Wife Who Killed Minister Gets Kids

Atty.: Mary Winkler Takes Custody Of 3 Daughters From Her Slain Husband's Parents

(AP)  An attorney for Mary Winkler says the convicted killer has taken custody of her three daughters from her slain husband's parents.

Rachael Putnam, a custody attorney for Winkler, said the former minister's wife picked up the girls from Dan and Diane Winkler on Friday and the children will remain with her permanently in McMinnville.

Winkler was convicted of voluntary manslaughter last year for shooting her husband, Church of Christ minister Matthew Winkler, at their residence in Selmer.

She was sentenced to three years in prison but is free on probation.

The children, who are ages 11, 9 and 3, have been living with their grandparents since Winkler's arrest, but they have been visiting their mother through court-appointed visits for the past year.

[cornelius99]

Well, Tennessee is known for being soft on crime and having a higher murder rate than the national average. Those people think that murder is no big deal, so, this is no surprise. They''re just not a good state.

[jackie0428]

DaVicar2, you''re one sick and virtually solitary freak if you believe that she had the right to shoot her husband--the father of their 3 kids---in the back-- and kill him simply because he was allegedly abusive. This is one of the worst miscarriages of justice since the OJ case. Words escape me how depraved this entire episode is. She murders her husband in cold blood. When she could have driven away. She had choices. She wasn''t defending herself. She destroys a life. She destroys her family. She deprives her 3 kids of their father. She SHOULD have gotten 30 years in jail. Instead, only TWO years (???????) after she blasts this guy she is not only free, but she gets the kids back??? Just what is the judge and jury in this state snorting? Insane, sad, sick, demented, outrageous.

[robertkjjj]

Gee, I better not ask my wife to wear the Victoria%u2019s Secret stuff for me anymore. Or even make dinner for me. I better not even raise my voice above a whisper, in fact. Because, NOW, my wife can just SHOOT ME DEAD, get the kids, and go on with her life as if I had never existed. Until now, I never new my life as a father and husband was as expendable as the rats in the garage. All of us, both men and women, should be outraged by this case. This is not a victory for anyone, and it only cheapens the claims of truly abused women who sometime actually have to fight for their life. Mary Winkler never had to do anything harsher than wear kinky clothes? Poor baby!

[zucchiniman]

Mommy, when I grow up, will I get to kill anyone that doesn''t do everything my way ????

[brandysouth]

What a sick tragedy for those poor girls!!! Tennessee must have the dumbest, most incompetent judges on earth.

[zucchiniman]

RobertKjjj:
Victoria''s Secret lingerie is for single women making an effort to acquire a husband. Once married, women don''t wear lingerie. They issue orders.

[zucchiniman]

Michaelt302:
Yes she was completely outraged about the high heels. When he asked if he could paint her toe nails with red nail polish, she fumed and fumed for three days. And then. Then he made his fatal error. He wanted her to wear sheer black thigh highs. That was it. She shorted out. ZZZZTTTT !!!!!

[vincan-2009]

A very strange case. I am surprised by everything that has come about. I know it makes no sense, but I always was on her side some. I sure would not have been if her husband killed her like that.

[rickstas]

It goes to show you that "justice" is not blind in America!

[caldwellptr]

"Mommy, where''s Daddy?"

[cheteunice]

What a joke--2 months in a mental health facility? She killed her husband and should never have custody of her chidren again. Women get such different treatment by our so called justice system--reverse the situation and her husband would never see the light of day!

[patriot12436]

brandysouth
Your right they do. I think it is all the inbreeding there

[patriot12436]

t

[TommyCraig]

All husbands are shuddering in Tennesee this evening. Be very, very, nice to your wife and don''t overload your insurance policy.

[pensacola88]

There is a great temptation to condemn this woman for murdering her husband and many feel it inappropriate for her to have custody for their children. Here are a few things to consider: She will have to face their children and answer to them each day for the loss of their father. She will have to lead their children into a life of effective conflict resolution. She will have to feel the pain of the loss being felt by herself and three daughters. Accountability will have to be accepted and faced each day.

The public has to accept that pastors are human and filled with the same faults as everyone else. Some pastors have commited reprehensible crimes and offenses against their spouses or other people, and never got murdered over it, but if they were, many would accept it and understand. There is no double standard for dirtbags, even if they are pastors. People are tired of their hatred and their over-controlling ways. The last thing that went through the pastor''s head (before the bullet) was the thought of how his wife got the best of him. He never expected to lose his battles to his spouse.

[babooph]

I guess they took into account that she didn''t kill a productive member of society -had it been a working man ,maybe she would have gotten a longer term.

[airboatboy]

Some great decisions made there! I bet we''ll be reading about those kids later on!

[patriot12436]

t

[tootall10142]

i dont why the man was shot but i know there are a lot of people who need killed and the laws wont let me do it for the well being of the masses.this doesnt give me the right to shoot a man down on whay i think he did.If this man was sexually assaulting his children he needed killed, im not clear onthat but however ervery one i killed in battle was volunteer man slaughter i slaughtered as many as i could gey a bead on and some for standing next to the wrong person sh===t happens every dau and toprove it ill see some of you here tommorow.

[pensacola88]

In the last six months around the south, pastors have been murdered by their wife, have been arrested for and charged child molesting, and have been arrested and charged with possession of cocaine. This area is littered with churches, who are given 501c3 status to avoid paying taxes. There are more churches than gas stations and restaurants combined. Some hardly see attendance ever pass 10 or 20 followers. Some where the pastor was arrested used "Sanctuary" in the church name. Churches change management and are bought and sold like commodities all over the south. There is an explosion of church brokering and no one can police the validity or legitimacy of the churches very easily. Many have pastors, who were former felons and ex-prisoners that couldn''t find a regular job after leaving prison. It''s becoming the fastest get rich quick scheme in the south!

[brandysouth]

Pensacola88:

1. I don''t really give a rat''s *** how bad Ms. Winkler will be made to feel having to answer to her daughters each day for the loss of their father, and neither should anyone else. Children are not put on this earth to facilitate parental penance. The best welfare of these girls was not remotely considered by this court. Period.

2. It''s nice to say that pastor''s are bad, blah blah, but there was never any breath of the type of allegations against Matthew Winkler that you list in your posts. Except for the accusations made by the woman who shot him in the back while he slept (and unplugged the phone from the wall), there were some stripper shoes offered into evidence, and some testimony from her family. That''s it. No accusations of abuse of the children, no drug accusations; he was just ''mean'' to her and, according to her, he liked kinky ***. Whatever you may think of pastors generally, labeling Mr. Winkler in that manner based solely upon the word of his murderer is disingenuous.

[brandysouth]

The only sympathy anyone should have in this situation is for those poor children. Mary Winkler has had WAY more than she deserves.

Personally, I would NOT want to be in this woman''s shoes now---I''d rather have been executed!

MANY MANY men are emotionally, verbally, sexually and otherwise abusive to their wives and then...in public...they are the most charming, ingratiating SOBs anybody could ever hope to meet. I know this from personal experience as well as from personal experiences of many many other women. This does not give their wives a reason to kill them as tempting as that thought can be, GOD knows! However, I DO believe what she said about her reasons for being driven to do what she did and I can cut her some small amount of slack in the judgmental department for this reason. That being said, I still would NEVER have the gumption to attempt to regain custody of my children and face the questions and the condemnation they will inevitably hold in their hearts, not to mention the judgmental damnation of the public in general!

[Meg003]

I keep thinking about the parents and friends of Matthew Winkler. As far as I can tell, the worst allegations against him are that he liked playful *** with his wife and he was "mean".

What will this monster do to her children if THEY act in a way that doesn''t suit her? This woman should be spending life in prison for premeditated murder.

[mellie1957]

Only Mary & God know what really happened leading up to her husband''s death. I wish the best for her & her children but, know they have a rough road ahead of them. I, for one, will say a special prayer for Mary, the girls & the in-laws.

[observer2020]

Wow, this opens the doors to countless more murders. There IS such a thing as divorce. She made the choice to murder her husband, the father of her children (by choice, too). And now she''s free AND getting her children back? She needs to stay in an institution or go to jail. This is NOT a good ruling America...but it''s about par for the course as of late. When her children do find out exactly what happened, they will leave their mother. Their judgment will be harsh, as it should be.

[stupidrules3]

This is probably even a bigger crime than the murder. Those kids have been wronged in the worst way. This woman should be in jail for the rest of her life. She shot a sleeping man in the back with a shotgun. She had the option of leaving and chose to murder instead.