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Jury sees still images of Norwalk landlord pointing gun at tenant on Day 5 of murder trial

The still frames were extracted from video secretly recorded by Kurt Lametta on his cellphone of what became his final encounter with his landlord, Ellen Wink.

Marissa Alter

Jun 9, 2025, 11:08 PM

Updated 9 hr ago

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The jury in the murder trial of Ellen Wink, the former Norwalk elections official accused of killing her tenant, on Monday saw images of the defendant pointing her gun at Kurt Lametta during what became a deadly encounter on Jan. 20, 2022.
Those still frames were extracted from video secretly recorded by Lametta on his cellphone of what became his final encounter with his landlord. The footage has been at the center of this case and was presented for a third day—this time with the audio enhanced and with screenshots included.
John Brunetti, with the Connecticut State Forensics Lab, took the stand on the fifth day of the trial to testify about his work enhancing the voices on the video to better hear the argument between Wink and Lametta. In it, Lametta complained about Wink coming into the house at 16 Nelson Ave. and throwing out people’s stuff.
Brunetti also explained how he was able to pull screenshots from that video and enhance the picture by sharpening the focus and adding color. Lametta's phone was in his hand by his side while recording, so Wink’s face was only quickly glimpsed when the video was played. The images shown Monday offered what Lametta might’ve seen in his final moments.
Wink fired five shots that day—which she has admitted, initially telling the 911 operator that Lametta came after her. On cross-examination Monday, Brunetti said he didn’t determine if Wink was walking forward or backward at the time she pulled the trigger.
In the video, two shots rang out, then Wink was heard, saying, “You, bastard!” before firing three more times.
Lametta appeared to fall to the ground, dropping his phone. The video temporarily went black but recorded Wink shouting obscenities at Lametta and repeatedly yelling at him to, “Get out!” A few seconds later, the video showed Wink pick up Lametta’s phone and leave, appearing to toss the phone in a shrub next to the house. One of the still frames presented Monday focused on that.
Before that footage was played again in court, the jury saw a very calm version of Wink in additional police body-camera footage from their response to the shooting. Officer Tiffany Ortiz was the first to question Wink on scene.
"Who had a gun?" Ortiz said in the video.
“I did. Yes, I did," Wink responded.
The footage showed Ortiz putting handcuffs on Wink and walking her to the police car. On the stand, Ortiz testified Wink was cooperative and gave her the code to get into 16 Nelson Ave.
"Do you need my gun? It's in my house," Wink said to Ortiz in the video.
Another clip from Ortiz's body camera caught Wink explaining the situation to then-Lt. Terry Blake, the first supervisor on the scene, whom Wink knew.
“He just [expletive] blew it. Enough is enough!” Wink said.
The prosecution believes the deadly shooting was the culmination of a contentious, monthslong landlord-tenant dispute over back rent and other issues. Wink first told Lametta to move out on Aug. 21, 2021, but he refused to leave. Last week, the jury saw text messages between them that showed tensions escalated in the following months with Wink becoming more frustrated and angry.
Multiple officers testified Monday about prior incidents between the two.
Officer Jake Colletto told the court about one he responded to on Nov. 26, 2021, where he found an “agitated” Lametta after Wink turned the heat and electricity off at 16 Nelson Ave.
Colletto testified he spoke with Wink, who said she was having issues with Lametta and turned the power off because he kept opening the windows in the home. Colletto said he warned Wink she couldn’t just turn the power off and needed to go through the proper eviction channels. He told the court Wink agreed to put the power back on and do so.
Officer Kristen Curran and Officer Gabriel Demott also took the stand regarding harassment complaints made by Lametta against Wink on Oct. 26, 2021, and Oct. 19, 2021. Each was in regard to constant and sometimes insulting text messages he said he received from Wink. The officers testified that both times Wink was told not to have any further contact with Lametta.
“Ellen was made aware she must follow the eviction process in order to get Kurt to leave against his will. Ellen stated that she thought the eviction process was a joke,” Demott wrote in his report about the incident.
The first time police responded to 16 Nelson Ave was on Sept. 18, 2021. At the time, police arrested Wink after they said she locked Lametta out of the home and threw out his belongings. Testimony about that incident, along with body-camera footage, is expected Tuesday.
It’s possible the prosecution could rest its case in the afternoon.
Wink’s attorney began laying the groundwork for a possible self-defense claim. Attorney Stephan Seeger also gave notice of two other possible defenses—extreme emotional disturbance and mental disease or defect.