Metro

Life after death: Slay-horror doc says it’s a joy to start new family

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(AP)

BORN AGAIN: William Petit, whose life was shattered when his family (bottom right– from left, daughters Michaela and Hayley, and wife Jennifer) was murdered, is expecting a child with wife Christine Paluf (above), whom he married last August (upper right). (
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The Connecticut doctor whose wife and daughters were horrifically murdered during a home invasion in 2007 said yesterday he’s ready to begin a “new life” with the child he’s expecting with his newlywed wife.

Tormented for years with survivor’s guilt, Dr. William Petit, 56, is looking forward to brighter days with Christine Paluf, 36, who is due in the first week of December.

“It’s something to be happy over. I was in a pretty dark place,” Petit told The Post from his ranch in Burlington, Conn. “I’m really fortunate. It’s just the beginning of a new life.”

Petit was the lone survivor of a brutal attack by two men who barged into his Cheshire, Conn., home. They held his family hostage for hours, beat and raped his wife, molested one daughter and then burned down the house, while his two daughters were doused in gasoline and tied to their beds.

Petit escaped the inferno to seek help from neighbors, but by surviving the attack, he was left to mourn alone, knowing he couldn’t save his wife Jennifer Hawke Petit and daughters Michaela, 11 and Hayley, 17.

The widower gave up his medical practice and started a charity, the Petit Family Foundation, in memory of his slain wife and daughters. That’s where he met Paluf.

The two will celebrate their first anniversary Monday.

“I felt a little more at peace,” Petit said of meeting Paluf. “She was a big help. She helped me see the light.”

Paluf, a professional photographer, sported a small baby bump at 22 weeks.

“I’m excited,” she said. “It’s moving, so it certainly feels real.”

Her husband, who has endured so much, said he finally has a reason to smile.

“I felt ecstatic,” he said of learning that he would be a dad again.

He’s been practicing with his nieces on how to care for a baby.

“It’s been a long time,” he said. “Hayley would be 24 this year and Michaela would be 18 in the fall.”

He said he’s still somber, with the tragedy only six years behind him.

“I would say it probably gets a little easier and it’s also very hard sometimes, depending on the time of day,” Petit said.