A former Norwalk elections official has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for fatally shooting her tenant in 2022 after a jury rejected her self-defense and emotional disturbance claims at trial earlier this year and found her guilty of murder.
Ellen Wink, 65, of Norwalk faced sentencing on Sept. 5 in Stamford Superior Court in connection with the killing of 54-year-old Kurt Lametta, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice.
On June 20, a jury found Wink guilty of murder and criminal lockout, rejecting a claim of self-defense and “extreme emotional disturbance,” DCJ officials said.
Officials said Wink and Lametta had a history of disputes before she shot and killed him on Jan. 20, 2022, at a home on Nelson Avenue that was owned by Wink. During a previous instance, she reportedly threw his belongings out and locked him out of the home when he failed to pay rent, according to previous reports.
Following the shooting, Wink called 911 and told the dispatcher she was involved in a verbal argument with her tenant, adding that “she has a gun and that her tenant came after her because she was cleaning up a little and he was all over the place,” the police report said.
“I am so tired of this guy, he is on the floor,” she told the dispatcher, according to the report.
“Wink said that she kept telling him to get out and had enough,” the report said.
When officers arrived at the home they saw Lametta through a window on the floor and bleeding. They initially did not know who shot him, so police retreated and called for backup before later getting into the home with a key, according to the police report.
Police encountered Wink walking down the driveway of her neighboring home and told her to put her hands up, the report said. She complied and told officers, “I’m Ellen, I called,” according to the report. “My gun is empty.”
According to the report, Wink admitted that she had used the gun to shoot Lametta five times. She told police there was another tenant in the home at the time of the shooting. She described Lametta as “my tenant” and told officers “he’s (expletive) driving me nuts,” the report said.
Wink’s boyfriend spoke to investigators after coming out of the neighboring home and told police that Lametta didn’t pay rent, according to the police report. He also said Wink had told Lametta and the other tenant to move out because she wanted to sell the house.
Wink’s boyfriend told investigators she had told him something along the lines of, “Kurt got in my face and I shot at him,” according to the report. He described Lametta as a “big bully and a big guy,” adding that Wink was reportedly “afraid of him,” the report said.
Wink’s boyfriend and the second tenant told investigators that it was not abnormal for Wink and Lametta to argue, but that they were not known to become physical with one another, according to the report. The tenant told police he heard Lametta on the day of the killing yell, “Call the police,” as well as a loud noise “like loud banging or door slamming or maybe gun shots,” the report said.
According to DCJ officials, Lametta recorded the final moments of the argument on his cell phone, which was used as evidence in the trial.
Wink previously served as the Republican deputy registrar of voters in Norwalk, according to previous reports. She was also a one-time city clerk and candidate for state representative who said public safety was her top priority, reports said.
