Testimony to begin in civil trial against former Norwalk official convicted of murdering tenant

BRIDGEPORT — Testimony is expected to begin Tuesday in the civil trial against Ellen Wink, a former Norwalk official convicted of murdering her tenant, Kurt Lametta, in 2022. Lametta's family has filed a personal injury lawsuit against Wink in state court. The suit is seeking unspecified monetary damages. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wink was found guilty at trial last year of murdering Lametta, and of illegally locking him out of his rental in 2021. Wink has admitted to shooting Lametta during a Jan. 20, 2022, confrontation, but has claimed she did so in self-defense. She was sentenced to 50 years in prison, which she is serving at York Correctional Institution, the state women's prison in Niantic, in East Lyme. Wink, 66, is appealing her conviction and also has challenged it through a habeas corpus petition. Wink appeared in the Bridgeport Judicial District Courthouse earlier this month for jury selection in the civil trial. Lawyers questioned potential jurors on landlord-tenant issues, gun violence and self-defense. Want more Norwalk Hour? The trial is expected to take about two-and-a-half weeks. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Prior to the shooting, Wink and Lametta had a long, contentious relationship that dated back to September 2020. Lametta stopped paying rent around then. In September 2021, Wink locked Lametta out of the home he was renting and threw away his belongings, prosecutors said. She was arrested and charged in that incident. Court papers said Wink let herself in to the Nelson Avenue home on Jan. 20, 2022, to clean out Lametta's refrigerator before putting the home on the market. The 54-year-old Lametta filmed the ensuing confrontation with Wink, and the video captured her fatally shooting him. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wink previously served in the mayor’s office in Norwalk and was that city's Republican deputy registrar of voters.