Mary Winkler
| Mary Winkler | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Mary Carol Freeman December 10, 1973 Guys, Tennessee |
| Criminal charge | First-degree murder |
| Spouse(s) | Matthew Winkler (1996–2006) |
| Children | 3 |
| Conviction(s) | Voluntary manslaughter |
Mary Carol Winkler (nee Mary Carol Freeman on December 10, 1973) is an American woman who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2006 shooting of her husband, Matthew Winkler, the pulpit minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in the small town of Selmer, Tennessee.
Winkler gained national attention because of public speculation regarding 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.
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.
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 people as well as Mary Winkler's family, alleged that Matthew Winkler had been abusive to Mary. 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." A grand jury indicted Winkler on June 12, 2006, accusing her of first-degree murder.
On 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."
...
Wikipedia