Two suspects in a burglary and arson that left three people dead and rocked a suburban town last month faced a slew of charges Tuesday in a heavily secured courthouse.

Family members of the victims - the wife and daughters of a prominent doctor, who survived the attack - filled two rows in the packed courtroom. A man was escorted from the courtroom after he yelled "Killer!" as Joshua Komisarjevsky faced the judge. Otherwise, the brief hearing was quiet.

Komisarjevsky, 26, and Steven Hayes, 44, did not enter pleas and spoke only to answer yes or no questions. Department of Corrections special operations team members wearing fatigues and heavy, black vests kept watch on the two.

The men have been held on $15 million bond since July 23, when they are accused of taking the family hostage, killing 48-year-old Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11.

The state medical examiner said Hawke-Petit, who was taken to a bank and forced to withdraw money during the ordeal, was strangled. The girls died from smoke inhalation after the family's suburban Cheshire home was set ablaze.

William Petit Jr. was badly beaten but managed to escape. He did not attend Tuesday's hearing.

Jeremiah Donovan, the attorney appointed to represent Komisarjevsky as a special public defender, acknowledged the challenge of working on such a high-profile case.

"I myself live with a beloved wife and two lovely daughters, but I'm going to defend Joshua with all the ability and all the vigor that I might have," he said.

Komisarjevsky and Hayes, who met in a halfway house and were on parole when the crime occurred, are charged with capital felony, kidnapping, sexual assault, assault, burglary, robbery, arson, larceny and risk of injury to children. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

Smith also admitted she mailed a false campaign finance statement to state election officials while running for her Senate seat in 2002.

Federal prosecutors allege Smith had given her campaign $15,000 illegally siphoned from her businesses, then concealed it as contributions from various individuals.

Smith's husband also pleaded guilty Tuesday. Mark Smith admitted to a tax fraud charge involving $63,000 in withholding taxes due in 2004 from the health care companies.

The Smiths had faced a 17-count indictment in the case. The charges also included tax evasion and tax fraud counts against them both, alleging nearly $1 million in unpaid withholding taxes, as well as campaign-related mail fraud counts against the former legislator.

Each pleaded guilty as part of separate agreements with prosecutors. Though court officials have yet to calculate the punishment recommended under federal sentencing guidelines, their plea agreements suggest prison terms of up to five years each as well as fines.

The couple remains free on bail pending a Nov. 5 sentencing hearing.

Lisa Smith had served two terms in the House of Delegates when she challenged and defeated then-Senate Finance Chairman Oshel Craigo, D-Putnam, in a 2002 election upset. She resigned the Senate seat in December 2004, citing an undisclosed illness.

The Smiths were indicted in early 2006. The case was delayed after Lisa Smith was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. She received treatment at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, and U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers declared her competent in late March.

Lisa Smith remains in a doctor's care and relies of various medications for her mental health, Chambers was told Tuesday.

For the 6th consecutive year, Greenberg Traurig has been selected as the best corporate law firm in Miami by directors serving on boards of publicly traded companies. The results were published in Corporate Board Member magazine's annual Legal Industry Research Study, sponsored by FTI Consulting.

Corporate Board Member/FTI Consulting's annual study identifies the top 20 national corporate law firms and the top five corporate law firms in 25 major metropolitan areas, based on ballots submitted by directors serving on boards of publicly traded companies listed with the NASDAQ Stock Market, New York Stock Exchange, or American Stock Exchange.

"This recognition is especially meaningful to us because it comes from clients and people directly affected by the constantly changing legal and regulatory environment," said Gary Epstein, chair of Greenberg Traurig's national corporate practice. "We work hard to establish and maintain continued confidence and respect of corporate directors, and we are proud and grateful when our efforts are rewarded like this. I believe that we share this recognition with the other Greenberg Traurig corporate lawyers in South Florida, with whom we work on a regular basis, and, in a broader sense, with the entire national corporate practice group, whose resources are always available to us."

"Doing well in our survey has become a singular badge of honor, for the very reason that it doesn't come from the law firms' peers," said William S. Rukeyser, editorial director of Corporate Board Member. "It's an accolade from their customers -- the directors, executives and general counsel who hire them, pay their bills, and thrive or suffer from their advice."

The 40 attorneys in Greenberg Traurig's Corporate and Securities Practice in Miami represent both public and privately-held clients in a wide range of industries and in transactions ranging from multi-billion dollar acquisitions to private equity transactions as well as public and private offerings of securities.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, full-service law firm with 1,700 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The firm is ranked seventh on The American Lawyer's Am Law 100 listing of the largest law firms in the U.S., based on number of lawyers.