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 ...
[Excerpt on the hiring of Farese - from myeyewitnessnews.com, Memphis]
Mary Winkler, the woman accused of killing her preacher husband is getting help from high profile attorney, Steve Farese.
Farese is known for taking on cases involving well-known community figures including some who were involved in the Tennessee Waltz scandal.
....
Police caught up with her in Orange Beach, Alabama. Farese says Winkler is still in shock and detached from everything that is happening around her.
"She certainly didn't understand... all the things going on," says Farese.
Farese tells Eyewitness News the only thing she is concerned about right now is her children and her congregation.
"If there is one thing I know, it's that Mary love the congregation and the congregation loved her," says Farese.
Winkler will make her first court appearance Monday March 27th. Her lawyer says this will be a very lengthy case ... " [snip]
"7) A side note to this, not pertaining to anything specific - evidently Clark Freeman, Mary's father, is also a minister. I can't find a confirmation of that, except that one article said he performed Mary and Matthew's wedding ceremony in Knoxville, her hometown and also where her parents still lived at the time.
...My questioning of that is that Matthew's family was the long-time well known CofC family of preachers - it seems like they would've shared duties or let Mary's father be the "father of the bride" for that one day - not "working" at the wedding. Just my thoughts. Also, if Mr. Freeman is really a minister, I saw his name on the alumni list of the college the Winklers attended - Freed-Hardeman - so I would guess Freeman would be CofC also.
Just some thoughts here."
Well, traditionally brides are married from their home churches. My father was a minister, and he very much wanted to perform the ceremony. I think this is quite commonly done in pastor's families.
All I have been able to find, besides that mention of performing the marriage ceremony, is that Clark Freeman was a "deacon" at the Laurel Church of Christ in Knoxville.
That was a media report, not a direct quote from the church, although that church's minister was interviewed within the story, so the term should be a direct reference. It was also said that Freeman left that church and joined another. (The "joined" was another clue, to me, that he had not been the pastor/preacher at Laurel CofC.)
Then another FR poster earlier in this thread (like yesterday) said that in the CofC, elders of the church are allowed to perform marriage ceremonies. I assume a deacon is an elder of the church, small "e" on "elder".
Unless that provision only applies to someone in a named church position "Elder," capital "E", we can perhaps assume that is what happened--that Deacon Freeman was allowed to conduct the ceremony.
FWIW, it still bothers me, with all the enormous accolades the Winkler preachers had heaped upon them, that one of them didn't perform the marriage. *Just sayin'*
I suppose in all fairness, I should add this:
http://www.fareselaw.com/attorneys_steven_e_farese.html
Steven E. Farese
Born - Memphis, Tennessee, April 20, 1949 (800) 748-9612
Professional
Admitted to practice before: U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth and Sixth Circuits; U.S. District Courts, Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi, Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Tennessee
Member
Memphis Bar Association
Tennessee Bar Association
American Bar Association
Mississippi Bar
Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America;
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Mississippi Attorneys for Constitutional Justice (Charter member);
Admitted to Bar
1977, Mississippi; 1984, Tennessee
Preparatory and legal education
University of Mississippi (B.A., 1971; J.D., 1977)
Attorney, Board of Supervisors, Marshall County, 1994-97.
Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Criminal Law, every year since 1995
Mississippi Bar Commissioner 2001-2004
Mississippi Bar Speaker Commission 2004-2005
A deacon is different from an elder. A deacon is a man that is assigned to lead a certain ministry for the congregation. An elder is a man whose responsiblity is to "shepherd the flock" and serve as a spiritual leader of the congregation.
The article is awfully contrived -- I think it's a guy trying way too hard to draw a parallel between him and his kids; and the way he thinks we're supposed to be with God. The different spellings of his daughter's name is odd. To me, the whole thing sounds distant, like he's talking about somebody else's kids...
Killing one's spouse might tend to unhinge a person.... I doubt she was thinking beyond the next move.
Because it'll be something that makes it into a media circus. Best to avoid trying this in the court of public opinion, I think.
In that it doesn't mention "guns" or "shooting"? Other than that no.
Which makes it an abuse-type case -- he's got to bring in shrinks, experts, and whatnot to explain "why she finally snapped."
Apparently no speculation is too wild.
One does not have to be a feminazi to realize that Yate's husband was completely blind to what was happening with her. Her problems were not new.
That was my understanding, too. But if he was "just" a "deacon," could he perform a marriage?
Yeah, the defense's "mini-trial" within the trial - with the victim as the absentee defendant, thanks to the real defendant.
That might depend on the denomination. I know in the Methodist church, a deacon is just a lower rank than elder. Both can be the primary pastor of a church. A deacon just may not have completed all the requirements to be considered an elder. This is rather unusual however. My husband is a deacon in my church, and it is simply a group of church members who hold special responsibilities for finances and mercy ministries. I don't know about the CoC.
We don't have formal "titles" in the church for people who serve in the role of elder, deacon or minister. Such titles are not used in the scripture. The role of a deacon and the role of an elder are different. I Timothy 3 is one instance where you find qualifications of elders (also translated or used interchangeably with the words bishop, pastor & shepherd) and the qualifications of deacons. The qualifications for those two roles are different. As far as I know, deacons are not permitted by state law to conduct wedding ceremonies. I have also read this weekend that Clark Freeman was a part time minister. It is not unusual for someone to preach at a small congregation in the area on a part time basis. I don't think that Clark Freeman has ever been the minister a Laurel CoC.
It was also said that Freeman left that church and joined another. (The "joined" was another clue, to me, that he had not been the pastor/preacher at Laurel CofC.)
There is no need to "join" the church of Christ. You are added to the church at baptism. We use the terms "place membership" or "fellowship" with a local congregation. It would be unlikely that a member of the church of Christ would be quoted as using the word "join" when referring to a member leaving one congregation and attending another. I do agree with your point that a full time minister would rarely be spoken of as moving their fellowship to another congregation. They usually take the job as minister with a different congregation.
Totally off the subject--but your post brought back a very special memory. A friend of my husband's family was a Methodist minister. When my youngest son was born we lived 900 miles away from family. We came home that summer for the yearly family barbeque. My husband and I asked this friend to baptize our son at the barbeque surrounded by friends and family.
He did and I would not trade it for the world. He is 15 now and only once was mention made of him being baptized in a church. I nixed that idea because as far as I was concerned 2 or more were gathered in His name that day at the lake.
If you believe ANYTHING in the Treasonous Media you are a fool.
"The family went to church at Laurel in the 1980's but hadn't been members since around 1989-1990. They switched to another local congregation around that time."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12017273/site/newsweek/
Crime Story: The Preacher and His Wife
Newsweek
"April 3, 2006 issue - Mary Winkler's behavior was odd last Tuesday when she debuted as a substitute teacher in Selmer, Tenn. Normally quiet and introverted, she talked incessantly on her cell phone, pacing about. "Several teachers complained about it," says assistant principal Pam Killingsworth. Winkler, 32, also got annoyed with her daughter Patricia—whose third-grade class she taught that afternoon—for acting up. Something was clearly the matter. ..." [snip]
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