Posted on 06/08/2007 2:30:09 PM PDT by midwesteastcoastconnection
SELMER, Tenn. — A woman who killed her preacher husband with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay in bed was sentenced Friday to three years in prison, but she may end up serving only 60 days in a mental hospital.
Mary Winkler must serve 210 days, or about seven months, of her sentence before she can be released on probation, but she gets credit for the five months she has already spent in jail, Judge Weber McCraw said.
That leaves only two months, and McCraw said up to 60 days of the sentence could be served in a facility where she could receive mental health treatment. That means Winkler may not serve any significant time in prison.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Had it been a gay preacher, she would never see the light of day.
That's just silly on so many levels.
Why did that worthless prosecutor allow 10 women on that jury?
Good grief!
Man I’d better hide my guns cause my wife may get ideas.
this is so disgusting.
How many?
Wow! kills her husband in cold blood and gets 3 only 3 years and release on probation is possible in 7 months? What the...?! Does the judge know the man is dead..brains blown out ?! Something is seriously wrong in a system that gives this women only 3 years....I’m sure liberalism, morals are relative way of thinking and taking God out of public life have nothing to do with it. /s
Phew! Somehow I thought the Fonz had gone gay!
I’m suprised the judge didn’t include a “yep, it’s open season on
spouses, provided they are male, a preacher, and have talked in
a mean way to their wife sometimes.”
Jun 8, 2007 11:50 am US/Pacific
Preacher’s Wife Sentenced To 210 Days In Prison
CBS News Interactive: Crime In The U.S.
(AP) SELMER, Tenn. A woman who killed her preacher husband with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay in bed got a three-year prison sentence Friday, but she may be allowed to serve her time in a mental hospital.
Mary Winkler, convicted of manslaughter in April, could have received up to six years for killing her husband, Matthew, in the parsonage where the family lived in March 2006.
The preacher’s mother, Diane Winkler, told Mary Winkler from the witness stand that the couple’s three daughters were having nightmares about people with guns breaking into their house.
“You’ve never told your girls you’re sorry. Don’t you think you at least owe them that?” she asked.
Mary Winkler, 33, went on trial for first-degree murder in April, but a jury found her guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter after she testified she was physically and emotionally abused by her husband, Matthew Winkler.
She testified during her trial that her husband hit and kicked her, forced her to look at pornography and demanded sex she considered unnatural. Jurors were shown a pair of tall, platform shoes and a black wig Winkler said she was pressured to wear during sex.
“The monster that you have painted for the world to see? I don’t think that monster existed,” Diane Winkler said.
Mary Winkler faces a maximum of six years in prison, but her lawyers have asked for diversion, which would keep her out of prison and eventually clear her record.
She would be eligible for parole after serving 30 percent of her term and get credit for five months already spent in jail while awaiting trial.
Winkler and her defense team arrived about 45 minutes early for her sentencing hearing Friday morning, but she did not talk to reporters.
Church members found Matthew Winkler’s body and reported his wife and children missing. They were located the following day in Orange Beach, Ala.
Winkler is fighting with her husband’s parents for custody of the children, ages 9, 7 and 2.
Mary Winkler’s sister, Tabitha Freeman, called her “the best example of a good person I can think of” and asked the judge to give her a chance to be reunited with her children.
“She just needs them. She’s not complete without them,” Freeman said.
Does the jury hand down the sentence? That is news to me.
Generally it is thought that women are less likely to buy the battered wife defense.
It is my opinion that those shoes were purchased after his death, else we would have heard of them sooner. The prosecutor should have done some record checking, because I'm pretty sure those things weren't purchased at Payless in Selmer, TN.
I didn't see the trial, but a friend of mine watched some and the prosecutor let her accusations go unchecked.
for instance she had said that she was on her hands and knees cleaning the floor, and he just walked up and either kicked or punched her in the head. The prosecutor asked why he would do that, and she just said "i don't know". And he just let that stand. That is rediculous.
No, in TN it is done by statute. Judge has to select the appropriate sentence according to the guidelines. but he gets leeway in deciding how to rate the aggravating/mitigating factors. As a first timer, she is presumed to get the minimum sentence for the range.
I do not agree with this sentence, it is way to lenient.
It is more of our government REWARDING criminals with time off for 'good behavior'.
The only good thing in his ruling is that she can't have her record expunged.
At least we’re safe from Paris Hilton....
Give her a reward and set her free.
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