A federal judge has dismissed a landmark lawsuit brought by the families of four Blackwater contractors killed in Iraq nearly seven years ago. The four men died in a convoy ambush in March 2004 in the city of Fallujah. After being shot, the men’s bodies were dragged through the streets and mutilated. Two of the corpses were strung from a bridge. The victims’ families accused Blackwater of sending them into hostile territory unprepared and without sufficient protection. But after years of delays and a successful Blackwater effort to move the case into private arbitration, U.S. District Judge James Fox dismissed the case on the grounds neither side has paid for the arbitration’s costs. Katy Helvenston, the mother of slain contractor Scott Helvenston, said the case is all but over because the families have run out of money. Helvenston said, “It’s pretty much destroyed my life. I haven’t known one moment of joy since Scotty was slaughtered. I think the worst part is the betrayal from my country.”