Winkler?s bond set at $750,000
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Judge Weber McCraw set the $750,000 bond Friday along with several conditions for Winkler, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her husband, preacher Matthew Winkler. If Winkler makes bond she must:
? Live with McMinnville resident Kathy Thomsen, and all weapons must be removed from the Thomsen home.
? Be supervised by Tennessee probation officers in McMinnville and follow all the rules her supervisor establishes.
? Not leave Warren County except to visit her children or her attorneys. Winkler?s three girls are living with their paternal grandparents.
Before Winkler?s bond was set, defense attorneys indicated her father was prepared to come up with the money. After bond was set at $750,000, defense attorney Steve Farese changed his tune.
?For her, that?s tantamount to no bond at all,? said Farese. ?She doesn?t have any money.?
Winkler has the option of posting bail by putting up 10 percent, $75,000, through a bail bonding company. However, the bonding company keeps that money regardless of whether she appears in court.
If Winkler could raise the whole $750,000, that money would be returned when her case is settled.
If property is used to bond out Winkler, that property would have to be free of liens and be worth one and a half times the amount of the bond, or $1.1 million.
Farese, who had hoped for $25,000 bond, said he would seek a bond reduction from either Judge McCraw or the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Farese gave no timetable for when his bond reduction request might be made.
Mary Winkler has several close friends in Warren County after living here for three years while her husband was the youth minister at Central Church of Christ. The couple was living in Selmer, Tenn., at the time of the murder and Winkler is currently being held at McNairy County Jail.