Wife of Tennessee Pastor Questioned in his Death

My reason for posting this article on the JBR forum is to point out to the Rambots, once again, that no one knows what lies behind the public masks of people, and no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. From what is said in this article, it appears this family was a good Christian family who gave no indication of anything being wrong, and those who knew the pastor and his family are stunned that his wife could be involved in his murder.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Rambots. You can even live with someone for years and not know who s/he really is.


Wife, children of slain Tennessee pastor found
Police find family in Alabama after minister shot to death; wife questioned

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11975002/

SELMER, Tenn. - A popular and charismatic Tennessee minister was found shot to death in his parsonage, and authorities labled his wife a suspect after she and the couple’s three young daughters were found in Alabama on Thursday after a daylong search.

“We’ve known from the beginning that she was either a suspect or a victim,†said Jennifer Johnson, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations.

snip..

There were no signs of forced entry at the parsonage, authorities said, but Winkler’s family was gone, along with their minivan.

The other family members were found Thursday night in southern Alabama when a police officer saw their van parked along a road.

Authorities said they were alone in the van.

Wife under suspicion

Johnson said Mary Winkler, 32, had not been arrested, but was considered a suspect. TBI agents and Selmer police were on their way to Alabama late Thursday to question her and the children.

snip...

All were in good physical condition when they were found in Orange Beach, Ala., about 400 miles south of Selmer.

...

Mary Winkler had last been seen late Tuesday afternoon picking up the children from school, said Ed Jones, TBI assistant director. Burks said she worked as a substitute teacher at the elementary school.

“We’re just so relieved that the kids were found safe and now we can focus on the next task†of solving the crime, Johnson said.

...

Matthew Winkler was hired as minister in February 2005, said Wilburn Ash, an elder at the 200-member church in Selmer, a town of about 4,600 in western Tennessee. The job was Winkler’s first full-time position after working as a youth minister at another church.

Ash said he never saw any conflict in the family.

“He seemed like he was real happy here, and we were happy with him,†Ash said. “He preached the Bible. He didn’t make his opinions known on what was popular or what was politically right. He just preached the Bible.â€

‘They just blended in’
Former Mayor Jimmy Whittington said he worked with the minister collecting donations for hurricane victims last year. “They were a nice family,†he said. “They just blended in.â€

...

He was serving his first full pastorship in Selmer after working as a youth minister at a church in McMinnville, church members said.

Members of the congregation gathered Thursday inside the one-story brick church. “We’re just trying to console each other,†Ash said.

Pam Killingsworth, a church member and assistant principal at Selmer Elementary, where the Winkler children went to her school, said: “I can’t believe this would happen.â€

“The kids are just precious, and she was precious,†Killingsworth said, her eyes red from crying and her voice cracking at times. “He wasthe one of the best ministers we’ve ever had — just super charisma.â€

 

I've made no judgments concerning this case, because I don't know enough to do so. It would appear, though, that there was a lot going on inside that house - behind closed doors - that no one else ever saw or heard.

Imagine that.

 

I agree that you never know what goes on behind closed doors. Those on the outside are fooled all the time. As in the Yasipour case. Psycologist reported that even tho there was a history of mental health they didn't feel he was a threat to his daughter because he was on drugs to help with his symtoms.

As for the minister.I wonder if when they check phone records if there was any calls from the wife. Let's face it if you are travelling any where you call home to check in. I still do that. If there are no records I think that tells alot.Where did she think (if guilty) she could hide?

 

It does seem odd that she was found with the children in their van. One has to ask why, if they were on a planned trip, they hadn't learned about the pastor's death through news reports or even on the van's radio. While it doesn't look good for the wife, I'm wondering if something was going on in that house that caused her to strike out against her husband - perhaps in defense of her daughters? I don't know a thing about what went on, but this thought did cross my mind.

 

Wife of pastor to be indicted

Police to charge wife in pastor's murder
Mother, 3 kids found in Alabama after minister shot in parsonage bedroom


BREAKING NEWS

Updated: 11:00 a.m. ET March 24, 2006
SELMER, Tenn. - The wife of a charismatic Tennessee minister found slain in his parsonage will be charged with his murder, authorities said Friday.

Matthew Winkler, a popular minister at Selmer’s Church of Christ, was found shot to death in his parsonage bedroom by church members searching for him after he failed to show up for a Wednesday evening service.

Late Thursday, authorities said they considered his wife, 32-year-old Mary Winkler, a suspect and on Friday Tennessee authorities said they would charge her with first-degree murder.

She and the three girls — Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8 — were found unharmed by police in Orange Beach, Ala., around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, after an Amber Alert was issued for the children. She had last been seen Tuesday picking them up from school, authorities said.

Orange Beach Police Chief Billy Wilkins said Friday that Mary Winkler had rented a condo on the beach but that she hadn’t stayed there.

She was being held pending charges from Tennessee, and the children’s grandparents were headed to the area to ask a judge for at least temporary custody, he said.

...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11992497/

 

This is exactly why I stopped hanging out with "nice" people - they always killing somebody according to their neighbors on the news.

RR

 

I guess y'all have heard the news reports by now that the wife confessed. Haven't heard any motive. Maybe they'll say in a minute when they do a report on this.

 

It's times like this that I'm proud to be a chithead sometimes. I may like to cuss, gamble, drink wine, and not give to charities much, but at least Mr. Thor is still alive. You see too many of these overly religious nuts murdering their families (think Andrea Yates and that other mother that stoned her kids to death).