Connecticut Lawsuit in Murder-Suicide Filed Too Late

The Connecticut Appellate Court has ruled that the mother of a woman killed in a 2002 murder-suicide in Watertown filed a lawsuit against town police too late and can no longer pursue negligence claims.

The court ruled 3-0 Monday in the case of Jennie Finkle, who sued the town and a police officer over the killing of her daughter, Barbara Eckert. Authorities say Eckert’s estranged boyfriend, Mark Tannenbaum, killed Eckert and himself just hours after police released him after arresting him during an argument with Eckert.

Finkle sued the town and three officers in 2003. She withdrew the lawsuit in 2008 and refiled it later that year against the town and a fourth officer.

The Appellate Court ruled the 2008 lawsuit was filed after the two-year statute of limitations expired.