The defense in Ellen Wink’s murder trial rested Tuesday afternoon after calling witnesses to support the claims Wink acted under extreme emotional disturbance and in self-defense when she shot and killed her tenant, Kurt Lametta.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Jessica Pearson returned to the stand in the morning, where the prosecution grilled her on her prior testimony—that Wink experienced anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, despair, hopelessness and helplessness due to the stress of Lametta refusing to move out of her property at 16 Nelson Ave. Pearson said all those emotions came to a head on Jan. 20, 2022, with the deadly shooting.

“It's my opinion was that she was overwhelmed, and she experienced a loss of control. And it was due to all of the emotions and experiences we've discussed—in that moment,” Pearson testified.

Pearson, who met with Wink seven times this year and reviewed all the video evidence and reports in the case, first took the stand Monday and said she believes Wink was suffering from extreme emotional distress and felt threatened by Lametta at the time of the shooting. Pearson said Wink told her she saw Lametta move and thought he had a weapon.

“The physical difference between Ms. Wink and Mr. Lametta is very notable. Ms. Wink was a 61-year-old woman and Mr. Lametta was a very substantially sized man,” Pearson told the jury.

Lametta was secretly recording their encounter on his cell phone and ended up unintentionally capturing his own death—video that Assistant State's Attorney Margaret Moscati played during her questioning of Pearson.

“I think you talked about how she said she perceived something in his hand, right?” Moscati asked.

"Correct," Pearson said.

“And that was in a split second?” Moscati continued.

“Yes,” Pearson answered.

“But she doesn't shoot him five times in a split second, right?” asked Moscati.

"It's quite quick, but yes,” Pearson stated.

“She actually shoots him over the course of 11 seconds,” Moscati said.

The violence on the video occurred after Lametta complained about Wink entering the house whenever she wants and throwing out people’s stuff, but both landlord and tenant sounded relatively calm until the first two shots were fired.

“You bastard!” Wink said on the recording, pausing before firing three more times.

Moscati asked Pearson about that break in the shots and how that fits with Pearson’s opinion that this was a loss of control.

"The pause in between, according to her report, is that she saw he continued to come toward her," Pearson responded.

“But two of those shots were in the back, right?” Moscati pointed out.

After the final shot, Lametta fell 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, Wink picked up Lametta’s phone and left the house, appearing to toss the phone in a shrub.

Moscati asked why someone who’s terrified and feared for her life, would walk toward the person and take his phone, rather than immediately leave.

Pearson testified that Wink told her she took the phone to call 911 and get Lametta help but wasn’t able to work it since she didn’t have her glasses, and it was dark in the home. Wink then went outside to try but couldn’t figure out how to use the phone since it was a different kind than hers was, so she placed the phone on a bush, according to Pearson.

But Moscati pointed out that the video dispels that.

“That video shows her in one fell swoop taking the phone, going outside and tossing it in the bush,” Moscati said.

Moscati also questioned Pearson about Wink’s web history, which showed about two dozen searches or site visits regarding guns and hollow point ammunition a week and a half before the fatal shooting.

“Is a visit to a website called ‘Bang: 5 Most Deadly Bullets on the Planet’ consistent with a loss of control 11 days later?" Moscati asked.

Defense Attorney Stephan Seeger has spent much of the trial arguing the shooting was also in self-defense. He pointed to the 911 call Wink made where she told the dispatcher that Lametta came after her and a threat made toward Wink to another tenant of 16 Nelson Ave.

On Tuesday afternoon, Seeger called that tenant to the stand. Ian Roth told the jury that he got into an argument with Lametta, during which Lametta threatened Wink. Roth recorded the fight and said he told Wink about what was said and sent her the audio clip, which was played for the jury.

“I'll straighten her ass out for [expletive] running her mouth to you,” Lametta yelled in the clip.

Seeger also called multiple people who testified to Wink’s peacefulness. Her former boyfriend, James Gavin, also returned to the stand, now for the defense, and talked about how Wink had difficulty evicting Lametta through the formal process.

After the defense rested, the state called a rebuttal witness, a forensic psychiatrist who met with Wink twice and also reviewed the evidence in the case. Dr. Catherine Lewis told the jury that based on all of that, she didn’t find evidence to support the theory Wink was under extreme emotional distress at the time of the shooting. Lewis testified she reached that opinion by looking at Wink’s actions before, during and after the deadly event.

Lewis said the interaction Wink and Lametta had in the minutes leading up to the shooting wasn’t unusual or conflictual, and the two previously had much more intense interactions where Wink didn’t use her weapon.

Lewis also touched on the text messages Wink sent Lametta in the months and weeks before, noting Wink initiated the communication, often sending several texts at a time without a response, including some that were “really quite cruel.”

“If someone is terrified of someone, that would be unusual behavior,” Lewis said.

Lewis also drew attention to the cellphone video of the shooting, calling Wink’s statements after pulling the trigger, “powerful evidence” that explains why she did it.

“She says, ‘Get out! Get out! Get out! Do you think I’m effing with you?!’” Lewis testified, adding Wink didn't say she was terrified and fired because she feared for her life.

Lewis said it's her opinion Wink’s relationship with Lametta caused her stress but didn’t cause a mental health disorder. Instead, Lewis told the jury the shooting was the end of a pattern of behavior with the goal of getting Lametta out of her home.

“The result is extreme, but it’s not an extreme emotional disturbance,” Lewis testified.

The defense began its cross-examination of Lewis late Tuesday but didn’t finish. That will continue Wednesday morning.

Judge John Blawie told both sides to be ready for closing arguments on Wednesday due to the trial being behind schedule. The jury was initially told they’d be done by the end of the week, and there is no court on Thursday due to the Juneteenth holiday.