Winkler indicted for killing husband
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Winkler?s wife, Mary, was indicted Monday by the McNairy County grand jury on charges of first-degree murder ? with prosecutors saying she deliberately planned to kill her husband.
Several Central members say they remain shocked the quiet, unassuming Mary Winkler would be capable of such a heinous crime. The Winklers lived in Warren County for nearly three years before Matthew Winkler took a job as preacher of Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tenn.
Prosecutors have refused to release a motive, although they say Winkler has confessed and they have a motive.
Central elder Ken Smith issued the official church statement by saying, ?Our hearts in the Central church family continue to go out to all the Winkler family ? Mary, the children and the grandparents.?
The indictment was not unexpected. Now, we, along with the rest on the country, await the next steps in the judicial process.?
Mary Winkler has been in jail since her arrest March 23, the day after the murder. She has not seen or spoken to her three small children, ages 8, 6 and 1, since then. She is scheduled to appear in court today.
Just released with Monday?s indictment was the medical examiner?s report which reveals Winkler was shot in the back at close range with a shotgun. Also just released is that investigators took computers from the Winkler home and the church, and issued search warrants for e-mail files with their Internet provider.
Defense lawyer Steve Farese said the allegation of premeditation means authorities do not believe it was a crime of passion. He questioned if premeditation could be proven.
?I don?t know where it?s coming from, but they?ve said it before,? Farese said from his office in Mississippi. Legally, premeditation can occur in ?under a minute,? he said. ?If you make a decision that you?re going to intentionally kill someone, that?s premeditation.?
At the time of the killing, Mary Winkler was a substitute elementary school teacher and was working on a license to teach full time.
Church members in Selmer, who say they saw no trouble with the marriage, found Winkler?s body in a bedroom of the parsonage when the family failed to show up for a church service.
Mary Winkler and the children were discovered by police in Orange Beach, Ala. Winkler has appeared downtrodden in court appearances, not talking and barely lifting her head.
Her lawyers said she was initially unable to talk about her husband?s death and they were worried about her emotional health. But Farese said she has begun to talk more.
?Her head is much clearer now and she?s able to answer questions and concentrate,? he said.
Associated Press writer Woody Baird contributed to this report.