Posted on 03/24/2006 8:28:46 AM PST by Blogger
Slain Minister's Wife to Be Charged With Murder Friday, March 24, 2006 MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The wife of a Tennessee pastor found shot dead in his house Wednesday will face first-degree murder charges, authorities announced Friday.
Mary Winklerwas found Thursday night with the couple's three daughters in Orange Beach, Ala., about 400 miles south of their home in Selmer.
Investigators with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said she was interviewed during the night and the charges were being prepared.
"We've interviewed her and she was cooperative," said Jennifer Johnson of the TBI, adding that once a warrant with the charges was drawn up, extradition proceedings would begin to have her returned to Tennessee.
Matthew Winkler was found shot to death in the bedroom of his parsonage Wednesday by church members who began searching for him after he failed to show up at an evening event at Selmer's Church of Christ.
Police said there were no signs of forced entry, but Winkler's wife and children — Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8 — were gone.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A pastor is also a minister but he's one who has a real heart to 'pastor' his people. Our pastor is an ordained minister but he truly loves our congregation and does everything he can to help us grow and change. I've known a lot of ministers who weren't pastoral at all.
I realized that later. I have attended a local Church of Christ church and it's sure not pentacostal. I liked the people there and a couple of them were leading a bible study close to my house back then.
In most all main-stream churches of Christ, the minister is the "minister". The pastors of the congregation are the Elders, also called Shepherds. Men appointed by the congregation to lead that congregation spiritually, and make decisions or settle disagreements regarding spiritual/doctrinal issues. The authority for Elders/Pastors/Shepherds is found in I Timothy and Titus. Now, I have know of some church of Christ ministers that were also an Elder in that congregation, but that is pretty rare since the Elders/Pastors are the ones that hire/fire the minister. And now most congregations have 2-3 ministers. Usually there is the pulpit minister...the man that is the main minister to prepare and deliver at the Sunday morning and evening worship services. Some have an associate minister who fills in when the pulpit minister is sick, on vacation or off doing a gospel meeting. Most congregations now have a "youth minister" or "family life" minister. These men concentrate on teaching and coordinating the youth group. It is my understanding that Matthew Winkler was a "youth" minister at the congregation he was at before going to Selmer last year to be the pulpit minister. In small congregations, like the one in Selmer, the pulpit minister fills all niches. And some congregations have an "education" minister. The man who coordinates the Bible class program. These are all paid positions. The Elders/Pastors/Shepherds are unpaid.
I think the president you are thinking of was Garfield.
"Maybe you can call it the "728b 'ers list"."
:-)
"When we walk with the Lord; In the light of His Word; What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will; He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey."
Nancy Grace had the Tenn State Med Examiner on her show tonight who gave a few highlights of the autopsy and even those are puzzling.
There was much, much more to the program, including another appearance by Farese, speaking about the prelim today; a panel of more clergymen from various faiths, including a rabbi; then the ME; and then the grand finale for the angry church of Christ letter-writers, a few minutes with Dr. Rubel Shelly.
Somebody finally pinned Farese down on *something*! Possible PPD defense, for those who called it. Note "possible".
~~~~
http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/18272.asp
WTVF - Nashville, TN
Postpartum Depression Possible Defense, Winkler’s Attorney Says
Posted: 3/29/2006 11:04:00 PM
Updated: 3/29/2006 11:53:29 PM
It's the question everyone is asking: What led a minister's wife to kill her husband?
Authorities said Mary Winkler not only confessed but also gave a motive for killing her husband Matthew.
That motive has yet to be made public, but her attorney Steve Farese is less hesitant to discuss one possible defense; postpartum depression.
"This is certainly one of the things we are looking into. Of course, she has a 1-year-old child, and we have certain information that lead us to believe that is something that needs to be investigated fully," said Steve Farese, Mary Winkler's attorney.
Winkler is back in the courtroom Thursday morning for a bond hearing. Meanwhile, the three children are with Matthews parents.
NewsChannel 5 Plus will carry the hearing Thursday live, starting at 9 a.m.
http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=4700962
Silence surrounds Winkler case
March 29, 2006, 09:43 PM CST
Since her arrest last week Mary Winkler has said nothing about the charges against her.
That silence may be fueling the speculation surrounding her case...conjecture that legal experts say is pointless.
Former U-S attorney Veronica Coleman-Davis says there's no point in speculating what Mary Winkler was thinking at the time her husband was shot to death.
"People ask the question well why would somebody do that? None of the answers are ever really good and often they're not what anybody expects either," says Davis.
And in cases like Mary Winkler's sometimes the answers never come.
"She could plead guilty without an insanity plea and let the prosecution recite the facts as they know them and she could go to jail and never say a word." said Coleman-Davis.
What we do know is Winkler is expected to enter a plea of NOT guilty in just a few hours. If prosecutors don't seek the death penalty a judge could set bond on a first degree murder charge.
"The bond I think will be quite high." said Coleman Davis.
Higher still because Winkler left the state after the shooting and could be considered a flight risk. The rest is a guessing game.
Coleman-Davis reminds us that the burden of proof is on prosecutors. She says trying to anticipate the defense strategy goes against the grain of the judicial system.
Leslie Ballin, an attorney on Winkler's defense team, says a plea agreement would forego the necessity of a trial.
"One of my jobs as a defense lawyer in this case will be to sit down with the prosecution to see if there is some kind of arrangement that can be reached." said Ballin.
In that event a jury would never hear the details of the case and we may never know what went wrong within the walls of the Winkler's home in Selmer.
I can only imagine. I do know that every restaurant manager worth his salt knows what time First Baptist, First Methodist and the black Baptist churches lets out on Sunday afternoon. :-)
We have a senior pastor, associate pastor, youth pastor and administrative pastor. These are all paid positions but not highly paid. Thanks for letting me know about your church leadership. M
Thanks for the post, but your link is to Greta's show transcript, not Nancy Grace. And the transcript that I saw didn't have anything about letters from members of the churches of Christ. It angers me that she still has on persons from other faiths to define the churches of Christ. Now she did have on Rubel Shelley, but she could have on a couple more men from various congregations and give them a bit more time. Actually, Shelley is pretty much on the left end of the scale in terms of church of Christ ministers. He has become pretty liberal in his positions over the years and he even admitted that on the show last night. It almost seems as though they want to label the church as a cult. I guess that makes for more interesting television.
An interesting idea. And while the writing of the KJV is beautiful, I use a Douay-Rheims and the Navarre Bible series. By my FR name you can see I'm Catholic so I use Bibles with the books left out by Protestants.
Beautiful sentiments. Thank you for posting that. :) I have always admired the Winklers.
LOL. I printed that for my husband. :) thanks.
I totally agree with you. I meaan forgiveness is nice and all but for Gods sake, she MURDERED this man IN COLD BLOOD! It reminds me of the Menendez brothers who shot and killed their parents and one of the jurors was feeling sorry for one of them because "he is such a nice boy and now he has to live without his mother." Yes he does because he MURDERED HER! You are right. Something is definitly amiss here.
You are exactly right. They are antiChristain and they want to tie this horrible crime to the CoC. They want to make Matthew Winkler another David Koresh and his killer another brainwashed follower who got tired of it and had a brief moment of mental clarity and took out the bad guy. Just sick!
Wellll, at least 3-4 more months of speculating without facts!
Mary Winkler waived her right to a preliminary hearing this morning, in front of the judge, and also waived bond.
Next grand jury won't be seated until June.
Thhhaaattt's all, folks ... for today.
What a disgraceful hostile attack on Churches of Christ!
I would like to ask that Baptist pastor this:
How would he like it if I said that Fred Phelps, who is the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, known to hate f*gs and Qu**rs (his words) and known to protest at the funerals of dead soldiers; is a Baptist, therefore all Baptists must also too hate gays and dishonor the military?
I can almost excuse Nancy Grace for her intolerance against Christians; she is a MSM'er. But for this Baptist pastor to do what he did; shameful.
And how rude was Grace to her guest; Dr. Ruben Shelly?
Even after a good night's sleep, I'm still appalled at the lack of class shown on that show.
But... it's main stream TV news. Whaddya expect?
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060330/NEWS03/60330002
Thursday, 03/30/06
Preacher's wife waives hearing, stays in jail without bond
By WOODY BAIRD
Associated Press Writer
SELMER, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee preacher's wife accused of murder in the shooting death of her husband will stay in jail without bond after waiving her right to a hearing Thursday.
The case against Mary Winkler now goes to the grand jury, which will determine if there's enough evidence to support the first-degree murder charges against her.
Defense attorney Steve Farese said he would make an application for bail later, but not right now. ..." [snip]
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