Paris resident says he dated Winkler

Cleaners Express employee Paul Pillow and Mary Winkler are co-workers at the local dry cleaners. Paul’s brother Darrell says he has dated Winkler, according to a story in The Jackson Sun.

Pillow, 41, said he met Winkler in October 2006 through his brother Paul Pillow, who is an employee at Cleaners Express where Winkler works.

‘When she got out of the mental hospital, she was advised that she needed to be single,’ Darrell Pillow said Saturday during an interview outside his home. ‘She told me her attorneys advised her of that. So, I don’t know if I’m on hold. I don’t know if we’re still seeing. I don’t know anything right now.”

Pillow said he met Winkler in October 2006, but they didn’t begin a more serious relationship until after her trial in April.

Pillow said Winkler told him she missed her late husband and wished the shooting had never happened. He shared pictures he said Winkler had given him of her and her three girls. At least one of the photos had Matthew Winkler in it.

‘About him, she talked quite a bit,’ Pillow said. ‘But a lot of times when we were together, I didn’t think she talked, she didn’t really have a lot to say about her children … She always made comments that she always wanted to wear a button that said, ‘Don’t ask me about my children.’

Pillow’s neighbor, Melanie Mitchell, confirmed that she had seen Winkler at Pillow’s house.

Pillow said he and Winkler are not engaged but that they did discuss marriage while they were together.

Pillow’s mother died when he was 14, and Winkler reminds him of his mother, he said.

He said he also liked Winkler because ‘we looked good together. She was my height. We just seemed to make a good couple. I thought we did, anyway. I don’t really know what she’s thinking. I just know the times that we were together, it seemed like there could have been something there for the next step.’

Pillow said he visited Winkler in the mental health facility. He would not give the name of the facility or reveal its location. But he did say it was an hour and 45 minutes from Paris.

He went some Saturdays while she was there and would spend the whole day with her, he said.

He said his last conversation with Winkler had been Aug. 15, the day after she got out of the mental health facility. She told him she needed to be single, he said.