Posted on 07/19/2006 4:08:34 PM PDT by SmithL
SELMER, Tenn. — A woman accused of shooting her preacher husband to death after they argued over money may have been taken in by a remarkably common scam that strained their finances and their marriage.
Mary Winkler, who is charged with murder, had gotten tangled up along with her husband in a swindle known as an advance-fee fraud, or the "Nigerian scam," in which victims are told that a sweepstakes prize or some other riches are waiting for them if they send in money to cover the processing expenses, her lawyers say.
"They were always kind of living on the edge of their budget," defense attorney Steve Farese said, "so I'm sure this would have just wrecked their budget."
No one has said how much money the Winklers may have lost, or what role the financial strain might have played in the slaying of Matthew Winkler, the popular minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in this small town 80 miles east of Memphis.
He was shot in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun as he lay in bed March 22 and was found dead by church members. After the shooting, Mary Winkler loaded her three young daughters into the family van and went to the Gulf Coast for what she described as a final beach vacation. She was arrested March 23 in Orange Beach, Ala.
Investigators said last month that Winkler confessed to shooting her husband after a night of arguing about money. She has pleaded not guilty.
"I had gotten a call from the bank and we were having trouble, mostly my fault, bad bookkeeping. He was upset with me about that," Mary Winkler told police, according to a statement read at her bail hearing.
"He had really been on me lately, criticizing me for things — the way I walk, what 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."
Advance-fee scams became associated with Nigeria in the 1980s when government corruption and a failing economy left many well-educated, English-speaking Nigerians unemployed. "But we see it from all over the world," said John Kane, research manager for the National White Collar Crime Center.
"If somebody tells you you've won something and they want even a nickel before you actually have the money in your hand, they're crooks. It's as simple as that," said Steve Baker, Midwest regional director of the Federal Trade Commission.
"The trouble with all these sweepstakes things, though, is everybody wants to believe," he said. "You want to believe you've won."
In some versions of the scam, con artists send their victims checks for what they are told are partial winnings. The victims deposit the checks in their accounts, then draw on them to pay the thousands of dollars in "processing fees" that the con artists ask for. "Everything is just fine, but then four or five days later, your bank calls and says that check you deposited was bogus," Kane said.
In Mary Winkler's case, she deposited several suspicious checks from Canada and Nigeria for a total of $17,500, authorities said.
"All I know is they entered sweepstakes," Farese said. "They got these checks in the mail, and they made calls to activate them."
Mary Winkler is in jail, unable to raise $750,000 bail. Her trial is set for Oct. 30.
Susan Polk Defense!
Farese is so full of it, yet again. " ... "All I know is they entered sweepstakes," Farese said. "They got these checks in the mail, and they made calls to activate them." ... "
Made calls to activate them? They were bogus! How do you activate a fake check? She was caught with 5 checking accounts, 4 of which had been opened with the fraudulent funds and 1 of which was their personal family account.
At least one, maybe more, of the new accounts was in her name only and in a town elsewhere other than Selmer. She was depositing these checks and then immediately taking out the instant courtesy amounts from the ATM - $500 the day before the murder.
Enough to get her to Jackson, MS, for a night with her 3 darling daughters, before getting to Orange Beach and renting a beachfront room. Oh, and all she packed for the beach trip were: 1) a pair of socks for the baby; and 2) the shotgun with which she shot her husband.
Evidently, there was more money swindled from the banks, which hasn't been revealed yet - maybe up to the $17,500 mentioned. The first of these checks was $4800 last December! She had been check-kiting for months. That's not exactly being a victim of a scam. And I hope Farese has proof that Matthew knew about this. At this point, we only have murderess Mary's word on it.
Oh, so he had the shotgun in his underwear as he slept, and she wrestled it away from him and accidentally shot him 69 times?
a.) Sexually molested the daughters
b.) Physically abused her and the daughters
or
c.) He must have deserved it, because a woman doesn't just shoot her husband
are going to come to this thread and eat crow?
If this defense was used by a guy accused of killing his wife,he'd be laughed out the courtroom...after getting the chair.
But in at least some parts of the country,this just might work for a woman.
Sounds like the "voice of experience" talking, lol!
Allow me to be the first. I'll have mine with mango-peach salsa and a side of couscous.
Actually I don't think I posted anything on the topic, but I remember thinking that at the time.
And really, it is not an unreasonable assumption. But yes, women can be evil too. This one sounds like she was from the stupid/evil quadrant.
We are definitely in agreement on that. It has been scary to think she might be working in a dry cleaners in McMinnville, though, at the expense of her father's home equity should she flee - which, of course, is her M.O.
she killed him ,shotgun in the back, pulled phone cord off the wall and left him dying,but RELEASED ON BAIL!!
Oh, Lord - I didn't know until you posted that. Heck, I keep up with it every few days and hadn't checked on the case this week, so, of course, something happens.
They lie and lie and lie - Farese said there was no way he would let Mary put her father's house in jeopardy. So, what do they do? They put up her father's house for the bond. Grrr-this makes me mad and sick both. She should not be out, "no way, no how."
Maybe the judge will inject some sense into this proceeding, if he can see what's happening. Her father doesn't deserve this.
~~~~~
Winkler bail release hits snag
Family secures bond, but judge says he needs more time to review paperwork
By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press
August 10, 2006
SELMER, Tenn. - A minister's wife accused of killing her husband failed to get out of jail Wednesday when a judge said more time was needed to review paperwork for the $750,000 bond.
Defense attorneys, her father and a representative of a bonding company arrived at McNairy County Jail in the late afternoon expecting the release of Mary Winkler, who is charged with first-degree murder.
The efforts hit a snag, however, when Judge Weber McCraw notified the sheriff's department that he wants court administrators to take a look at the bond arrangement before approving her release.
"He wants to make sure the paperwork is in order. I understand," defense attorney Leslie Ballin said. Ballin and fellow defense lawyer Steve Farese said Winkler's family had worked out an arrangement to cover the bond with Alpha Bail Bonds Agency of nearby Somerville.
Farese refused to give details of the bond arrangement. Bonding companies in Tennessee usually require a 10 percent cash payment, plus collateral for the rest of the bond amount.
Winkler's father, Clark Freeman, left the jail without commenting. Ballin said he expected the judge to approve the bond today.
He said Winkler, originally from Knoxville, was still encouraged she would be released.
"She knew there was a possibility ... she's not somebody who gets her hopes up." Ballin said. "She just waits to see what happens."
Winkler has been in jail since March 23, the day after her 31-year-old husband, Matthew Winkler, was found dead in the church parsonage in Selmer, about 80 miles east of Memphis.
At a hearing earlier Wednesday, her attorneys asked the same judge to throw out their client's statements to police, one of which authorities have described as a confession.
Attorneys contend she was illegally arrested in Orange Beach, Ala., the day after the slaying and that any evidence against her resulting from that arrest cannot be presented in court.
Attorneys said they would file additional written arguments, perhaps by next week, and McCraw gave no indication of when he would issue a ruling.
At the hearing an agent with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation said Winkler admitted shooting her husband but resisted talking about him.
"She said she didn't want the news media smearing him," agent Stan Stabler testified.
Stabler said Winkler told him she had not been physically abused.
But when asked by defense lawyer Steve Farese if she talked about a "life-threatening experience" with her husband several years earlier, Stabler said she did.
Stabler did not give details. He said Winkler told him her marriage improved after that incident, but it had begun to deteriorate over the past year.
Outside the courtroom, Farese refused to discuss the incident, but the defense has implied since her arrest that she had a troubled marriage. Prosecutors also refused to talk about the investigation.
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