Court TV Radio | Message Boards | Newsletters

Updated June 12, 2006, 3:55 p.m. ET
Grand jury indicts wife in slaying of Tenn. minister Matthew Winkler

CNN.com

(CNN) — A grand jury on Monday indicted the wife of a minister shot to death in his church's parsonage, accusing her of first-degree murder.

The McNairy County grand jury in Selmer, Tennessee, named Mary Winkler, 32, in an indictment alleging "premeditated murder."

Winkler has been in custody since the day after the March 22 slaying of her husband, Matthew Winkler, who was 31 and the popular minister at First Street Church of Christ in Selmer. The community is about 80 miles east of Memphis.

Defense attorney Leslie Ballin told CNN that arraignment is expected Wednesday.

The body of Matthew Winkler, 31, was found March 22 at the church parsonage after he failed to show up for midweek services. Church members entered the home when no one answered, police said, and found Winkler dead in the bedroom. He had been shot in the back.

Mary Winkler, 32, and the couple's young daughters were missing and the subject of an Amber Alert. Police found them the next day in Orange Beach, Alabama, about 350 miles away.

Winkler was taken into custody and the children — Patricia, 8, Mary Alice, 6, and Breanna, 1 — are being cared for by relatives.

Authorities say Winkler confessed to the shooting but they haven't disclosed a motive.



Advertisment




|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COURTTV.COM
|
|
|
UTILITIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
COURT TV SITES
|
CORPORATE
|
|
|
|
TM & © 2007 Courtroom Television Network, LLC. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
CourtTVnews.com is a part of the Turner Entertainment New Media Network.
Terms & Privacy guidelines