By David J. Krajicek

(Continued)

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Solemn Reaction

There was virtually no reaction in the courtroom when the verdict was announced, even though the gallery benches were filled with the loved ones of both Matthew and Mary Winkler.

Later, after Judge McCraw dismissed the jurors (who declined to comment), Mary Winkler hugged her attorneys, her father and other kin in the courtroom.

 

She remains free on $750,000 bond. She did not comment before leaving in an SUV. Since her release on bond, Winkler has been living with a friend in McMinnville, Tenn., halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga in west-central Tennessee, and working at a dry-cleaning firm, Cleaners Express.

Outside court, Matthew's father, Dan Winkler, expressed no anger and revealed little emotion. Instead, he made a polite statement thanking the jurors, judge, prosecutor and police.

The prosecution team, including Assistant District Attorney General Walt Freeland, was said to be disappointed by the verdict. They issued a statement expressing condolences to Matthew Winkler's family.

With the verdict, observers of the trial judged that the prosecutors had been outflanked by the defense team empathy strategy.

Outside of court, Farese revealed that Mary Winkler had turned down three plea bargains.

"We were offered 35 years," Farese said. "We were offered 20 years. We were offered 15 years. We're now looking at three to six years. My reaction is the verdict was most probably just."

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By, David J. Krajicek