Backyard Brawl: Should Connecticut Widow Be Allowed to Bury Husband in Her Yard?

It remains her paradise.

Elise Piquet’s backyard is an oasis of relaxation and tranquility.  Her rolling, lush green property contains a centuries old stone wall, healthy, vibrant gardens and a vast assortment of birds and indigenous wildlife.

I should also mention that her late husband is buried there as well.

When she bought the property in the late sixties, the last thing on her mind was how eleven acres in Chester, Connecticut would an ideal location to bury someone.

Decades later, she met Christopher Doll, a native of England.  Doll fell in love with Elise, with Chester, Connecticut, and, as it turns out, the property Elise owned.  After he passed in 2004, Elise did an exhaustive search of local cemeteries, only to learn they were full.  So she decided to bury her soul mate in their “Garden of Eden,” where a visit is never more than just a few steps away.

“I just used to sit on the bench and talk to him.”

But after the funeral director informed the town of the internment, zoning officials told her human burial is prohibited, and that Christopher would have to be moved.  Elise decided to fight, suing the municipality in 2007.

“It’s just a pointless thing, he’s just a bundle of bones now, why not just let him rest in peace?” Elise told me from her back patio.

The case will be heard Tuesday morning before the Connecticut Supreme Court.  Chester’s town attorney John Bennet told the Associated Press the burial violated Connecticut’s health code and local zoning regulations.

“Connecticut laws and regulations require one to get permits for this sort of thing,” he told the AP.

For Elise, she still holds onto the oath of “for better or for worse.”  Her idea of paradise is worth fighting for, even when some no longer have a voice.

“I’m not really a fighter by nature, I have to be goaded like a bull.  But, like the bull, watch out,” she chuckles, smiling confidently.  “It’s been a long battle, and I’m not ready to give in.”

She says if she loses the case here, she’ll appeal to the United States Supreme Court.  I asked her if she has any regrets about this long and emotional ordeal.

“Oh I don’t regret it at all, not at all!” she says confidently, as we stood over her husband’s grave site.

You can watch the story here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LtH71zxfwQ&list=UUFgFRk_6jae5D6KUokxIPfg&index=8&feature=plcp