Mary Winkler, Part II

My question: When does a wife have the right to take a gun and blow a fatal hole into her husband, as he is asleep in bed?  And my answer is never.

She attests that he was a controlling and abusive monster, very different from his kind public persona.  She said he forced her to carry a cell phone at all times, so he could keep tabs upon her whereabouts.  She attested that she could never wear shorts because of the bruises inflicted upon her legs.  She testified that he pressured her to have kinky sex, of the non-missionary variety, complete with the use of a wig and high-heels.  Revealing to me is that her revelations went uncorroborated by other witnesses.  Simply, they were her own statements, although sounding powerful and convincing.  But is this the kind of evidence a jury should use to give a pass to a woman who killed her husband with a shotgun as he lay sleeping?  Perhaps she did not wear shorts because her fundamentalist faith teaches it to be a sin.  And perhaps her aversions to sex with her husband were more related to personal emotional problems than to his aberrant behaviour?  Of course we do not know.  We are not privy to what has gone on behind closed doors in the Winkler household.  What we have is a sad woman with a sad story.  But it’s just a story.

I have no doubt that, in her mind, Matthew Winkler needed to be killed.  Of course, we will never know how truly evil this man may have been.  A dead man cannot defend himself.  He cannot tell his story, nor hire legal counsel, nor personally present his case before a jury of his peers.  We are left with her admitted pitiable persona from the witness stand.  She made a convincing case that her husband was an ugly, ugly man.  But, what does a shotgun blast into his back, at point-blank range while he was asleep, say about her?

Let's accept for a moment that he was truly guilty of her accusations.  On the day that she fatally shot her husband, were there more appropriate things that she could have done?  Earlier that day her husband was busy, perhaps at the church studying or at the home of a paritioner offering counsel.  Surely she had time to load her four children into the family sedan and take-off to the Gulf Coast.  Or, she could have aimed the gun toward his legs, or blown off his arm.  That would have gained his attention concerning her desperate unhappiness.  And, if she wanted to be truly dramatic and also prove herself to be a victim, she could have called for a meeting of the church elders and there aired all of her husband's dirty laundry.  That would have hit him where it would truly hurt.  Or, if there was not enough personal strength for any of the previous actions, then she could have gone to a shelter for battered women., where lots of help and support would have been forthcoming.

She testified that the abuse had gone on for quite some time.  But did she confess this to friends, family, or church members?  How about a call to 911, or a fellow religious leader, or a professional counsellor?  As far as I know, Mary Winkler never made such effort.  

Some of us consider abortion to be murder.  Using the logic of Mary Winkler and apparently of her jury, it would be but a minor offense of the law to take a gun and end the life of an abortionist.  And some of us think George Bush is abusing America every bit as much as Matthew Winkler did his wife.  Is a shotgun the answer to this ourtrageous injustice?  And God help the persistent Jehovah's Witness who knocks upon the wrong door one too many times.  Of course it is inherent upon a civilized society that we work through the proper channels to find justice.
 
Mary Winkler may have been mistreated.  She chose to forego proper channels for grievance although they were readily available.  She chose to exercise her own brand of justice with murder.  She should pay the price.
05.17.07 (10:50 pm)   [edit]


posted by: sebastianjoshua (reply)
post date: 05.17.07 (8:38 pm)

quite complicated... hmmm THERE must be a hidden reason on why she kill her husband

taking others life is not our job...

smile always :-)


posted by: ammegan (reply)
post date: 05.17.07 (10:36 pm)

teach me how to use the biblegataway feed will ya? Thanks


posted by: doeeyed (reply)
post date: 05.19.07 (6:49 am)

Who knows what was going on in her mind on that day. I agree that she didn't have the right to take his life but, I assume she felt trapped, desperate and God only knows what other emotions ran through her that day and many others.

I personally knew a woman who killed her husband. She shot him right off the back porch. I can't say I ever shed a tear for him but, for her yes. She was repeatedly beaten black, blue and bloody. Her family was threatened. When she tried to leave, he would find her and beat her worse than before or threaten to kill her parents, siblings or children if she didn't come home.
The police were of no help at that time. (keep in mind this was 20+ years ago)
Even her children (their children) stood beside her through all of this..after the murder.
She spent only a few months in jail. Last I knew she was dating a man who had spent some time in prison for murder as well.

Go figure, they were both pleasant people. Sounds absurd, I know.


posted by: surrogate (reply)
post date: 05.19.07 (2:18 pm)

pretty damn fine post. I probably have far less tolerance for people who find themselves in intolerable situations and either do nothing or the wrong thing than I ought to. Both extremes seem equally silly to me and tragic of course, since, even in her case, she traded one hell for another instead of diong any of the things you siggested she might have done had she allowed herself to find a middle ground.


posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 05.21.07 (10:12 am)

Reply to: surrogate
I do have compassion for this woman. If she was truly abused, then hers could have been a response born of self-preservation and a warped perspective. I think such was the quandary of the jury. They sensed her husband was most likely a monster. And they felt pity for her. Yet, they know she responded inappropriately, and to let her off the hook would be to send the wrong signal to society. Thus the slap upon the wrist.

I understand final sentencing has been postponed, again.


posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 05.21.07 (10:18 am)

Reply to: doeeyed
Have you seen the movie Sling Blade, starring Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton plays a mildly retarded man, Karl Childers, who watches as his friend is helpless in the face of her abusive boyfriend. What to do? Well, after much moral dilemma, he takes a sling blade and removes a troublesome 12-pound growth from the man's shoulders. Trouble eliminated.

When is violence justified?



posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 05.21.07 (10:21 am)

Reply to: ammegan
Hi. Good to have your visit. I'm thinking Bible Gateway is pretty straightforward. It is a neat little site. If you want something a bit more extensive and still free, I encourage you to download e-Sword. You can find it with a quick Google search. Download a couple of Bibles, some commentaries, etc. All free, although a donation is encouraged and certainly deserved.

Let me know if this is something you have interest in. I use it all the time.


posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 05.21.07 (10:26 am)

Reply to: sebastianjoshua
Hidden reason? She had gotten caught up in what is known as the "Nigerian Scam". You know it, I suppose- some millionaire from Nigeria needs for you to help him get his money into the U.S., and for your inconvenience and assistance he will reward you with ten million dollars. In reality, some guy in Nigeria is working hard to steal your money. Only someone truly naive, and/or truly selfish and or intellectually challenged would fall for such a story. Apparently, this woman qualifies. She lost a lot of money, and her husband was about to find out. So, did she kill him out of desperation? I don't know. God knows. Probably she was abused, physically and emotionally. Still, killing him at that time was unjustified from my perspective.



posted by: doeeyed (reply)
post date: 05.21.07 (4:59 pm)

Reply to: PastorDave
No I haven't seen the movie. It doesn't sound like my cup of tea.
I don't think everything in life is black and white nor do I pretend to know why she did what she did. That isn't my call to make.

I do have plenty of sympathy for abused women and children. I'm not ignoring that some men are abused, it's less common I suppose.

I just thank God I'm not faced with what she's faced with right now. She murdered her children's Father. To me, that would be a fate worse than death. How will she ever be able to look them in the eye?

"When is violence justified?"
As I said, not everything is black and white.


posted by: sebastianjoshua (reply)
post date: 05.21.07 (7:38 pm)

Nigerian Scam... in Malaysia we call it Black Money, people from African continents.

But ours are all well informed about this kinda scam, too good to be true... lol

so it should be the main reason... i think her husband knew about it and that's why he hit her...

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