Posted on 04/19/2007 3:34:30 PM PDT by SmithL
SELMER, Tenn. — After a day of deliberation a jury found Mary Winkler guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the March 2006 killing of her minister husband, Matthew.
The judge said he will return "very soon" to give further instructions. Winkler, a Knoxville native, faced up to 60 years in prison for first-degree murder.
Winkler testified Wednesday that her husband had abused her physically and sexually, but she said the shotgun went off accidentally as she pointed it at him. She said she had just wanted to talk to him.
The prosecution called the notion of an accidental shooting "ludicrous" and urged the jury to find her guilty of first-degree murder. Deliberations began Thursday morning after six days of testimony.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Winkler, 33, could be sentenced to 60 years in prison, but the jury could decide to convict her of a lesser charge.
Defense attorney Steve Farese said in his closing argument that the prosecution "absolutely, positively" did not prove Winkler intended to kill Matthew Winkler — something required for a conviction of first-degree murder. But Farese left open the possibility that she could have been guilty of a lesser crime.
"Have they proven any crime? Well — and this is hard for me to say — maybe," Farese said. "Maybe she was negligent."
Mary Winkler testified that she just wanted to talk to her 31-year-old husband when she went into their bedroom that day in March 2006, but that she was too terrified. "He just could be so mean," she said.
Winkler said her husband had punched her in the face, kicked her at times, refused to grant her a divorce and forced her to perform sex acts she thought were unnatural. Shortly before the shooting, she said, he held his hand over their 1-year-old daughter's mouth and nose to make her be quiet.
But Winkler also said under cross-examination that her husband did "nothing" for which he deserved to die.
Mary Winkler's depiction of her marriage was at odds with the description by the prosecution, whose witnesses described Matthew Winkler as a good father and husband. The couple's 9-year-old daughter, Patricia, testified that she never saw him mistreat her mother.
A day after Matthew Winkler was fatally shot in his back, his wife was arrested 340 miles away on the Alabama coast, driving the family minivan with their three young daughters.
Mary Winkler said she planned to return to Selmer but wanted time alone with her daughters. She also said she still loved her husband.
A psychologist testified that Mary Winkler could not have formed the intent to commit a crime because of her compromised mental condition. She suffered from mild depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which started at age 13 when her sister died and worsened as she endured her husband's abuse, Dr. Lynne Zager said.
Mary Winkler said she remembered holding the gun that day but not getting it from the closet. She said she heard a "boom," but said she did not pull the trigger, prompting prosecutor Walt Freeland to ask whether she understood how a trigger worked.
"You know that pulling a trigger is what makes it go boom?" Freeland asked.
"Yes, sir," Mary Winkler replied.
The prosecution said in closing arguments that there was no medical evidence of abuse. Mary Winkler had testified that she was too ashamed to tell anyone. The two had met at Freed-Hardeman University, a Church of Christ-affiliated school in Henderson where Matthew's father was an adjunct professor and Mary took education classes.
Farese, the defense attorney, said: "If you look up spousal abuse in the dictionary, you're going to see Mary Winkler's picture looking back at you."
You got it. They can lie, steal and cheat on earth all they want and fool a lot of people in the process but...the REAL judgement day will come with a REAL judge and that will be the REAL verdict and punishment.
There is a whole list of names I’d like to list in that category but...I will be a bigger better person than any one of those on the list. THEY know who they are. They KNOW what is coming. They CAN’T stop it. The innocent they maimed, killed, raped, smeared, abused will finally see justice.
Voluntary manslaughter tell us the jury bought the sex abuse and abuse defense. No problem, it’s she said vs. he said. Only prob is that he doesn’t get to say.
There is no excuse for killing somebody like that - get a divorce. The fact that she is the one that was caught kiting checks tells me that she probably stained the man with falsehoods after she shot and killed him by shooting him in the back.
Images of burning in hell abound.
LOL! If you said
white male Christian fundamentalist preacher they would nominate her Woman of the Century.
Nope...did not say that. Romans 13 says the government has every right to punish the guilty. What I said was that she didn’t get away with it...ULTIMATELY. I never said we should not punish the guilty because all will be punished eventually. Never said it...and you are making a leap to say I did. I was meerly pointing out the fact she that if she is telling the truth...justice has been served....if she is not...justice will eventually be served. That is a fact.
3-5 years or probation? Just wow! I thought for sure today it was going to be murder, but manslaughter I cannot believe it. She was not convincable at all!
LOL
“blacks have reached the legal status of ‘untouchable species’”
Hey buddy... Have you ever seen the statistics on blacks in prison and on death row. This is a civil matter; please try to keep your little prejudices out of it.
I was hoping for second degree murder. It could have been first degree, sure, but too bad about the difficulty of proving that beyond reasonable doubt.
I’m very disappointed but hardly surprised. If it were reversed and the preacher had killed his wife, he’d get the death penalty.
Let’s face it, she’s the reason he’s dead. She got the gun, she held the gun, she pointed the gun and her aim was true. Then she fled. That tells me it was more than mere manslaughter, voluntary or involuntary. I’m willing to hedge on the degree of premeditation and planning, but not on the fact of murder.
If he was so terrible, Mary, move out and go to your family for help. Don’t shoot the man IN THE BACK, THEN RUN. How wicked is THAT??
Very Wicked!
Are you sure that these are John Ford’s lawyer”s? The guy’s name has left me, but I don’t remember Ballin being one of them. I could be wrong.
Now she can date O J Simpson.
Sentencing will be May 18th.
Leslie Balin handled a case for my brother thirteen years ago.
What was the outcome?
The parents of slain Selmer preacher Matthew Winkler are seeking $2 million in damages from the daughter-in-law police have said confessed to killing their son.
Charles Daniel "Dan'' Winkler and Diane Winkler are suing Mary Winkler for wrongful death on behalf of their three grandchildren, Brianna, 2; Mary Alice "Allie'', 7, and Patricia, 9.
The suit was filed March 19 in McNairy County Circuit Court. No court date has been set, the Winklers' attorney, James N. Adams Jr. of Corinth, Miss., said Wednesday.
Dan and Diane Winkler were granted custody of their grandchildren on March 31, 2006, in McNairy County Juvenile Court, the suit said. Matthew Winkler's death has placed "the duty and expense of raising the children" on his parents, the suit said. The Winklers also had to pay their son's funeral costs.
"The children have suffered the loss of parental consortium, attention, guidance, care, protection, training, companionship, affection, love and the loss of prospective inheritance they otherwise would have enjoyed" as a result of Matthew Winkler's wrongful death, the suit said.
Asked if Mary had the $2 million and whether the Winklers expected to collect it, Adams said in a phone interview that he didn't know.
He wouldn't comment on why the Winklers filed the suit or whether they expected Mary Winkler might get money from any possible book or movie deals.
Adams said he couldn't answer whether the Winklers are struggling financially to raise the children, but added that he didn't think so.
Mary Winkler's attorneys did not return calls seeking comments. Dan and Diane Winkler are seeking half the money for compensatory damages, including mental pain and suffering and funeral expenses. The other $1 million is for punitive damages.
She's not off the hook yet, Palladin..:)
My brother lost his case.
Oop’s!
You ain’t lying.
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