Wife Faces Prison For Killing Preacher.

[NaturalHigh]

SELMER, Tennessee (AP) -- A woman convicted of killing her preacher husband with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay in bed faced up to six years in prison at her sentencing on Friday.

Mary Winkler, 33, went on trial for first-degree murder in April, but a jury found her guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter after she testified she was physically and emotionally abused by her husband, Matthew Winkler.

Her lawyers were expected to seek a sentence of probation, but prosecutors were expected to ask Judge Weber McCraw to give Winkler jail time.

<snip>

She testified during her trial that her husband hit and kicked her, forced her to look at pornography and demanded sex she considered unnatural. Jurors were shown a pair of tall, platform shoes and a black wig Winkler said she was pressured to wear during sex.

More at CNN...

Well, she did kill her husband after all, and since she shot him in the back while he was in bed, I don't think self-defense is an argument here.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

1. I'm In Awe That She Only Got Manslaughter. That Cold Blooded Killer Deserved Life In Prison.

Always so easy to claim abuse when the person being accused is dead. Course, there were no records or other proof of any significant abuse, but what can ya do.

I hope they give her every day of the max.

[NaturalHigh]

2. But wait...

They had a wig and some shoes! :crazy:

[Missy M]

3. I hope they do too....

why didn't this woman just get a divorce if things were the way she said. Why is divorce so hard to do, for some reason, yet killing someone is easy. What a screwed up world.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

4. Absolutely.

Screwed up indeed.

[NaturalHigh]

6. I can't even begin to explain it.

If everything she said were true, she could have hammered him in divorce court. Honestly, I don't believe anything she says.

[bleedingheart]

31. I don't know all the details of this case but my aunt was beaten nearly to death

multiple times by her husband...but they lived out in the boonies and had 7 kids...she didn't dare call the police.

So not all people who are abused have "proof"...hell my aunt couldn't afford a camera to take a picture of her black and blue face.

[opihimoimoi]

5. I hope she gets off with 2 months probation.... a victim of a BULLY in the Closet.

Besides, we need the prison room for those real criminals...the pot smokers...

[NaturalHigh]

7. What makes you think she's the victim?

She's the one who used the shotgun on a sleeping man.

[Bucky]

33. Okay, Mister Smarty Pants, how would YOU solve their marital problems?

Was there realistically any remedy other than a shotgun blast to the back? Marriage counseling? Divorce? Honestly discussing their differences and coming to a shared understanding in an atmosphere of respect and mutual trust?

HA! Don't make me laugh.
.

[opihimoimoi]

48. What makes you think she wasn't a victim??? Bully husbands get shot all the time...

some get it in the back, some in the throat, some get their dicks bitten off.

She claims she was an abused wife and that is good enough for me...

[NaturalHigh]

63. "She claims she was an abused wife...

and that's good enough for me."

That statement pretty much says it all about your point-of-view in this matter. Thanks for dropping by.

[opihimoimoi]

68. What a Negative perspective...where is it that sez she wasn't abused?

[NaturalHigh]

69. The "battered wife syndrome" is an affirmative defense.

In other words, if the defendant is going to claim this as a defense, she is expected to prove that she was, in fact, abused. She's done nothing of the sort that I can see.

In response to your question, what says that she was abused? Bruises, photographs, police reports, records of internet sites visited, testimony of the children? The most I've seen is a wig and a pair of shoes that she claims she wore during sex.

[opihimoimoi]

71. Ok...You win.....I join you...we go stone the bitch......

[NaturalHigh]

72. LOL...I don't think I ever suggested stoning...

or anything remotely similar. However I think she deserves more than a couple hundred days in jail or a mental hospital.

[opihimoimoi]

73. It suggests just that in Le Bible.....Eye for an EYE and Back for a Back....she deserves a good

stoning...LOL

[NaturalHigh]

74. Back for a back?

Never heard of that one.

[Beaverhausen]

8. I hope she gets freed today - or maybe house arrest like Paris

she did what she had to do to save herself and her children.

[NaturalHigh]

9. Uh...leaving and getting a divorce wouldn't have worked?

Frankly, I don't even believe what she said about being abused anyway. Where was the evidence of abuse other than the wig and shoes that she claimed she wore during sex?

I think she got away with murder.

[Beaverhausen]

12. You obviously don't know anything about battered women

It isn't so easy for some women to leave their abusive husbands, especially if he is the local preacher.

[NaturalHigh]

13. Again, where is the evidence of abuse?

Just because she claimed abuse doesn't make her story true. She made sure that her husband couldn't refute her claims bu killing him with a shotgun while he was in bed.

[Beaverhausen]

16. I wasn't at the trial so I don't know. But honestly, do you think she just did it..

...because she decided one day she just didn't want to be married to him anymore? What do you think her motive was?

[spoony]

17. So when a person kills a spouse, it must be for a good reason.

Gotcha. Glad you could clear that up for everyone. When will you be petitioning for Scott Peterson's release?

[LisaL]

52. Yea, exactly. I bet Scott Peterson would love to serve 210 day

sentence rather than his death penalty.

[NaturalHigh]

19. I don't know, and now that the trial is over...

we will never know. Maybe they were having normal marital or financial problems that plenty of other couples face without one spouse killing the other. What I do know is that no real evidence of abuse has been presented, at least not in the press. Her defense lawyer got her off by using Rule #1 when accused of killing your husband: always claim that he was a perverted, abusive bastard who got what was coming to him.

Personally, I don't see how a wig or platform shoes are perverted or abusive.

[The Straight Story]

20. Why is it that is always the defense but when men do it they are just assholes?

Can't women be assholes sometimes too, like condi rice :)

[Beelzebud]

76. Women are made from sugar and spice, and everything nice!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

28. She Racked Up A Large Amount Of Debt And Was In Trouble By The Bank.

Since she was a coward, she chose to kill her husband in cold blood rather than face the music of him finding out.

She should be locked up for the rest of her cold hearted days.

[Mandate My Ass]

15. No knowledge and no desire or even willingness to learn

It's useless to try and get through to the string-her-up-by-the-neck crew. :shrug:

[spoony]

18. No, it's useless trying to get through to the

he-must-have-deserved-it-regardless-of-evidence crew. I strongly suspect this is because he was a preacher that he finds so little sympathy here.

[NaturalHigh]

21. Don't you know that when a wife kills her husband...

he deserves it?

I left off the sarcasm tag even though I'm sure some people will think I'm serious and agree wholeheartedly.

[spoony]

23. Strange that they don't extend the logic the other way

And hold that Robert Blake, Scott Peterson, Mark Unger, etc. must have had compelling reasons to kill their wives. After all, as we've been informed, people don't just DO such things without cause.

[Beelzebud]

75. Yeah, much easier to shoot him in the back with a shotgun than leave.

I'm sure the locals will be so much more understanding.

[ComerPerro]

11. you've got to be fucking kidding, you can't really believe that driving on a suspended license

Is an equal offense to manslaughter (at best, cold-blooded murder at worst)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

27. ROFLMAO! Yeah, And OJ Was Really Truly Innocent.

I get such a kick out of those so blinded by their own hatred of men that anytime a woman does anything like this it's AUTOMATICALLY cause she was such a puw wittle innocent abused soul who was just protecting herself. Oh give me a break. :rofl:

She was a cowardly cold blooded murderer who didn't want to have to face an angry husband over her debt. Comes down to nothing more. She should be in jail for the rest of her life. But in the absence of that, since justice wasn't served here, I can only hope her time behind bars is filled with such hardship that it makes it feel like 25 years...

[ContraBass Black]

10. While certainly allowances should be made for the desperation of abused

Spouses, that sounds like a rather mild conviction for a shotgun killing of someone who was not armed, awake, or attacking.

[NaturalHigh]

14. One thing is for sure...

her husband isn't around to tell his side of the story.

[Blaze Diem]

22. Mama Winkler should have told the poor little girls that their Daddy

also indulged in "sins of the flesh" by viewing internet porn and asking their mom to submit like a good Christian wife, & act out his fantasies of bedding a porn slave.

Did mama Winkler, who sat on the stand realize that her darling God loving son, defamed his own image by viewing women as submissive, and demeaning his wife and mother of his lovely daughters to the point that she just refused to take it one moment further?

Poor man shot in the back as he peacefully slept. What had he asked of his good Christian wife that made him rest so peacefully? He was satisified with completion of a night of fulfilled fantasies. She was fed up.
Must have taken a lot of demeaning abuse to push her to this action, to go against all she had believed about right & wrong including murder.

Bless Mary Winkler and may she find peace someday.

Mrs. Mama Winkler should realize her darling son was no "good boy" either. He has a contribution to this outcome also.

Just my opinion.

[NaturalHigh]

25. Evidence?

Any evidence for thinking that the husband was a porn-addicted, sex-crazed, perverted beast, or are you just assuming the wife told the truth when she was trying to get off the hook for killing her husband?

[spoony]

39. For cyring out...

I hear the Christians fed to the lions deserved it too, eh?



:eyes:

[MindPilot]

43. So basically what you're saying is, "he was asking for it". n/t

[BlooInBloo]

24. God I hate anti-woman "reverse sexism" schmucks, wherever I might hypothetically see them.

[NaturalHigh]

26. Yes, it's very sexist to think...

that a woman should be held accountable for killing her husband in cold blood. :eyes:

[The Straight Story]

29. I think what I am hearing is women can only be victims, so anything they do

is naturally in self defense.

Only men do those bad sort of things, and especially christian men.

Women are so totally weak minded they can't control themselves, so we cannot blame them like we might blame others (and if thats the case, maybe they do need someone to be head of the house....)

Pretty sad, but that appears to be the case some are making here.

Me - I think women are damned strong and equal to men, maybe even surpassing men on some things. To have them reduced to sniveling victims just ticks me off. There are weak men and women, and both can be victims - and both can be cold hearted perps.

These same people who would give these women a pass for killing their husbands and kids probably don't believe in the death penalty - unless it is spousally administered :)

[Blaze Diem]

30. I speak from my own experience. Porn addicted boyfriend.....

Its easy to get caught up in the fantasy and fine to "play" as long as its consentual.

At some point its not play anymore, its sick. The dynamics of the good Christian wife and preacher hubby, whom is loved and beholden to by the beliefs of the church in their community create a powerful dynamic.
Like I said this is my opinion.
I believe its still allowed on DU.

I wasn't sure about how I felt until I watched Mrs mama Winkler talk about her beloved son, as though he could do no wrong.
Yes, Mary Winkler could have taken her children and left without killing the guy, but who knows what took place, and something clearly must have, to move this woman to such an act of violence.

She's gone against all she believed in as a woman of faith.
Something she viewed as ugly and demeaning beyond her personal tolerance had to have taken place.

I will give her that much.
And Mrs. mama Winkler should prepare to tell the truth, like a good Christian, to those girls someday, when they understand the dynamics of what their faith says of submitting to their husband. What happens when what he is asking of his wife crosses the line of her belief in right and wrong?

Mrs. Mama Winkler has some explaining to do someday to the girls as to the truth about their daddy's behavior that led to this recourse by their mom.

Just how I feel about this sort of thing, especially when Mr Winkler is praised as a good Christian man. Maybe in the public eye, and that of his own mama, of course, but between the sheets, he was a disgusting creep. Hardly practicing what he preached.

Tks
Blaze

[MindPilot]

42. "porn addiction"? Please.

Porn is not something one can be addicted to. You can like it a lot. It may even be a necessary component to sexual arousal, but addiction? Don't think so.

[Blaze Diem]

47. hah ha.....

ya right..

[LisaL]

53. If it's deemed o'key to kill people if those people like to view porn,

I am afraid a lot of people will end up dead.

[NaturalHigh]

62. Evidence?

From what I've read, this had more to do with her stupidity in falling for the old Nigerian fraud e-mail scheme than anything to do with an alleged porn addiction. The only supposed evidence of a supposed "porn addiction" is a wig and pair of shoes that she claims to have worn when they were having sex. Yeah, that's really hardcore stuff their (even if we are to believe her story).

[spoony]

40. It's amazingly sexist to treat women like children and assume that

, like a dumb animal, any act of violence on their part is the result of not being able to help it.

[MindPilot]

46. I thought it was men who were responsible for all the violence.

At least that's what I was told in another thread yesterday. Now I'm confused. :crazy:

[Bucky]

32. Heh, I read somewhere that this idiot also fell for the Nigerian email scam

He shouldn't have been shot for it, of course, but this tells me we're not hearing about a healthy family dynamic here.

[LisaL]

50. It was Mary Winkler who fell for the Nigerian email scam.

[spoony]

56. Well she tried to foist that off on the dead man too.

Never mind that all evidence implicated her and her alone in the scam. Thanks for another voice of sanity in this thread.

[Bucky]

57. Wow. That news just blows me away.

It's just boggling to think anyone could be that stupid.

[Blaze Diem]

34. Mary Winkler should do the max time allowed..

for her actions.
Her husband, afterall, paid with his life for his behavior.

Mrs. Mama Winkler...
Its very sad that your dear son's weakness for the flesh allowed Satan to enter a holy marriage.
Sins of the father...you know the passage mam.

[dogday]

35. Just heard 210 days incarceration, the rest of a

3 year sentence to be served on probation... She may even get into a good mental facility for 60 days...

[bicentennial_baby]

36. And credit for time served

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

37. What A Travesty Of Justice. My Heart Goes Out To His Family. They Got No Justice Here.

I just have to hope that some day she will in fact be judged appropriately by the lord, if such a thing occurs.

What a messed up world we live in when a cold hearted murderer like this only has to serve 210 days. She should rot away in prison for the rest of her damn life.

So sorry for his family. They deserved better from the justice system than this farce.

[LisaL]

51. Yep, no justice.

If he was the one killing her, somehow I doubt he would get only 210 days.

[NaturalHigh]

64. Maybe they can at least sue her for criminal damages...

and convince a family court judge that the kids shouldn't be turned over to this loon. After all, she did drag them along when she went on the run. If she hadn't been caught when she was, I hate to think what might have happened to them.

[Blaze Diem]

38. Sins of the father...tsk tsk tsk

Someday your daughters will know the truth..
Like the many who suffered at the hands of Catholic Priests expecting their holy status to hide them.

Like the Christians who stood behind the murder of innocents in Iraq, while bemoaning the horror of abortion rights in the USA.

Now back to poor Paris..

[spoony]

41. So his murder was a just act of retribution against an entire group

of people you hate, nice.

[Blaze Diem]

44. Didn't say it was a "just" act. I said the good God-fearing preacher

wasn't the good boy his mama portrayed. And someday his girls, as they morn for their daddy now, will learn the truth about their daddy's culpability in setting the whole nasty ball rolling.

He wanted his good God-fearing Christian wife to submit to his sexual fantasies, following his viewing it online.
Somewhere the line was crossed as to what she deemed tolerable.
period..
Its those who accuse other's injustices while not seeing their own that I have a problem with.
Sorry, but I wanted to gag at mama Winklers statement today, as she criticized the end result of this horror, without a little self-study as to what started the demise of her holy boy.

He should have stopped to realize what he was being led when he clicked on the link to his fav porn site. What was he bringing into his marriage and what hypocrisy it truely was for a preacher of God's word.

Its the hypocrisy I "hate".

[LisaL]

49. Guess what? He was not there to defend himself.

Cause he is dead.
Sorry if I am not going to buy everything his wife said.

[spoony]

54. But...surely a person on trial for murder would never lie, too.

;)

[LisaL]

55. Of course not. What was I thinking to even suggest such a thing?

LOL.

[mondo joe]

60. So looking at porn and wanting to carry out sexual fantasies is now cause for murder?

Did you go to the wrong board?

[NaturalHigh]

65. Have you seen a record of his visits to porn sites?

Personally, I haven't, nor have I read of any defense evidence presented at the trial of these alleged visits.

[Beelzebud]

77. So he deserved to be shot in the back with a shotgun? Is that what you're saying?

[Breeze54]

45. But she's getting suspended sentence...only to serve 233 days...

That's pretty screwed up too!

[Error]

58. what difference does it make? her life is ruined forever anyway

[Breeze54]

59. "her life is ruined forever"??

:wtf: I think HIS life is ruined FOREVER and the killer gets 200+ days???

Insane!!!!! :crazy:

[LisaL]

61. I also think it's outrageous.

The guy is dead, and she will spend two months in jail.
And she wants her kids back.
Seriously, if this was a man who killed his wife, would he get off that easy?

[Omphaloskepsis]

66. I didn't read the thread.. glanced over it. that was about it....

My dad used to beat the shit out of me and my sister and my mom.. Why did my mom stay? He said he would kill us if we left. He was well off and my mom was 29 and had never had a job. She was scared. She shot him in the middle of the night and we ran away to Mexico after pulling about 40K from the checking account. It was premeditated murder. She spent about 5 months in jail before her trial.. She got off with time served.

And.. I don't feel bad about what she did. I was ten fucking years old and watched my dad break my sisters head open on the side of the bathtub. I would have shot him that night if I had a gun, and if knew how to use it at the time. And this was one of many nights that were the norm around our house.

[Catherine Vincent]

67. That is so sad.

:-(

[Chovexani]

70. Damn.

Thank you for sharing your story. :hug: :hug:

It's a totally fucked up society that turns a blind eye to this kind of thing to the point where this kind of desperation sets in. Peace to you and your family.

I won't judge this woman because lord only knows what was going on in that house. It's fine to sit and point fingers from the comfort of your home but none of us knows what that family was going through and there are sadly more stories like yours out there than most people want to believe.