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 ...
Jennifer Johnson, the TBI spokesperson on Larry King Live a few nights ago, basically said it does not appear abuse is involved. If you haven't seen her statements, I will be glad to send them to you. Also from what I know about the Winkler family, through friends who know them up close and personal, there is absolutely no need to fear that any harm will come to Matt's daughters. I wish all these media sluts talking about the abuse allegation would play what Jennifer Johnson said on LKL to their audience to give them fair and balanced coverage.
I've heard a vague rumor from a couple of places that Mary had drifted apart from her father after her mother's death in 1999. Since Mary is the one that killed her husband, and Matt was the victim, it makes sense to me that the children should be with Matt's family.
I agree with you. I was more referring to (at least at one time)her attorney etc. floating that abuse (verbal, etc. etc.)theory.
I think you are on to something. I didn't really know them, just acquaintences, but I think Mary was tired of the responsibility of being a ministers wife, she wanted to live her own life, away from all the responsibility, Matthew, his family, and everything. So she planned the whole thing, then she offs him. She got caught. So now shes telling her lawyers, I'm guilty. I did it and I'm not crazy. Now I just want to go to jail and get it over with. The lawyer just wants to win this very high profile case so he doesn't want her out of jail talking to family and friends. Thats why the no bond for right now. He has to plan her defense and thats why he is out there eluding to her "delicate" and "fragile" condition. Thats why he seems so vague about everything. He doesn't care if she is guilty or not, he just wants to win. If it takes making Matt look bad, then thats what he will do. Mary is going to be manipulated into saying whatever the lawyers tell her to say, but for right now, she hasn't been properly coached, yet. And if she is out of jail, she will talk to people and she is not crazy. I believe this was very calculated and thought out beforehand. Pretty sloppy though. But I think she had planned on being in Fla. or wherever she planned on going. I think she honestly wanted Matts body found before it lay there for days so she planned it for sometime around Wednesday night services, knowing the people from church would raise questions when he didn't show. But she thought by then she would be long gone and never found. Very foolish of her but at the time I think the whole thing probably seemed rational to her.
One more strange twist here, too. My husband is an avid hunter and knows about everthing there is to know about guns. He says that if he was shot from 2 to 3 feet away with a shotgun, it would be like getting hit with a slug the size of the shotgun shell. He said the wadding doesn't even come apart that close so there would have had to have been an exit wound, a really big one. He says the shell would have went right through him still intact and scattered after it hit whatever was in front of him. I don't think she stuck around to grieve. I think she probably made sure the kids were out of the house when she did it. Its strange that people said she was very agitated at school that day, talking on the cell phone alot, etc. Not really avererage behavior your first day on the job. Also, its possible that his body was turned over by the people who found him before the police got there. Probably without thinking, someones first instinct would be to turn him over to see if he was dead or not.
This is only wild speculation, not at all a fact. She was very close to his family and they are still close.
I must humble disagree with your husband. As a former prosecutor, I have tried at least 2 shotgun murders that I can remember right off the top of my head. Both were very close range shots, 2-5 feet. Both involved birdshot (which is what I have read was used on Matthew) and in neither case was there an exit wound of any kind. Have we heard the gauge of the shotgun used? That will make a little difference, but not much. Really, there is just no way that birdshot will completely penetrate or transect a human body. Just not enough inertia present. And second, birdshot will start spreading out into a pattern immediately after leaving the barrel.
In one of the murders I tried, the victim was shot in the upper back, neck area with a 12 or 16 gauge shotgun loaded with birdshot. He was shot from a range of 2-4 feet. There was a pattern area on his back that covered about the size of a dinner plate. Just dozens of little holes. Birdshot is tiny. Smaller than BB's. There was no exit wound. Even from the ones that went into his neck. The victim died from blood loss. And the ME testified it took about 15-20 minutes for death to occur. And the victim was alive for several minutes before passing out. (same very possibly happened to Matthew).
The second case was a 12 gauge, shot in the chest a 1-2 feet, with birdshot. Again, no exit wounds. In fact he was shot twice. Once he had his arm up in a defensive posture and the shot ripped off a huge chunk of the flesh of his arm, but it didn't penetrate all the way through the arm. He also died of blood loss. You see, birdshot is just too small to cause just massive destruction of tissue like a bullet. Unless you are using buckshot. Or the shot is a contact wound. And then, most of the destruction is caused by the muzzle flash and gas release than the shot itself. Most deaths by shotgun (unless to the head or face) are actually from blood loss. A little pellet nicks an artery or major vessel. And death is rarely instantenous (again unless it is a head shot).
So, it is no surprise that there was no exit wound. Very uncommon in shotgun wounds. In fact exit wounds are not that common at all. Only very high velocity projectiles will have an exit wound if the shot is to center mass. Just too much to penetrate. And it is hard to not hit a bone of some sort.
Thank you for the post. I agree.
I was telling my husband about the negative comments on this thread about keeping loaded guns in the house. He said they wasted their money on a firearm, and said if it isn't loaded when you need it that you might as well have a rock or a stick.
We were born and raised in the South. We had more than one loaded gun in the house as we were growing up, and every gun was treated as if it was loaded regardless of whether or not we knew it to be loaded. We learned by example to respect the purpose of a gun, and, when we were considered responsible enough to handle a gun, and were interested in using one, we were taught to handle it properly. It never crossed our minds to disobey the rules regarding guns.
My husband said he was going squirrel hunting by himself, in the woods on their land, when he was 8 years old, and had been going with his Daddy for years before then.
well, my girls have never had an interest in learning to shoot a gun, and I have never pushed it. They are scared of them, and never go near them. Your husband is right. Buying a handgun and then keeping it locked up unloaded with the ammo some place else is a waste of money. What's the point. Handguns serve one purpose. Well, unless you are into competition shooting. The one purpose is self-defense. To put down someone who is trying to harm you or your family. Keeping them unloaded defeats the purpose.
Now, if you are a hunter and keep long guns in the house, then I can see the wisdom of keeping them unloaded. But I don't hunt. Never have. My guns are for one purpose...to kill the turd that intends to hurt me or my family. The shotgun is for that purpose also. In fact, my shotgun cannot even be used for hunting. The barrel is too short, and the magazine holds more than you are allowed to have when hunting. It is a riot gun. I have it loaded, 00 buck, 12 gauge slug, 00 buck, 12 gauge slug, alternated for 7 rounds. It will stop any intruder. Great for the wife that doesn't like handguns.
RE: loaded long guns, we grew up in the country and used them on "varmints", etc., that came around "in the middle of the night" to do harm to domestic birds, and animals - of course the same holds true with "two-legged varmints". ;-)
I don't have a shotgun yet, though I intend to get one in the future (for exactly the purpose you describe). I wonder if such heavy loads are necessary when the use is likely to be indoors & at close range, though -- I wouldn't want something that would penetrate a lot of walls and potentially endanger unintended targets (like sending a slug through my neighbor's house). Any advice on that?
Well, slugs are dangerous. They have a pretty high penetrative power. Especially if your shotgun has a rifled barrel and you have rifled slug loads. Many manufacturers now make sabot slugs that will separate into 3 pieces upon contact with any surface, even liquid. And upon separation they will loose a lot of velocity and penetrative properties. But I still prefer a standard slug. They are usually .50 caliber or .72 caliber slugs. A lot of lead, and no intruder will get up from that one. But they can penetrate walls. If you want to be safe, 00 buckshot would be your best bet. Each 00 Buck pellet is the equivalent to a .33 caliber bullet. And there are 9 of them in each shell. It will not under most circumstances penetrate your walls, but it's knockdown power is great. The lead is very soft and compresses upon contact. It will lose a great deal of velocity upon contact with any object, even liquid and at that point it's penetration will me minimal. It will stop most any intruder. At a range of the size of most bedrooms or living rooms, it would be quite effective. And the sound they make will also scare off most people. Some recommend #3 0r #4 buckshot as they have a lower penetrative power, but again, I want something that will drop an intruder. I would not recommend birdshot. After just a few feet, the pattern is quite large, and the pellets are so small, they don't have much penetration power. At very close range, they are quite effective, as we saw with Matthew Winkler, but after just a few feet, they aren't, as we saw with VP Cheney. I would also recommend a smoothbore shotgun. Not rifled. I would also recommend a barrel length of 18-22 inches. Most states require at least 18 inches. Check the laws in your local jurisdiction. And personal preference enters here, but some people prefer semi-automatic shotguns, others like pumps. Semi-autos are better for rapid fire, and for shooting from a prone position in that you don't have to rack the slide. But I like the pump because of it's mystifying sound. I will tell you, in a dark house, at night, when it is quiet, no intruder will mistake that tale-tell sound of a shotgun being pumped. It is quite effective in clearing an intruder out of a house without a shot being fired.
Hope this helps.
How sad. Matthew probably knew then, that Mary was the one who shot him.
You are probably right. It may have to do with the gauge and type of ammo used.
Well, if I'm not mistaken, the ME said that Matthew died from loss of blood. Unless she completely transected an artery, it would take a several minutes to bleed out, and for the first few minutes, he might very well have been conscious. Unable to get up or do anything to get help, but aware of his surroundings and what had just happened to him. I hope not. I hope he was out from the shock and impact. I would hate to think that he laid there on the bed, realizing that she had just shot him and he was dying. That would be sad.
"What doe the CoC say about the references to oral sex in Song of Solomon? ;-)"
What in the world are you talking about? Will you please give me the number of the verses in regards to that? Thx
Never mind. I googled it. Quite a stretch of the imagination IMO.
There are a lot of well-known and respected Christian authors who disagree with you. It's not a stretch at all. It is a big stretch to claim otherwise.
McNairy County, where Selmer is located, was the home of Buford Pusser, the man whose McNairy County exploits were dramatized in the violent "Walking Tall" movies.
That's not the popular image of what Mayberry was like. But then again, we don't know what happened in Mayberry when the cameras were off. Perhaps Andy roughed up up Otis, harassed Goober and he and Barney went into the honky tonks swinging lumber.
First, if we ever see the autopsy results, we'll know if he landed face up or if his body was moved, by the livor mortis. EXCEPT if someone turned him over before he was completely dead - Mary, *for instance*. Then the livor mortis wouldn't show any movement, because it doesn't take place until after death. (This is the settling of blood into the lowest point of gravity of the body, as decomp starts.)
If he had been dead a long time, like possibly the entire 30 hours since he was last seen alive by anyone outside the home, and the churchpeople found him and turned him over, it wouldn't show then, either, as the ME rep arrived fairly shortly thereafter - and from what the state ME said, who didn't do the autopsy or the field work of examining the body on-scene, there may not have been any kind of thorough exam at the scene. That is usually the case in small towns - just get the body to the coroner's office or mortuary, whichever is appropriate.
Here's what Dr. Levy said on NGrace:
~~~~
"...
GRACE: You`re right because you never know if someone was sitting, standing, lying on the bed, for instance. Was he in the master bedroom, Dr. Levy?
LEVY: That`s what I`ve understood from the news reports, that he was.
GRACE: Now, did a medical examiner, investigator go out to the scene?
LEVY: Not in this case.
GRACE: OK.
LEVY: This would have been handled by the medical examiner`s office in Selmer, Tennessee. ..."
Also, when I said "2-3 feet" as the distance, that's what the ME said in the first few interviews and then in some he said "3-4 feet." Either way, we know there was no exit wound and his internal organs in the chest and abdomen had been penetrated by numerous pellets from the buckshot.
I should've said "birdshot" in #999, where I said "buckshot," which just tripped off my tongue out of habit. Went on hunts with various people looking for wild turkey and have never seen a one in the field.
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