charges against Komisarjevsky include murder, kidnapping, arson and sexual assault, Reuters reports.

William Petit, who survived the attack and fled to a neighbor's house to seek help, is attending the Cheshire trial with several members of his family.