Town wants body exhumed from backyard

CHESTER, Conn. (WTNH) --  A Chester woman who buried her husband's body in her backyard will go before the state Supreme Court tomorrow as the town tries to force her to exhume his body.

There are eleven acres in Chester's South Wig Hill Road that Elise Piquet finds tranquil and peaceful. However the 82-year-old who has owned the property since 1968 questions whether her late husband has found peace in their backyard paradise.

"It's just a pointless thing, he's just a bundle of bones now, why not just let him rest in peace," Piquet asked.

Christopher Doll passed away in 2004. Piquet believed she found the perfect spot for her soul mate, a Chester "Garden of Eden" where a visit was never more than a few steps away.

"I just used to sit on the bench and talk to him," she said, referring to a concrete bench that sits near his resting spot.

The town took issue with that, telling her zoning regulations prohibit burials on residential property, and that Doll must be moved. However, with four Chester cemeteries full, Piquet made the decision to fight and to sue.

"I'm not really a fighter by nature, I have to be goaded like a bull," Piquet said, "but like the bull, watch out!"

For better or for worse: an oath Piquet feels so strongly about she's taking her case before Connecticut's highest court. Her idea of paradise is worth fighting for, even when some no longer have a voice.

"I don't regret it all," Piquet said, "at all!"

Her case is expected to be heard in Hartford at 10 a.m.

Click here to read continuing coverage of her fight at the Supreme Court.