By David J. Krajicek
March 24, 2006
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (Crime Library) — The pretty, petite wife of a third-generation Tennessee preacher was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the slaying of her husband after she was arrested on the lam in this Gulf Coast resort town.
Local authorities confirmed for the Crime Library that Mary Winkler, 32, had confessed that she had shot Matthew Winkler, 31.
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| Mary Winkler |
The couple's three daughters, the subject of a nationwide Amber Alert, were found unharmed in a van with Mrs. Winkler.
"I don't believe they knew anything (about the murder)," Greg Duck, Orange Beach assistant police chief, told the Crime Library.
For someone accused of murder, the woman was oddly cold and unemotional during and after her arrest, Duck said. "There was no fussing," he said. "She went into custody willingly ... There were no tears shed that I know of."
The mug shots taken shortly after her arrest show Winkler staring blankly, her dark hair hanging limp and her face devoid of makeup.
Investigators declined to comment on the motive, although police here and in Tennessee described the woman as forthcoming and cooperative. Police said there was no public record of domestic violence in the family. Duck declined to comment on speculation that the murder may have been related to infidelity.
Selmer Police Sgt. Roger Rickman added, "There have been no specific accusations made by Mrs. Winkler."
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