By Beth Rucker

(Continued)

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In another interview with investigators, she said the couple had begun to experience marital problems about five years into their marriage and that the trouble had been building in the final year and a half.

She said her husband criticized her for "the way I walk, what I eat, everything. It was just building up to this point. I was just tired of it. I guess I just got to a point and snapped."

The statement Winkler gave to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Chris Carpenter was not recorded, though Carpenter took brief notes and had Winkler sign them.

Winkler told Alabama Bureau of Investigation agent Stan Stabler on the tape that her husband had threatened her physically. "He said something that really scared me. I don't know, something life-threatening," she said, without elaborating further.

But she also says she doesn't want her husband's name smeared.

"He was so good, so good, too. It was just a weakness. I think a lot of times he had high blood pressure that he'd never go enough to the doctor to get medicine for it. He was a mighty fine person, and that's the thing," she said.

"Just say, 'The lady was a moron, evil woman,' and let's go on with it. That's fine. ... That's my point of view."

Winkler's lawyer has said she intended to hold her husband at gunpoint only to force him to talk about his personal problems after a situation involving their 1-year-old daughter, Breanna, defense attorney Steve Farese said. The defense did not describe the situation.

Matthew Winkler

A prosecutor has described Matthew Winkler as a good father and a man who trusted his wife.

Prosecutor Walt Freeland has said bank managers were closing in on a check-kiting scheme that Mary Winkler wanted to conceal from her husband. He said Mary Winkler had become caught up in a swindle known as the "Nigerian scam," which promises riches to victims who send money to cover the processing expenses.

But Farese said Mary Winkler handled the family finances only because she did everything her husband told her. He said she was abused verbally, emotionally and physically.

Winkler's trial could last up to two weeks. The jury _ including a Baptist minister and woman who said she had been a victim of domestic abuse _ will spend that time sequestered in a small-town motel without television, radio or cell phones.

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