Updated: Wednesday, 30 Sep 2009, 6:54 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 29 Sep 2009, 7:34 PM EDT
New York (WTNH) - The author of a new book detailing the Cheshire home invasion defended his work against accusations it could help the defense.
Brian McDonald talked about the book in an exclusive interview with News Channel 8. McDonald said the book was written from publicly available information and from over two hours of jail house interviews with suspect Joshua Komisarjevsky, who has yet to go on trial.
"It's not like I raced the trial process up there to beat it," McDonald said. "You know, it's been almost two and a half years (going on two and half years) I started the project. I just finished it before they did."
Asked if he was concerned about the impact his book will have on the trial, McDonald said, "as a human being, sure I have. I think about it. But my job was as a journalist. And, you know, I did my job."
Mark Davis: "I can tell you I sped read through this at lunch and it really appears to be Joshua Komisarjevsky's life story and it really appears to be a 'how to guide' for the defense for mitigating circumstances because his childhood was so terrible. Are you aware of that?"
McDonald: "I disagree with you. It's not just Komisarjevsky's life story. There's reporting all around that. There's the story of the crime. Listen, there was three people who survived that horrible morning and I tried to get in touch with all three of them and only one of them contacted me and that happened to be Joshua Komisarjevsky."
Davis: "I have to tell you, Brian, you know we did an advance story on the book last night and you're taking a terrible beating on our web site from people who are just mad as can be and think this really shouldn't have come out right now."
McDonald: "This was a horrible, horrible thing and you know I didn't discount that. I certainly didn't discount it when I was going through the process of writing it."
Davis: "Did you, at any time, when you visited Komisarjevsky, did you misrepresent to the Department of Correction in Connecticut what you were actually doing?"
McDonald: "I don't think I misrepresented myself. I walked in there, the first time I had a reporter's notebook and a pen... Did they do a good job of screening? I guess they didn't."
Komisarjevsky, and his co-defendant Steven Hayes, are scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court again Thursday. Chances are very good that the topic of this book will come up.
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