Preacher's wife found guilty in husband's death
POSTED: 9:44 p.m. EDT, April 19, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: Preacher's wife convicted of voluntary manslaughter in husband's death
• NEW: Mary Winkler will remain free on bond until May 18 sentencing
• Winkler and 9-year-old daughter described preacher's slaying for jury
• Winkler's attorney said she was abused emotionally and physically
By Susan Candiotti and Ann O'Neill
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SELMER, Tennessee (CNN) -- A Tennessee jury on Thursday found Mary Winkler guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the shotgun killing of her husband.
Winkler showed no emotion when the verdict was announced.
The judge ruled that she would remain free on bond until her sentencing, which is scheduled for May 18. (Watch Winkler's reaction to the verdict )
The manslaughter conviction could send Winkler to prison for between three and six years.
Winkler, a 33-year-old mother of three girls, was convicted in the March 22, 2006, slaying of her husband, Matthew, 31, a popular preacher at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer.
The 10 women and two men deliberated for about six hours, before reaching a verdict.
She could have been convicted of first-degree murder, which would have been punishable by 51 to 60 years in prison. Early in the case, prosecutors decided not to pursue the death penalty.
Assistant District Attorney Walter Freeland said Matthew Winkler was a good father and husband who did not deserve to die. According to testimony, 77 shotgun pellets were recovered from his body, which church elders discovered in the parsonage bedroom after he missed a weeknight service.
Freeland told jurors that Mary Winkler showed her intentions when she went to a bedroom closet, got a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun, and pointed it at her husband.
The gun did not go off on its own, he said during closing arguments Wednesday, calling the defendant's version of events "ludicrous."
The defense portrayed Mary Winkler as a victim of physical, sexual and psychological abuse who shot her husband by accident during an argument.
Defense attorney Steve Farese said prosecutors did not prove Winkler fired intentionally. But he left open the possibility she might be guilty of a lesser charge.
"Have they proven any crime? Well -- and this is hard for me to say -- maybe," Farese said. "Maybe she was negligent."
The jury includes housewives, a secretary, a teacher's aide and a computer designer. The two men are a machinist and a factory worker. All are white and their ages range from 20 to 62. Eight are Christians; four listed no denomination.
Some of the jurors wept when the Winklers' oldest daughter, Patricia, testified for the prosecution about her father's slaying. The 9-year-old said she heard a loud boom and a thump. When she ran into the bedroom, she saw her father's body lying on the floor.
The child said she had never seen her father mistreat her mother.
But Mary Winkler described nearly a decade of marital abuse when she took the witness stand on Wednesday. She said he struck and kicked her, "screamed and hollered" at her, criticized her, blamed her when things went wrong and made her watch pornography and wear "slutty" costumes for sex.
She also said he forced her to submit to sex acts that made her uncomfortable.
A wig and a tall, white platform shoe were placed on the witness stand during her testimony. Blushing crimson and staring at the floor, she said her husband bought them for her to wear to get him in the mood for sex.
She testified that his sex drive was much stronger than hers, referring to it as "a weakness of his."
"This is not about religion, but I suggest to you that a Church of Christ preacher's wife does not wear those shoes," Farese argued.
A defense psychologist testified that Mary Winkler was depressed, showed classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, and was unable to form the intent to kill because of years of abuse.
Mary Winkler testified that "something went off" as she pointed the shotgun at Matthew Winkler during an argument. She said she was terrified of him, and pointed the weapon at him to force him to talk through their problems. But she denied pulling the trigger.
She testified that she never wanted him to die, nor would she ever have wished to go to jail, lose custody of her daughters or testify about private matters at a public murder trial.
After shooting her husband, police say, Winkler packed her girls into a minivan and drove 340 miles to Orange Beach, Alabama, where she was arrested.
She has been free on bail, staying with friends and working at a dry cleaner's shop in McMinnville, Tennessee. The children have been staying with their paternal grandparents in Henderson, Tennessee.
POSTED: 9:44 p.m. EDT, April 19, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: Preacher's wife convicted of voluntary manslaughter in husband's death
• NEW: Mary Winkler will remain free on bond until May 18 sentencing
• Winkler and 9-year-old daughter described preacher's slaying for jury
• Winkler's attorney said she was abused emotionally and physically
By Susan Candiotti and Ann O'Neill
Adjust font size:
SELMER, Tennessee (CNN) -- A Tennessee jury on Thursday found Mary Winkler guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the shotgun killing of her husband.
Winkler showed no emotion when the verdict was announced.
The judge ruled that she would remain free on bond until her sentencing, which is scheduled for May 18. (Watch Winkler's reaction to the verdict )
The manslaughter conviction could send Winkler to prison for between three and six years.
Winkler, a 33-year-old mother of three girls, was convicted in the March 22, 2006, slaying of her husband, Matthew, 31, a popular preacher at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer.
The 10 women and two men deliberated for about six hours, before reaching a verdict.
She could have been convicted of first-degree murder, which would have been punishable by 51 to 60 years in prison. Early in the case, prosecutors decided not to pursue the death penalty.
Assistant District Attorney Walter Freeland said Matthew Winkler was a good father and husband who did not deserve to die. According to testimony, 77 shotgun pellets were recovered from his body, which church elders discovered in the parsonage bedroom after he missed a weeknight service.
Freeland told jurors that Mary Winkler showed her intentions when she went to a bedroom closet, got a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun, and pointed it at her husband.
The gun did not go off on its own, he said during closing arguments Wednesday, calling the defendant's version of events "ludicrous."
The defense portrayed Mary Winkler as a victim of physical, sexual and psychological abuse who shot her husband by accident during an argument.
Defense attorney Steve Farese said prosecutors did not prove Winkler fired intentionally. But he left open the possibility she might be guilty of a lesser charge.
"Have they proven any crime? Well -- and this is hard for me to say -- maybe," Farese said. "Maybe she was negligent."
The jury includes housewives, a secretary, a teacher's aide and a computer designer. The two men are a machinist and a factory worker. All are white and their ages range from 20 to 62. Eight are Christians; four listed no denomination.
Some of the jurors wept when the Winklers' oldest daughter, Patricia, testified for the prosecution about her father's slaying. The 9-year-old said she heard a loud boom and a thump. When she ran into the bedroom, she saw her father's body lying on the floor.
The child said she had never seen her father mistreat her mother.
But Mary Winkler described nearly a decade of marital abuse when she took the witness stand on Wednesday. She said he struck and kicked her, "screamed and hollered" at her, criticized her, blamed her when things went wrong and made her watch pornography and wear "slutty" costumes for sex.
She also said he forced her to submit to sex acts that made her uncomfortable.
A wig and a tall, white platform shoe were placed on the witness stand during her testimony. Blushing crimson and staring at the floor, she said her husband bought them for her to wear to get him in the mood for sex.
She testified that his sex drive was much stronger than hers, referring to it as "a weakness of his."
"This is not about religion, but I suggest to you that a Church of Christ preacher's wife does not wear those shoes," Farese argued.
A defense psychologist testified that Mary Winkler was depressed, showed classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, and was unable to form the intent to kill because of years of abuse.
Mary Winkler testified that "something went off" as she pointed the shotgun at Matthew Winkler during an argument. She said she was terrified of him, and pointed the weapon at him to force him to talk through their problems. But she denied pulling the trigger.
She testified that she never wanted him to die, nor would she ever have wished to go to jail, lose custody of her daughters or testify about private matters at a public murder trial.
After shooting her husband, police say, Winkler packed her girls into a minivan and drove 340 miles to Orange Beach, Alabama, where she was arrested.
She has been free on bail, staying with friends and working at a dry cleaner's shop in McMinnville, Tennessee. The children have been staying with their paternal grandparents in Henderson, Tennessee.
