SELMER, Tenn. — A jury in west Tennessee began deliberations Thursday morning in the first-degree murder trial of a wife accused of intentionally killing her preacher husband in 2006.

The panel, which has been sequestered for the duration of the week-long trial, returned to a McNairy County courthouse Thursday after hearing closing arguments Wednesday in Mary Winkler's trial for the shooting death of Matthew Winkler.

Lawyers for Winkler, 33, argued that the defendant accidentally killed her husband, a fifth-generation Church of Christ preacher, after suffering years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at his hands.

After the March 22, 2006, shooting, Winkler fled the state with her three daughters and was arrested the following day in Orange Beach, Ala., where she said she went for one last "happy day" on the beach with her children before "the bad times" came.

Congregants from the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer found Matthew Winkler, 31, dead from a gunshot wound to the back in the parsonage bedroom after he failed to show up for a Wednesday evening service.

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A defense psychologist testified Tuesday that Winkler suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which affected her ability to form the requisite intent for first-degree murder.

Taking the stand in her defense, Winkler testified that she did not actually recall pointing the gun at her husband or pulling the trigger shortly after he allegedly tried to silence the sobs of their infant daughter by suffocating her.

"What had happened to Brianna gave her the fortitude to go in and confront Matthew," Steve Farese told the jury. "But unfortunately, her physical and mental ability shorted out on her."

Farese showed the jury a white platform heel that Winkler said her husband made her wear during sex to corroborate her claims that Matthew Winkler subjected her to demeaning sexual acts, including anal rape, and abused her physically and mentally throughout the 10-year marriage.

"This is not about religion, but I suggest to you that a Church of Christ preacher's wife does not wear those shoes," said Farese while the defendant bowed her head at the defense table.

Prosecutors claimed that the circumstances of Matthew Winkler's death and proof of the defendant's mismanagement of the family finances showed the premeditation necessary for a first-degree murder conviction.

"The question is did, she mean to do what she did when she aimed that gun and pulled the trigger?" assistant district attorney Walt Freeland said in his closing argument. "There is no explanation about how that 12-gauge shotgun could have miraculously appeared in her hand. It didn't. She had to make an effort to get it."

The jury has the option of considering lesser charges of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, reckless homicide or criminally negligent homicide, which imply a lesser degree of culpability and, therefore, potentially less time in prison.

Winkler faces 51 years before she is eligible for parole if she is convicted of first-degree murder. The verdict will be streamed live at Court TV Extra.