- Mary Winkler
-
Mary Carol Winkler (née Freeman; born December 10, 1973) was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2006 shooting death of her husband, Matthew Winkler, the pulpit minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in the small town of Selmer, Tennessee. She gained national attention because of public speculation about her motives and mental health, allegations of abuse by her husband, her brief flight from the state, and again for the brief length of her jail sentence. In August 2008, Winkler was granted full custody of her three daughters.
Contents
Timeline
- 1992: Graduated from South-Doyle High School, part of the Knoxville public school system.
- April 20, 1996: Married Matthew Winkler, by whom she later had three daughters.
- Early spring 2006: Part-time student at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, the same institution from which her husband graduated with a degree in Bible Studies. She was working toward a Bachelor's degree in Education.
- March 22, 2006: Shot and killed her husband and fled south with the children.
- March 23, 2006: Arrested in Alabama and remanded. (Later extradited to Tennessee.)
- August 15, 2006: Released on bond.
- April 19, 2007: Found guilty of voluntary manslaughter.[1]
- August 14, 2007: Released after spending a total of seven months in custody: five months in a county jail and two months in a mental health facility.[2]
- September 12, 2007: Interviewed with American TV talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey.
- September 19, 2007: Won right to supervised visitation with her three daughters.[3]
- May 16, 2008: Returned to court to fight for custody of her daughters, [4]
- August 04, 2008: Gains custody of her three daughters.
Criminal case
Former Winkler residence in Selmer, Tennessee
According to police, Mary Winkler confessed to the March 22, 2006 fatal shooting of her husband, whose body was discovered in their home by church members after he missed that evening's service. He had been shot in the back with a 12 gauge shotgun.[5][6]
The couple had been married since 1996. One neighborhood family reported that Matthew Winkler had repeatedly threatened to shoot that family's dog after it strayed onto the Winklers' lawn. Also, other friends, as well as Mary Winkler's family, allege that Matthew Winkler had been abusive to Mary.[7] Winkler maintained this was the reason for the shooting.
After police issued an Amber Alert due to fears of kidnapping, Mary Winkler and the children (Patricia, then 8; Mary Alice, then 6; Breanna, then 1) were discovered in Orange Beach, Alabama. Winkler was placed into custody there and later extradited to Tennessee to stand trial. When asked by investigators about what had happened to her husband, Winkler stated that she and her husband had argued about money and offered "I guess that's when my ugly came out."[8] A grand jury indicted Winkler on Monday, June 12, 2006, accusing her of first-degree murder.
Bond hearing
On Friday, June 30, 2006: Mary Winkler's bond hearing was held. A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent read a statement Winkler gave to authorities in Alabama, where she was arrested a day after her husband's body was found. In it, Winkler says she did not remember getting the gun but she did know her husband kept a shotgun in their home. The next thing she heard was a loud boom. Matthew Winkler was shot in the back as he lay in bed. He rolled from the bed onto the floor, and, still alive, he asked his wife, "Why?" to which she responded, "I'm sorry." When she left the home, Matthew Winkler was still alive in the bedroom, and the phone had been disconnected from its socket. According to the statement, she and her husband had been arguing throughout the evening about many things, including family finances. She admitted some of the problems were "her fault."[9]
Mary Winkler had lost money in what her lawyer said was a scam. She had deposited checks that came from "unidentified sources" in Canada and Nigeria into bank accounts belonging to her and her husband. The checks amounted to more than $17,000.[10] Winkler had become caught up in a swindle known as the "Nigerian scam", which promises riches to victims who send money to cover the processing expenses.[11] She added "He had really been on me lately criticizing me for things — the way I walk, I eat, everything. It was just building up to a point. I was tired of it. I guess I got to a point and snapped."[citation needed]
Bond was later set at $750,000, an amount that defense lawyer Steve Farese Sr. claimed was excessive and "tantamount to no bond at all". A plea for reduction of bond was filed and subsequently denied. Winkler's lawyers, Leslie Ballin and Steve Farese Sr., also filed motions to throw out her confession on a technicality, to require prosecutors to state whether or not they would seek the death penalty (they did not), to give potential jurors an extensive questionnaire, and other motions relating to voir dire. Winkler's entire defense team -- Attorneys Steve Farese Sr., Leslie Ballin, Tony Farese, Steve Farese, Jr. and Investigator Terry Cox represented her pro bono throughout the entire criminal case.[citation needed]
Trial
On April 18, 2007, Mary Winkler took the stand in her own defense. She told a jury of ten women and two men that her husband often "berated" her and forced her to wear "slutty" costumes for sex. As proof she displayed a pair of high-heeled shoes and a wig to which those in attendance gasped. Winkler claimed that she only shot her husband accidentally. She said that she went to the bedroom closet and retrieved a shotgun because she wanted to force him to work through their problems. "I just wanted him to stop being so mean," she said through tears. Winkler denied she ever actually pulled the trigger, but told the jury "something went off". She heard a boom, then ran from the house because she thought he would be mad at her.[12]
Release from jail
Winkler made bond on August 12, 2006 and was set for release from jail. Initially, problems stemming from a 1999 suspension of her bail bond company kept her in jail. However, she was able to post $750,000 bond and was released on August 15, 2006, on the stipulation that she live with Rudolf and Kathy Thomsen, friends in McMinnville, Tennessee. The trial commenced on April 9, 2007, with the prosecution resting on April 16. The defense rested two days later.[citation needed]
Verdict
On April 19, 2007, the jury came back with the verdict: guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Prosecutors had asked that Winkler be convicted of first-degree murder, but the jury settled on the lesser charge after deliberating for eight hours.[citation needed]
Sentencing
The sentencing phase was set to begin on May 18, 2007, but was delayed due to a scheduling conflict by one of the attorneys. On June 8, 2007, a Tennessee judge sentenced Mary Winkler to 210 days in prison for the conviction of voluntary manslaughter. She had credit for already serving 5 months and the judge permitted her to spend up to 60 days in a Western State Mental Health Facility in Bolivar, Tennessee. She was to be put on probation for the rest of her sentence.[citation needed]
Reaction
Some men's rights activists argue the sentence did not constitute justice for the killing of Matthew Winkler.[13] They argued that society sees males only as victimizers and say that the definition of emotional abuse has been expanded to include mere criticism, thereby giving anyone who does not like being criticized justification to commit murder in order to end the criticism. Mary Winkler's family alleges that she was reacting to a combination of emotional, sexual, and physical spousal abuse.[7]
In a 2007 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Winkler stated that her jail time was too short. "There's no amount of time I think you can put on something like this. I was just ready for them to lock the door and throw away the key", she told Winfrey.[14]
On their 2010 album The Big To Do the band Drive-By Truckers included a song entitled "The Wig He Made Her Wear", chronicling the shooting incident and subsequent trial.
References
- ^ "yahoo news". Sierratimes.com. http://www.sierratimes.com/rss/newswire.php?article=/news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070419/ap_on_re_us/minister_slain&time=1177022050&feed=us. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ "Wife who killed preacher set free". CNN.com. 2007-08-14. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/08/14/preacher.slain/index.html. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4406302&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1
- ^ "Custody Fight Over Mary Winkler's Children Continues". Mary-winkler-news.newslib.com. http://mary-winkler-news.newslib.com/story/7598-506/. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ Commercial Appeal, Memphis[dead link]
- ^ Tennessean.com coverage of case[dead link]
- ^ a b "ABC News: Preacher's Wife Killed Husband Because of Abuse, Family Says". Abcnews.go.com. 2006-11-20. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=2667042&page=1. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ ""Slain preacher's wife denies pulling trigger"". Cnn.com. 2007-04-18. http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/04/18/winkler.testimony/index.html. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ "Mary Winkler's bond hearing". Independentappeal.com. http://www.independentappeal.com/html/winkler/bond2.html. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ "Matthew Winkler Shot over Money", The Crime Library
- ^ The Crime Library, ibid.[dead link]
- ^ "CNN report of trial testimony". Cnn.com. 2007-04-18. http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/04/18/winkler.testimony/index.html. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ "Mary Winkler Sentenced To 3 Years, To Serve 2 Months"[dead link]
- ^ "Oprah interview". Cnn.com. 2007-09-12. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/12/winkler.oprah/index.html. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
External links
- MSNBC: Did preacher's wife get away with murder?
- Dateline: The Preacher's Wife
- The Winkler Case: A four-part series as Mary's trial begins
- Crime Library; Mary Winkler's Arrest
- The Memphis Flyer: Shocker in Selmer
- Fox News; Mary Winkler's Alabama Confession
- CNN News; Wife who killed preacher set free
- The Pastor's Wife: The True Story of a Minister and the Shocking Death that Divided a Family, by Diane Fanning, St. Martin's Press, November 4, 2008
Categories:- 1973 births
- Living people
- American members of the Churches of Christ
- American people convicted of manslaughter
- Prisoners and detainees of Tennessee
- People from Knoxville, Tennessee
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