By David J. Krajicek
March 30, 2006
McNAIRY COUNTY, Tenn. (Crime Library) — Mary Winkler was ordered held without bail Thursday morning after waiving her right to a preliminary hearing on charges that she murdered her preacher husband last week in their parsonage home in Selmer, Tenn.
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| Mary Winkler |
The case now goes to a McNairy County, Tenn., grand jury, which will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to support the first-degree murder charge against her.
Winkler's attorney, Steven Farese, said he will make a bail application at a later date. He told the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun that the woman was "very withdrawn, very quiet, overwhelmed."
She stands accused of shooting to death Matthew Winkler, 31, a third-generation preacher whose body was found last week at the Selmer parsonage on March 22. Mrs. Winkler fled to Orange Beach, Ala., in the family's mini-van and was arrested by police there acting on an Amber Alert.
She confessed to shooting her husband and explained why, but authorities and defense attorneys have refused to reveal her motive. It might have been revealed during a preliminary hearing, but Winkler's decision to waive the proceeding helped to maintain the secret.
Winkler was buried Tuesday following a brief service at Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer (pop. 4,600), where he had served as pastor for the past 13 months.
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| The Winkler family |
The couple's three daughters — Patricia, 8; Mary Alice, 6, and Breanna, 1 — attended the service. They are in the custody of Matthew Winkler's parents, Dan and Diane Winkler.
The children apparently are faring well under the circumstances.
A family friend, Eddie Thompson, told reporters this week, "They're having peaks and valleys, but by and large they're incredibly happy."
Orange Beach police said the girls seemed bright and inquisitive during their brief time at the police station there.
Congregants have told reporters that the extroverted Winkler and his demure wife seemed like a "perfect couple," even as they lived in the fishbowl that ministers face.
But Dr. Judy Kuriansky, a New York sex therapist and professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University, said what might seem perfect to an outsider almost never is.
"There's no question, as we now well know, that people of the cloth have secrets," she told the Crime Library. "Religosity can have dark sides. We don't like to think about that. We like to think that members of the clergy are only pure in their motivations."
Typically, Kuriansky said, a violent act such as the Winkler murder is precipitated by a final "grand insult" that tops off some festering problem.
"The dimensions of a good relationship include compromise and communication," said Kuriansky, auther of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to a Healthy Relationship." "When you don't compromise and communicate, things build up over time."
She said shrinks called it "gunny-sacking": Problems are hidden in a metaphorical burlap bag that becomes an increasing burden.
Mary Winkler Full Coverage
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