Pastor's wife convicted of lesser charge

SELMER, Tenn. - A preacher's wife who said her husband had abused her was convicted of voluntary manslaughter yesterday for killing him with a shotgun she said fired accidentally as she aimed at him.

Mary Winkler, 33, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Matthew Winkler, 31, a preacher at the Fourth Street Church of Christ, was found in the church parsonage fatally shot in the back in March 2006. A day later, his wife was arrested on the Alabama coast, driving the family minivan with their three young daughters.

Prosecutors had sought a first-degree murder conviction, but the jury settled on the lesser charge after deliberating for eight hours. Mary Winkler faces three to six years in prison and would be eligible for parole after serving about a third of the sentence.

Had she been convicted of first- or second-degree murder, she would have gone to prison for at least 12 years and maybe for the rest of her life. Her lawyers said her testimony on the stand was decisive.

"They had to hear it from Mary; there was no other source," defense attorney Steve Farese said.

Winkler told jurors in testimony Wednesday that her husband had abused her physically and sexually. She said that she had not pulled the trigger and that the shotgun had gone off accidentally as she pointed it at him.

The prosecution said it was ludicrous to suggest the shooting was an accident.

Prosecution witnesses described Matthew Winkler as a good husband and father, and the couple's oldest daughter, 9, testified she never had seen him mistreat her mother. Mary Winkler also said he had done nothing for which he deserved to die.

Matthew Winkler's father, Dan, who is also a preacher, thanked the jury and thanked God for being "our rock and our shield" during the trial. "We're very grateful for the privilege and honor that was ours to be the parents of Matthew Brian Winkler."

Mary and Matthew Winkler's three daughters, ages 2, 7 and 9, are in the custody of his parents. The defense said Mary Winkler hoped the verdict would allow her to be reunited with her daughters in the future. She will be sentenced May 18 but is free on bond till then.