page_title: Mary Winkler
section_title: Criminal case
hierarchical_section_title: Mary Winkler / Criminal case
caption_attribution_description: English: 174 Mollie Dr in Selmer, Tennessee. Scene of the Matthew Winkler murder in 2006. Photo made by: Thomas R Machnitzki (2007) http://nutbush.machnitzki.com I made the photo myself, feel free to use it.
context_page_description: Mary Carol Winkler is an American woman who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2006 shooting of her husband, Matthew Winkler, the pulpit minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in the small town of Selmer, Tennessee.
  Winkler gained national attention because of public speculation regarding her motives and mental health, allegations of abuse by her husband, her brief flight from the state, and again for the brief length of her sentence. In August 2008, Winkler was granted full custody of her three daughters.
context_section_description: According to police, Mary Winkler confessed to the March 22, 2006 fatal shooting of her husband, whose body was discovered in their home by church members after he missed that evening's service. He had been shot in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun.
  The couple had been married since 1996. One neighborhood family reported that Matthew Winkler had repeatedly threatened to shoot that family's dog after it strayed onto the Winklers' lawn. Also, other people as well as Mary Winkler's family alleged that Matthew Winkler had been abusive to Mary. Winkler maintained this was the reason for the shooting.
  After police issued an Amber Alert due to fears of kidnapping, Mary Winkler and the children (Patricia, then 8; Mary Alice, then 6; Breanna, then 1) were discovered in Orange Beach, Alabama. Winkler was placed into custody there and later extradited to Tennessee to stand trial. When asked by investigators about what had happened to her husband, Winkler stated that she and her husband had argued about money and offered "I guess that's when my ugly came out." A grand jury indicted Winkler on June 12, 2006, accusing her of first-degree murder.
caption: Former Winkler residence in Selmer, Tennessee
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