State officials have filed new court papers denying that state police played a role in the death of a Newington police officer who was killed in a 2005 murder-suicide by her state trooper ex-boyfriend.
The attorney general's office submitted its response on Monday in Hartford Superior Court to a lawsuit filed against the state last month by Ciara McDermott's family.
Trooper Victor Diaz shot his 30-year-old girlfriend to death in her West Hartford home in November 2005, then killed himself.
Authorities said Diaz used his personal handgun, which state police had seized in March 2005 after Diaz was charged with drunken driving and resisting arrest in Cromwell.
The lawsuit claims state police were negligent when they returned the gun to Diaz's brother in July 2005.
