Scary Amber alert that hits home [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

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GrantDawg

03-23-2006, 11:10 AM

I just heard about this earlier. I know this guys father, and his grandfather taught just about every Church of Christ preacher in the southeast. This is sad and scary.

Tennessee Pastor Slain, Family Missing
Crime/Punishment Blog

March 23, 2006

Tennessee Pastor Slain, Family Missing (http://crime.about.com/b/a/254624.htm)
http://z.about.com/d/crime/1/0/t/B/mwinkler.jpg A Tennessee church pastor was found shot to death after he failed to show up for Wednesday night services and a statewide Amber Alert has been issued for his missing wife and three young daughters.</IMG>
When pastor Matthew Winkler failed to attend Wednesday evening services at Forth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tennessee, church members went to the parsonage to check on him. They found him dead in a bedroom and no one else at home.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued a statewide Amber Alert Thursday morning for the couple's daughters, Breanna, 1, Mary Alice, 6, and Patricia, 8. They are possibly with their mother, Mary Winkler, a 32-year-old, white female, 5'3" tall and weighs 120-125 pounds. They are believed to be traveling in a gray 2006 Toyota Sienna Van with Tennessee License Plate NDX288.
http://z.about.com/d/crime/1/0/u/B/winkler.jpg
The Winkler Family
Family photo

Investigators said Mary Winkler was a substitute teacher who substituted Tuesday at a local elementary school. Church members said they knew of no problems within the family. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Selmer Police Department at 731-645-7906 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

MrBug708

03-23-2006, 11:14 AM

EagleFan

03-23-2006, 12:01 PM

Sad indeed. I pray they find the family and that they are safe. I also pray that the person(s) responsible are executed in the slowest and most painful way possible.

BrianD

03-23-2006, 02:58 PM

Sad indeed. I pray they find the family and that they are safe.

Agreed.

I also pray that the person(s) responsible are executed in the slowest and most painful way possible.

This I find rather ironic.

Vince

03-23-2006, 03:01 PM

Horrible news.

Karlifornia

03-23-2006, 03:38 PM

That sucks. :(

stevew

03-23-2006, 03:51 PM

I hope the wife and kids are okay. Sorry about your loss.

EagleFan

03-23-2006, 03:52 PM

This I find rather ironic.

Why? Because I want to see justice and want people who would do such a thing to suffer for what they have done? Where is the irony?

stevew

03-23-2006, 04:00 PM

If they find the family, and they are safe, there's a good chance at who the suspect probably is.

BrianD

03-23-2006, 04:01 PM

Why? Because I want to see justice and want people who would do such a thing to suffer for what they have done? Where is the irony?

Because you are praying for a slow painful execution. I don't recall slow painful executions as being part of any religious teachings. Justice is one thing. Making it be slow and painful isn't justice, it is vengence...which is fine, but I find praying for vengence ironic.

Glengoyne

03-23-2006, 07:38 PM

...Justice is one thing. Making it be slow and painful isn't justice, it is vengence...which is fine, but I find praying for vengence ironic.

I don't think the Death Penalty is about justice or vengeance, even if it was carried out in a painful manner. I think the death penalty is all about punishment.

I'll second the position that I thought the irony of the post in question was that he was concerned for the family, yet wanted the person responsible to be punished severely. It is pretty likely that the wife put a bullet in the guy's head and ran off. That being the irony.

I don't really find any discontinuity in the sense you are referring to. I hope those innocent people are OK, I hope the guilty pay. Makes perfect sense.

FrogMan

03-23-2006, 08:30 PM

just got this from the yahoo news alerts:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=575 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Yahoo! Alerts</TD><TD align=right>Yahoo! News (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/alerts/email/html/bn/yahoonews/*http://news.yahoo.com) - My Alerts (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/alerts/email/html/bn/myalerts/*http://beta.alerts.yahoo.com/main.php?view=my_alerts) - Edit Alert (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/alerts/email/html/bn/editalert/*http://beta.alerts.yahoo.com/main.php?view=edit_breaking_news&id=136&.done=http://beta.alerts.yahoo.com/main.php?view=my_alerts&st=type) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SCRIPT></SCRIPT>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=575 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#effada>Thursday, March 23, 2006, 6:09 PM PST </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=575 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD>SELMER, Tenn. (AP) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says the family of a slain minister has been found safe in Alabama. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Just as I hit the delete button it hit me that I read about this here...

Here's what little they have on AP:
SELMER, Tenn. - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says the family of slain minister Matthew Winkler has been safely recovered in Orange Beach, Ala.

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/js/706-6204-12140-3?mpt=1143167225886780&mpvc=http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12e6u824e/M=395411.8156406.8973328.1414694/D=news/S=8903239:LREC/_ylt=AmCcnp_12S9cpHbmKMagAHlH2ocA/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1143174425/A=2807620/R=0/*"></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/bn/706-6204-12140-3?mpt=1143167225886780 (http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12e6u824e/M=395411.8156406.8973328.1414694/D=news/S=8903239:LREC/_ylt=AmCcnp_12S9cpHbmKMagAHlH2ocA/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1143174425/A=2807620/R=1/SIG=129tqbau8/*http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/706-6204-12140-3?mpt=1143167225886780)</NOSCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>if (window.yzq_a == null) document.write("<scr" + "ipt type=text/javascript src=""http://us.js2.yimg.com/us.js.yimg.com/lib/bc/bc_1.7.3.js></scr" + "ipt>");</SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>if (window.yzq_a){yzq_a('p', 'P=Y9IUkM6.I3oHrtX3PlWwdA3X0ZRaykQjWPkADNQZ&T=13oknm60b%2fX%3d1143167225%2fE%3d8903239%2fR%3dnews%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d1.1%2fW%3d8%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d1841402306%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d5623BECE');yzq_a('a', '&U=13932knh8%2fN%3dAoLk986.Iso-%2fC%3d395411.8156406.8973328.1414694%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d2807620');}</SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=Y9IUkM6.I3oHrtX3PlWwdA3X0ZRaykQjWPkADNQZ&T=13tevuqs3%2fX%3d1143167225%2fE%3d8903239%2fR%3dnews%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3d8%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d2745281040%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d5623BECE&U=13932knh8%2fN%3dAoLk986.Iso-%2fC%3d395411.8156406.8973328.1414694%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d2807620</NOSCRIPT>
The popular and charismatic Tennessee minister was found shot to death in his parsonage. Church members went looking for 31-year-old Matthew Winkler when he did not show up for an evening service at the Fourth Street Church of Christ. They used a key to enter the parsonage and found him dead in a bedroom late Wednesday, Burks said. Winkler's family was gone, along with their minivan.

The bureau had issued an Amber Alert early Thursday for the couple's daughters, Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8. The alert said the girls may be with their mother, Mary Winkler.

Simply says "safely recovered"...

From http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/pastor_slain;_ylt=AlNj0AZuYO8MdRmH3pYDTyqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ-- (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/pastor_slain;_ylt=AlNj0AZuYO8MdRmH3pYDTyqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ)

FM

Mustang

03-23-2006, 08:37 PM

If they find the family, and they are safe, there's a good chance at who the suspect probably is.

You would hope it isn't the wife but, with no details right now... Unfortunately that is the way people's thoughts stray.

st.cronin

03-23-2006, 08:55 PM

Anytime I hear people jumping to those sorts of conclusions, I think back to the Ramsey case.

Bubba Wheels

03-23-2006, 09:01 PM

Anytime I hear people jumping to those sorts of conclusions, I think back to the Ramsey case.

Basic law enforcement 101: When one spouse dies in the absence of other evidence unless the other spouse has an alibi they are the suspect. Period.

st.cronin

03-23-2006, 09:02 PM

Basic law enforcement 101: When one spouse dies in the absence of other evidence unless the other spouse has an alibi they are the suspect. Period.

Well, I'm not trying to tell law enforcement how to do their job. I'm speaking more about the public.

BrianD

03-23-2006, 09:14 PM

I don't think the Death Penalty is about justice or vengeance, even if it was carried out in a painful manner. I think the death penalty is all about punishment.

I'll second the position that I thought the irony of the post in question was that he was concerned for the family, yet wanted the person responsible to be punished severely. It is pretty likely that the wife put a bullet in the guy's head and ran off. That being the irony.

I don't really find any discontinuity in the sense you are referring to. I hope those innocent people are OK, I hope the guilty pay. Makes perfect sense.

I think the fact that he was PRAYING for a slow and painful death. I can see praying for justice, or praying for the guilty to get what they deserve. To pray for a torturous demise seems very unreligious in general.

GrantDawg

03-23-2006, 09:25 PM

I've been working and hadn't heard they were found. Thank goodness. My guess is they were with the mother which sort of goes to what most speculation is right now.

GrantDawg

03-23-2006, 09:31 PM

Tenn. Authorities Say Family Found in Ala.

By WOODY BAIRD
Associated Press Writer
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript type=text/javascript> </SCRIPT>SELMER, Tenn. — The family of a slain Tennessee minister was found safe Thursday night in Orange Beach, Ala., the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.
Authorities had been looking for Mary Winkler and her three children — Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8 — all missing since church members found her husband, 31-year-old Matthew Winkler, shot to death in his parsonage.
<TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width=170 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=enhance>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Orange Beach police spotted the family's Toyota van stopped on the side of the road and pulled over to help around 7:30 p.m. CST.
Mary Winkler and her daughters were in good physical condition, and no one else was with them at the time of the stop, said TBI spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson.
"She hasn't been arrested," Johnson said. "We want to talk to her and find out what she knows" about the slaying of her husband.
The wife had last been seen late Tuesday afternoon picking up the children from school, said Ed Jones, TBI assistant director. Burks said she worked as a substitute teacher at the elementary school.
"We're just so relieved that the kids were found safe and now we can focus on the next task" of solving the crime, Johnson said.
Tracy Stewart, city clerk in Selmer, said city investigators plan to go to Alabama to interview the family.
Church members had gone looking for the minister when he did not show up for an evening service at the Fourth Street Church of Christ. They used a key to enter the parsonage and found him dead in a bedroom late Wednesday, police said.
There were no signs of forced entry at the parsonage, Johnson said.
Members of the congregation gathered Thursday inside the one-story brick church. "We're just trying to console each other," Ash said.
Pam Killingsworth, a church member and assistant principal at Selmer Elementary, where the Winkler children went to her school, said: "I can't believe this would happen."
"The kids are just precious, and she was precious," Killingsworth said, her eyes red from crying and her voice cracking at times. "He was the one of the best ministers we've ever had — just super charisma."
Matthew Winkler was hired as minister in February 2005, said Wilburn Ash, an elder at the 200-member church in Selmer, a town of about 4,600 in western Tennessee. The job was Winkler's first full-time position after working as a youth minister at another church.
Ash said he never saw any conflict in the family.
"He seemed like he was real happy here, and we were happy with him," Ash said. "He preached the Bible. He didn't make his opinions known on what was popular or what was politically right. He just preached the Bible."
"They were a nice family," added former Mayor Jimmy Whittington, who said he worked with the minister collecting donations for hurricane victims last year. "They just blended in."

Draft Dodger

03-23-2006, 09:37 PM

suspicious, at least...

GrantDawg

03-23-2006, 09:41 PM

suspicious, at least...

I can't think of any explanation unless they were abandoned by their captor in Alabama. Nothing else is going to save her.

EagleFan

03-24-2006, 12:43 AM

A major shame for the kids, no matter what the outcome is with the mother (did she plan it, was the husband violent with her behind closed doors and it was self defense...).

For the family's sake, I actually hope there is a third party who did this. It's a tragedy no matter what but it would have to be harder on the kids if mommy killed daddy.

A couple of guys I knew in the town I grew up in had the reverse of this happen. One was in his early 20's and his brother was still in high school. Their parents were in the process of divorcing and one night his father came home and killed their mother and than himself. The oldest saw the whole thing happen. I can't even begin to imagine what that does to a person, nor ever want to find out.

stevew

03-24-2006, 06:02 AM

Lead story today on NBC this morning. Wife considered a suspect.

Ben E Lou

03-24-2006, 09:36 AM

Breaking news at CNN.com:

Slain minister's wife to face murder charge, officials say (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/24/pastor.slain.ap/index.html)

BREAKING NEWS
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/US/03/24/pastor.slain.ap/t1.pastor.couple.jpg (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/24/pastor.slain.ap/index.html)
The wife of a slain Tennessee minister will be charged with killing him, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told CNN today. Mary Winkler, 32, will face a charge of first-degree murder, the TBI said. Matthew Winkler, minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tennessee, was found dead at his parsonage on Wednesday night. After a daylong search, Winkler's wife and children were found in Alabama.

Mustang

03-24-2006, 09:47 AM

If she is charged, I'm sure her defense will either be spousal abuse, adultery or molestation.

Sucks for the kids though, essentially they will have lost both parents.

stevew

03-24-2006, 09:50 AM

If she is charged, I'm sure her defense will either be spousal abuse, adultery or molestation.

Sucks for the kids though, essentially they will have lost both parents.

Yeah, if this were a dateline story(which I'm sure it will be at some point), there are many "dark secrets" that will come out.

Eaglesfan27

03-24-2006, 10:23 AM

If she is charged, I'm sure her defense will either be spousal abuse, adultery or molestation.

Sucks for the kids though, essentially they will have lost both parents.

I doubt it will be adultery. That hardly seems like a good enough justification for murder. I'm guessing that spousal abuse will be the likely defense.

FrogMan

03-24-2006, 10:24 AM

Sucks for the kids though, essentially they will have lost both parents.

this saddens me to no end. :(

FM

GrantDawg

03-24-2006, 10:29 AM

I doubt it will be adultery. That hardly seems like a good enough justification for murder. I'm guessing that spousal abuse will be the likely defense.

Adultery won't be the justification, but I wouldn't be shocked if it were the motive. That's just speculation.

GrantDawg

03-24-2006, 10:40 AM

All of this just breaks my heart. You'll have a hard time finding nicer people in this world than the Winklers. His grandfather was a "preacher's preacher," head of the Bible department at Faulkner University for many years and was a very kind man. His family has produced a large number of Church of Christ preachers that serve all around the world. From every indication (my brother-in-law worked with him on various things while they were in McMinville. A good friend also went to grad school with his father, and spent a good bit of time with him) he was a good guy who cared passionately for his family and the people he served. I'm just stunned at this. I'm not going to be surprised if this woman ends up diagnosed with a mental illlness. That won't make it right, but at least it would make some sense.

sachmo71

03-24-2006, 11:30 AM

Adultery won't be the justification, but I wouldn't be shocked if it were the motive. That's just speculation.

seconded.

sachmo71

03-24-2006, 11:56 AM

dola

from CNN breaking news

-- Mary Winkler, wife of slain minister Matthew Winkler, has confessed to
killing him, police in Selmer, Tennessee, say.

Ben E Lou

03-24-2006, 11:56 AM

------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------

AP: Tenn. police say wife of slain minister has confessed to shooting him -

Glengoyne

03-24-2006, 06:20 PM

So while some of us are speculating adultery as a possible motive. Who went straying?

Was it him? Or was it her?

I'm going to guess her...but since I was once married to a cheating whore, I'm probably biased.

stevew

03-24-2006, 08:58 PM

I call internet porn being involved in some manner.

GrantDawg

03-25-2006, 12:06 AM

GrantDawg

03-25-2006, 06:43 AM

Dola over extended time:

The police have not announced motive, but they said it was not infidelity. Strange that they announced like that.

GrantDawg

03-25-2006, 06:47 AM

Minister's wife charged
TBI won't disclose motive for Selmer shooting
By Woody Baird
Associated Press
March 25, 2006
SELMER, Tenn. -- A minister's wife was charged Friday with shooting her husband to death in the parsonage in a crime that shocked the congregation and shattered the couple's happy and loving image.
Mary Winkler, 32, was arrested on murder charges and confessed to the slaying after fleeing to Alabama in the family's minivan with their three young daughters, authorities said.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent John Mehr said authorities know the motive for the killing, but he would not disclose it. He said police did not believe it was infidelity, but he would not comment on whether Mary Winkler had accused her husband of abuse.
Her husband of 10 years, Matthew Winkler, a popular and charismatic 31-year-old preacher at a fundamentalist Christian church, was found dead in a bedroom at the couple's home Wednesday night in Selmer, a town of about 4,600 south of Jackson in West Tennessee.
Mehr said the daughters were at the house when their father was shot, and authorities found the weapon used to kill him.
After a daylong search, Mary Winkler and her daughters were found Thursday night leaving a restaurant in Orange Beach, Ala. Police Chief Billy Wilkins said she had rented a beach condo Thursday after the slaying.
She waived extradition and was scheduled to arrive back in Tennessee today.
The three girls -- Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8 -- will be sent back to Tennessee to live with their paternal grandparents, said David Whetstone, the district attorney in Baldwin County.
Matthew Winkler's father, Dan Winkler, attended the custody hearing and spoke to reporters.
"Thank you for your love, support and prayers," he said. "Now we want to turn our attention to remembering our son and to the care of three young children."
Mary Winkler, who stands 5-foot-3 and weighs 120 pounds, was led into the custody hearing Friday, but she did not respond to questions from reporters.
Members of the Fourth Street Church of Christ found Matthew Winkler's body after he missed a Wednesday evening service. The third-generation minister was hired at the 200-member church in February 2005. The congregation quickly came to love his by-the-book sermons, said Wilburn Ash, a church elder.
Church members also took to his wife, whom they described as a quiet, unassuming woman who was a substitute teacher.
Mary and Matthew Winkler were married in 1996. They met at Freed-Hardeman University, a Church of Christ-affiliated school in Henderson where Matthew's father was an adjunct professor. Neither graduated.
Churches of Christ don't consider themselves a denomination since every congregation is self-governed by a group of church elders. But they generally believe the Bible should be interpreted literally. They are also noted for not allowing instrumental music during services. Mary Winkler's father, who still lives in her hometown of Knoxville, declined to comment Friday.

Bubba Wheels

03-25-2006, 07:57 AM

Police say that they have the motive. Police were asked if 'abuse' was involved. Police responded with 'no comment.'

Eaglesfan27

03-25-2006, 08:04 PM

Abuse against the kids defense?

That is what I've thought it would be since this started.

Senator

03-25-2006, 08:05 PM

Abuse against the kids defense?

oliegirl

03-25-2006, 08:58 PM

Very sad story...I had heard that they had been found, but didn't realize they were in Orange Beach, AL, I'll be there next week for Spring Break, my parents own a condo there - I wonder where exactly they found them, weird to think I've probably been to the restaurant they were spotted at...

GrantDawg

03-25-2006, 08:58 PM

That is what I've thought it would be since this started.

That is my wife's guess as well. I have numerous theories. I've also heard a couple of disturbing rumors about the crime scene. Part of them say that he was not shot in the bedroom. She supposedly shot him more than once with a .22 rifle and followed him through the house shooting until he finally died in the bedroom. Don't know if that is true.

Bubba Wheels

03-25-2006, 09:16 PM

The charge is 1st degree murder. Means it was planned in advance before being carried out. Not a crime of passion.

GrantDawg

03-25-2006, 09:28 PM

The charge is 1st degree murder. Means it was planned in advance before being carried out. Not a crime of passion.

Yes, but just because somebody is charged doesn't mean that is what they did. It might be this was pre-meditated and that she admit as such. It might be she claimed it wasn't and they charged her like it was. We know nothing right now except she did it.

Antmeister

03-25-2006, 09:34 PM

GrantDawg

03-25-2006, 09:41 PM

Wow! First time I read this thread and the developments that follow the initial post is amazing. GrantDawg, I hope his father is making it through this difficult time the best way he can. That is a horrible way to lose a son.

I haven't talked to my frend who would be close to him right now, but I'll say this. He is a very strong man. Everytime I've met him and heard him speak he seemed to have a very strong faith and kind heart. The whole family is recieving a lot of prayers right ow.

Bubba Wheels

03-25-2006, 09:42 PM

Yes, but just because somebody is charged doesn't mean that is what they did. It might be this was pre-meditated and that she admit as such. It might be she claimed it wasn't and they charged her like it was. We know nothing right now except she did it.

Just adds to the strange nature of the case. Woman in the pictures looks like the last person on earth to plot out a first-degree murder.

GrantDawg

03-30-2006, 09:29 AM

Just to update:

No motive has been released. Today was supposed to be the preliminary hearing, but the her lawyer waved both the hearing and bond, so we still know nothing. There is going to be abuse alleged, and from the little that has come out of her attorney, it will verbal not physical. He said he does not believe the children were harmed or were in any danger in the home, so that rules out sexual abuse of the girls.

The one thing that has been comfirmed, it was a single shotgun shot to the back. Matthew did not die immediately, but bled to death.

Buccaneer

06-12-2006, 08:01 PM

She got indicted by the grand jury. The only detail was first-degree "with premeditation".

I bet there's going to be a Made-for-TV movie about this sometime.

stevew

06-12-2006, 08:08 PM

She got indicted by the grand jury. The only detail was first-degree "with premeditation".

I bet there's going to be a Made-for-TV movie about this sometime.

No doubt. I'm sure there will be just enough twists for 88 or so minutes of programming.

GrantDawg

06-13-2006, 06:30 AM

She got indicted by the grand jury. The only detail was first-degree "with premeditation".

I bet there's going to be a Made-for-TV movie about this sometime.

And if it is a Lifetime movie (which it will be), she'll come off as the victim. From everything I've been able to gather (which isn't much), her defense is going to be some kind of emotional abuse. Basically, she shot him because of the pressure of being a preacher's wife. I'm just glad that my wife didn't learn of this defense before I left preaching. :)

duckman

06-30-2006, 03:02 PM

Looks like the murder was over money among other things.

hxxp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201755,00.html

"He had really been on me lately criticizing me for things — the way I walk, I eat, everything. It was just building up to a point. I was tired of it. I guess I got to a point and snapped," Booth read to the court.

Ksyrup

06-30-2006, 06:55 PM

Winkler said she and her husband had argued throughout the evening about several things, including family finances. The problems were "mostly my fault," she said, because she was in charge of keeping the family books.

Having spent 3 separate weekends attempting to balance our checkbook about 6 months after we got married - at which point I took permanent custody of the finances - I can definitively say I'm glad I did that for at least 2 reasons.

stevew

06-30-2006, 06:59 PM

Having spent 3 separate weekends attempting to balance our checkbook about 6 months after we got married - at which point I took permanent custody of the finances - I can definitively say I'm glad I did that for at least 2 reasons.

Your wife has the "fun math" too?

Ksyrup

06-30-2006, 07:14 PM

Of course. I'm not sure she would have fallen for the Nigerian check scam, though. This chick should have turned that damn gun on herself for that.

stevew

06-30-2006, 07:25 PM

Oh damn, didnt realize she was stupid enough to believe someone from war torn Nigeria who had a relative who had a lot of money but was afraid it might get seized by illegal warlords before they could get it.

Ksyrup

06-30-2006, 08:57 PM

That's what the article says. She may have been duped by a couple of internet check scams.

GrantDawg

06-30-2006, 10:16 PM

That's what the article says. She may have been duped by a couple of internet check scams.

When you're connected to a church, there is an even different scam that often uses recognizable names connected to your religious group. Not to say she was bright for falling for it, but I can see how she might, especially if desperate for cash.

stevew

06-30-2006, 11:23 PM

When you're connected to a church, there is an even different scam that often uses recognizable names connected to your religious group. Not to say she was bright for falling for it, but I can see how she might, especially if desperate for cash.

The presbyterian college I went to got caught up in a big time ponzi type scam when I went there, lost like millions. Definitely there is a lot of that type of stuff that happens, even when all parties attempt to have good intentions(at first anyways).

stevew

07-05-2006, 03:49 PM

A lot more about the nigerian check cashing scheme came out in court, I believe it was today. Looks like the defense is going to attempt to knock down the charges by playing to the fact that she was a desperate victim. Anyways, just saw a small segment on it on MSNBC.

miami_fan

06-08-2007, 02:48 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/08/winkler.sentence.ap/index.html

SELMER, Tennessee (AP) -- A Tennessee preacher's wife has been sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her husband.

But Mary Winkler will serve only 210 days behind bars.

Winkler pleaded for leniency, and to be reunited with her three daughters, at her sentencing hearing Friday.

"I ask for mercy and understanding, but I know whatever decision you reach today will be right," Mary Winkler told the judge, reading a statement from a yellow legal pad.

"I ask you to please let me go home today and be with my children."

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.

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.

On Friday, however, Winkler testified, "I think of Matthew every day, and I'll always miss him and love him."

She turned to her husband's family and told them she was "so sorry this has happened." She said she understood they were angry with her and that she prayed every night for them to have peace.

Matthew Winkler, 31, was found fatally shot in the parsonage where the family lived in March 2006. A day later, his wife was arrested on the Alabama coast 340 miles away, driving the family minivan with her daughters inside.

Earlier in the hearing, Matthew Winkler's mother, Diane Winkler, testified that the couple's daughters, ages 9, 7 and 2, were having nightmares about people with guns breaking into their house.

"You've never told your girls you're sorry. Don't you think you at least owe them that?" she asked.

She also criticized the abuse claims by Mary Winkler, who is fighting with her husband's parents for custody of the children.

"The monster that you have painted for the world to see? I don't think that monster existed," Diane Winkler said.

Mary Winkler faces a maximum of six years in prison, but her lawyers have asked for diversion, which would keep her out of prison and eventually clear her record.

She would be eligible for parole after serving 30 percent of her term. With credit for five months already spent in jail while awaiting trial, she could be paroled in less than a year and a half.

Mary Winkler's sister, Tabitha Freeman, called her "the best example of a good person I can think of" and asked the judge to give her a chance to be reunited with her children.

"She just needs them. She's not complete without them," Freeman said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

This may be legal, it may be the correct decision. It does not seem like the "right" decision. I admit to only having a passing interest in this case because of this thread so I may have missed all the evidence confirming the abuse. Either way, it feels like someone got away with a slap on the wrist after committing murder IMO.

Warhammer

06-08-2007, 03:10 PM

Yes, she got off lightly.

stevew

06-08-2007, 04:37 PM

Wow, that's just silly justice.

Senator

06-08-2007, 04:48 PM

If he had killed her because she brow beat him about not making enough money, as well as his inability to keep it up, do you think he would have got a different sentence?

Survey of myself says, yes.

Bubba Wheels

06-09-2007, 09:40 AM

McCoy would not be pleased with this verdict.

Izulde

06-09-2007, 10:09 AM

I wonder how much of this light verdict is due to the fact that she's a mother and her 3 daughters are still out there. The American court system does tend to slant itself to maternal rights after all.

st.cronin

06-09-2007, 10:11 AM

How is custody even a question? Call me crazy, but I think that if you murder a child's parent, you automatically forfeit any claim for custody ever again.

GrantDawg

06-10-2007, 12:32 PM

How is custody even a question? Call me crazy, but I think that if you murder a child's parent, you automatically forfeit any claim for custody ever again.

I agree, but it is not reality. Sadly, this woman got away with murder plain and simple. I'm not saying her husband wasn't an ass (I knew plenty of COC preachers that were), but nothing in the accusactions against him came close to justifing shooting him in the back while he was asleep, pulling the phone cord so he couldn't call for help, and leaving him alive and bleeding on the floor. This case makes me sick to my stomache.

Marc Vaughan

06-10-2007, 04:10 PM

Your wife has the "fun math" too?

My wife also have creative math skills - not least "I've saved a fortune by buying 4 of these because they were so cheap on sale" .... (conveniently forgetting that the items in question will generally go off/be moldy/obsolete before they'll all used up).

Karlifornia

06-10-2007, 10:31 PM

Ugh....That is utter bullshit. You can shoot someone now because they broke your balls, and serve LESS THAN A YEAR. You can do more time for stealing a vacant hospital wheelchair from a bus stop.

Ksyrup

06-11-2007, 07:17 AM

If he had killed her because she brow beat him about not making enough money, as well as his inability to keep it up, do you think he would have got a different sentence?

Survey of myself says, yes.

I haven't really followed this story much, but the evidence here suggests physical abuse, not just emotional/mental abuse. Not saying that should excuse her conduct, but it's a little silly trying to equate "brow beating" with physical abuse.

It seems pretty obvious that she came off as a sympathetic figure. Ironically, it seems that her husband's status as a preacher actually worked against him, in that I think he became more of a bad guy to the jury for doing what he is alleged to have done as a man of the church.