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."
From the talk, she won’t serve a minute in jail. Just probation. She is truly a disgusting person. She had a really snarky smirky smile on her face in this mornings local paper. Strange thing is, her involvement in the check kiting scam, where she had run through all their money and the churches money was going to come out on the very day she shot Matt. Convenient for him to die before he could hear about her deviousness.
The moral to the story is that it is best to be female when committing murder or screwing underage schoolkids.
I don’t understand that. Doesn’t the prosecution have some say about who sits on the jury? Just like O.J. had a nearly all black jury, She had a nearly all woman jury.
You have no fricken idea and you no it.
Psychic or Psycho?
*************
No kidding. She should have gotten first degree murder.
that apparentely is something that friends and family would never have expected.....
I don't condone this murder...however I do get a little picture that this man was a control freak and Mary was a little bit of a mouse, who just exploded.....
passive-aggressive ......
“You have no fricken idea and you no it.
Psychic or Psycho?”
I didn’t claim special knowledge of Mary Winkler’s guilt or innocence; I just commented that it was possible that the Winklers’ domestic situation might not have been what it seemed on the outside.
BTW, it’s hard to have a discussion if a statement like that gets a contributor labeled as a “Psychic or Psycho.”
The computer was from "their" house. How do we know she didn't download it instead of him or what about someone who babysat their kids? There was something in the testimony about the images had only been downloaded twice, two years apart.
An article in the local paper today suggests that many feel she should be able to get the girls back. As of now, I disagree with that.
We couldn't hear his opinion of the matter because his wife "accidentally" shot him while he was sleeping and then pulled the phone out of the wall and placed it where he couldn't call for help. The woman lied to her daughter, lied about her husband being awake and I'm very doubtful about the porn and abuse smears she put on her husband.
Not all of them thank God. My cousin was on the jury. Everyone but 4 women were for the 2nd degree murder charge. They decided on the lesser charge supposedly because these 4 women said they would not change their minds. They didn't want to be there any longer so they went along with it. I am disgusted at this verdict. Totally disgusted. First degree murder was the only appropriate verdict in my mind.
You need to be disgusted with the prosecutor. With his background, as a single dad with five children, I am shocked that he wasn’t a little more forceful.
Sure did.Shot in the back?A sucker punch from he double hockey sticks.This is America.She could have left him anytime she wanted.There are so many touchy feely groups set up for woman,any would be glad to welcome her into their fold.She is a certified member now.
Switch genders and murder one with death sentence would have been asked for AND received
So now on the local news it says they may file for judicial diversion. She would serve no prison time and her record could be cleared?
I knew what you meant, and you’re absolutely right.
Exactly so!
I just posted an article about the sentencing. You are a clairvoyant.
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