A Connecticut government official gunned down her tenant this week over a rent payment dispute, police say.
Ellen Wink, 61, was arrested Thursday after she allegedly shot and killed a tenant in her building, 54-year-old Kurt Lametta. Police say it was Wink herself who called the police about the shooting at her Norwalk building, where they arrived to find Lametta suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Wink—a local landlord and the city’s deputy Republican registrar of voters—allegedly copped to the shooting, telling them that Lametta was chronically behind on his rent, according to documents obtained by local news station ABC7,
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“He’s been my tenant and [expletive] driving me nuts,” she said, according to the court documents.
Wink’s boyfriend was at one of her properties nearby and heard the gunshots, according to court documents obtained by The Hour. He told police she was “afraid” of Lametta, and that she shot him because he “got in her face or something.”
A friend of Lametta’s, Joey DiMeglio, told News12 he believed the dispute was over an eviction. “He wasn’t leaving, she wanted him out of there and this is the end result,” he said. (The police report says Wink was attempting to sell the building.)
Wink was previously arrested for locking Lametta out of the house, and allegedly told police that she had also stolen his belongings and taken them to the dump. She has been charged with murder and is being held on a $1 million bond. Wink’s attorney did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
In addition to serving as an election administrator, Wink previously served as the city clerk and also mounted a bid for state representative, according to the Hartford Current. She owns five properties in town, according to local news station News12.
Wink has posted multiple pro-police messages on Facebook in the past, including one she shared just one day before the shooting, which reads: “The current cry is hold police accountable. I truly believe police would do a far better job if COURTS would hold CRIMINALS accountable.”
