Posted on 03/29/2006 8:52:49 AM PST by T-Bird45
Ashland attorney Steve Farese, who heads Mary Winkler's legal defense team in Selmer, Tenn., says he and her other attorneys want a psychiatric evaluation for their client.
Tennessee authorities claim Winkler has confessed to killing her husband, a Church of Christ minister, in their Selmer residence last week. The couple's three children reportedly were in the house at the time of the slaying.
Winkler apparently fled with her children to southern Alabama, where she was arrested late last week. They have been placed in the custody of their maternal grandparents.
Farese, in a telephone interview after an arraignment in Selmer on Monday, described Mary Winkler as "very sad, very reserved, a flat effect, very withdrawn."
He said no bail motion was made at Monday's court appearance out of respect for the WInkler family and because the funeral is set for this morning at the Selmer church where Matthew Winkler was the preacher.
Tennessee officials have said they know a motive but have refused to disclose it. Farese said it is possible the motive will not be presented until a trial, adding, "but they will have to tell us in discovery."
How did Farese get involved with the case?
"I was called by a friend in Memphis who is an attorney and who is distantly related to Mary Winkler and was asked to enter the case," Farese said. He is a member of the Farese Law Firm, founded by his late father, John B. Farese Sr.
Farese said he has brought Memphis attorney Leslie Ballin into the defense team, as well as his son, attorney Steve Farese Jr., and Marc Garver, an attorney from Atlanta. He said third-year University of Mississippi Law School student Lynn Brown of Holly Springs is working as the team's clerk.
Scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday in Selmer is a preliminary hearing, at which Tennessee prosecutors must make only a prima facie or "sufficient evidence" case to move the investigation toward a possible indictment.
It's possible a bail motion will be made at then, Farese said.
"This is a media circus," he observed Monday. "Everybody was there except the Taiwan Times, and they probably will be there Thursday."
Farese said he thinks Tennessee prosecutors will call only one witness Thursday morning and that he does not plan on calling anyone to the stand.
The baffoon was back on Nancy Grace again tonight. That's 3 nights running. And people claim that he will keep it from becoming a media circus? Shoot, Farese is the Ring Master. He obviously views this case as just free advertising for his firm. I have tried hundreds of cases. If you really care about your client and helping her out...you don't grandstand like he is grandstanding. All he wants is the limelight. Screw his client. She is just a means to an end. The best defense attorneys do their job without much fanfare and by flying low under the radar. I said it before, and I'll say it again...Steve Farese is a media whore. That's it. I would never want him representing me in anything.
I encourage everyone to respond directly to Nancy Grace about this article.......here's mine..
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/nancy.grace/
"I doubt you will ever read this, but I wanted to thank you for having a member of the church of Christ on your program in defense of statements made by someone who called US 'ungracious''!!! As Dr. Shelley tried to tell you, churches of Christ are independent congregations and the Bible is our authority. Why did you ask him questions and not let him answer them????? Shouldn't he at least have had the same consideration and respect as Tom Ruhkala, a Baptist minister who was so 'graciously' critical on your show???? (if you can call terms that he used like "borderline cult" and "very legalistic sect, and they tend to use methods of intimidation and pressure tactics" gracious!!!) GIVE ME A BREAK!"
Thank you for recognizing this attack on fundamental churches. Some members of the churches of Christ may hold to some of these ideas, but each congregation is independent and these claims are totally false in most congregations. Also, there is a difference in the International churches of Christ which has been called a cult.
I encourage everyone to respond directly to Nancy Grace about this article.....
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/nancy.grace/
Here's a condensed version of my reply: " As Dr. Shelley tried to tell you, churches of Christ are independent congregations and the Bible is authority. Why did you ask him questions and not let him answer them????? Shouldn't he at least have had the same consideration and respect as the Baptist minister who commented on how churches of Christ are 'ungracious, legalistic, borderline cult who tend to use methods of intimidation and pressure tactics" gracious!!!) GIVE ME A BREAK!" Nancy Grace may not know the difference, but I don't think my Baptist friends are going to be very happy with these comments either!
Sorry for the duplication...I meant for one of my posts to be private...I'm new at this!
I feel you are probably very correct about this.
Why WOULD a lawyer take this case without fee? I bet he is not taking cases of street people being accused falsely.
She is probably in shock.
Such a pity - she had the dream life many aspire to - but - it was just not good enough.
Since it was mentioned that she was very nervous and agitated on her first day as substitute teacher and on the phone excessively - something was occurring. Looks like something to do with pressure.
I wonder about the comment that the motive is being kept quiet because of the children. I'm thrilled that they were sensitive enough to do that - but - it would mean that the reason for the death would be hurtful to the children.
Maybe you can help with something. Either Farese or Ballin, or possibly both as a team, was/were said to be the defense attorney(s) for a man who was acquitted of murdering his wife. I can't find details of the trial online, only a synopsis of the movie made about the wife's death and the trial.
From what I can ascertain, the husband's name is Michael or Mike Mullins. His wife was Holly Mullins or Holly Fulton. They were both pilots for Federal Express in Memphis. They were going through a bitter divorce when she was found beaten to death inside her burned-out minivan in West Memphis, AR. The fire accelerant was aviation fuel and Mullins is said to have had flash burns on his face and arms.
The husband was acquitted, after spending a small fortune on his defense. Many in that area felt he got away with murder. I can't figure out the dates of any of this, but it might have been 1992 or 1994. I can't even find a death record for the wife to know the DOD, but I read that it took two years to bring the husband to trial.
He runs a skydiving school and service now and seems to be well-liked in that industry.
The TV movie made about the case was called "Memphis: Burning Betrayal" for the A&E Network, in their City Confidential series, and first aired 8-15-2002. This is their blurb and pretty much all I know about this case:
"76 - Memphis: Burning Betrayal
Federal Express airline pilots Holly and Mike Mullins seemed to be flying high when they are first married. But as they soon learn, marriage between pilots has its ups and downs. Bitter divorce proceedings between Holly and Mike came to a sudden end when Holly's body was found in a burned-out van. When Mike eventually went on trial for murder, all of Memphis waited breathlessly for the verdict. Find out if he got away with murder. Paul Winfield narrates."
I don't even know if the case was tried in TN or AR. Any details would be appreciated if you can find some reference on it.
I think it also means the "reason" would be hurtful to Mary's defense.
A psychologist from Jackson, TN, visited Mary yesterday. He/she went in around 11AM and was Mary's only visitor on Friday.
This is according to an article in the Jackson Sun. I have only found out in the past couple of days that I'm not supposed to post excerpts from that paper, which I didn't realize was also Gannett, like The Tennessean. So, I'm just down to posting links. I don't like to paraphrase articles, so here's the link.
Note also that Mary is the cover girl on this week's People Magazine, now on newsstands--the April 10 cover date.
Jackson Sun:
http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/NEWS01/604010325/1002
nO.
Psychotic and psychopath are not the same at all.
This woman deseves the death penalty. I think if there had been sexual abuse or physical or mental abuse, she might have a defense, but innvolved in check kiting and that stupid Nigerian scam. What a loser this woman is...I guess she never heard about the word divorce
I'm sure it will come up somewhere in her defense at trial that "divorce" is a no-no among the really faithful of the CofC. Of course, it's not true in the strictest sense, but it's bound to be presented as part of her mindset.
Haven't heard you chime in yet, since Mary Winkler's "excuse" has now been aired. What's the buzz in Selmer?
BTW, Farese implied that this court-appointed psych gave Mary a clean bill of mental health. "Implied," anyway.
Oh, wait, here it is - I didn't word that quite right. He was "citing reports from Winkler's court appointed psychologist that she does not pose a significant risk."
There we go.
Local paper yesterday mentioned that she killed him because they had been arguing about finances. The skinny from the Selmer P.D. and the locals was it was just about finances. IMO she back shot him because they had been arguing about money, simple.
Maybe not quite so simple ... $17,000 worth of check-kiting on Mary's part and she calls it "bad bookkeeping," lol.
Here are the two new threads about the info from the hearing:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1658491/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1658661/posts
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