- Lawmakers next week are expected to pass a bill abolishing the death penalty in Connecticut.

However, that law only applies to future cases, not the 11 men already on death row.

Fueling that debate locally are two cases in particular: the Petit family murders in Cheshire and the case of Russell Peeler, who was convicted of ordering the deaths of a mother and her young son in their Bridgeport duplex before they could testify against him in another murder trial.