The Median Sib Archives

Mary Winkler - Motive? Tragedy!

Thursday, March 30th, 2006 at 2:30 pm by carol

(Update, 6-12-06, for new information on this case, click here)

Mary Winkler had her second appearance in court today and waived her right to a hearing and is now being held without bail for the first-degree shooting last week of her husband  - the father of her three young daughters, ages 1, 6, and 8. 

I wrote a few days ago about this case and that post received many comments.  Quite incredible the number of comments and the amount of traffic this one story has generated.  It is a story filled with questions, incredulity, and controversy.

I wanted to focus on the children today.  Whatever issues Mary had that led her to murder her husband, and whatever issues Matthew Winkler may have had that led his wife to murder him, it is the children who will suffer the most.  They are the innocent victims of this tragedy. 

The two oldest children will remember their father - vaguely - as they grow up.  The youngest will grow up with no tangible memory of her father.

I remember once when I was teaching second grade there was a little girl in my class who lived at a nearby children’s home.  Although her parents were alive, her father was out of the picture for one reason or another, and her mother neglected and abused her.  One would think the child was better off in the children’s home where she was cared for and loved (which WAS the case in this particular home).

One day I had the children write about their wishes for the world.  I still remember this little girl’s wish word-for-word: “I wish that all children could be with their mamas.”  No matter what her mother had done to her, the child wanted to be with her.  I think that is a universal wish.  Of course there are exceptions.  However, almost without exception, children love their parents and want to be with them.

And that’s the tragedy of what the Winkler daughters face in their lives.  Their father is gone, and they will grow up without knowing him.  Their mother killed their father, and almost certainly the girls will grow up without much contact with her.  The paternal grandparents have custody.  I know with my own granddaughters that no matter how much I love them and adore them, there is absolutely no substitute for their own mother and father.

So amidst all the talk of the crime and what motives Mary Winkler may have had or what was beneath the surface of the outwardly perfect marriage, I hope we’ll all keep foremost in our minds that there are three little girls whose lives are irreparably changed for the worse because of what happened.

Others on this topic: Daddy’s Roses, Lubos Mot’s Reference Frame, historymike’s musings

  • The Median Sib » My Cruel, Callous and Mean-Spirited Opinion about the Winkler Murder Case pinged this post.
  • The Median Sib » Tennessee Church of Christ Minister Murdered by Wife - No wonder? pinged this post.
  • Blue Star Chronicles » Mary Winkler, the Preacher’s Wife pinged this post.
  • The Median Sib » Women’s Place in the Church - Is the Church of Christ right? (Winkler post follow-up) pinged this post.
  • The Median Sib » Blog Archive » Mary Winkler - the story people won’t let go pinged this post.

    • Thursday Thirteen - Thirteen Best TV Shows

    Thursday, March 30th, 2006 at 7:56 am by carol

    Thursday Thirteen 

    Thirteen Best TV Shows (According to Carol) - In No Particular Order

    1. American Idol

    2. Boston Legal

    3. The Apprentice

    4. Survivor

    5. The Biggest Loser

    6. America’s Next Top Model

    7. Nashville Star

    8. Desperate Housewives

    9. Saturday Night Live (not so much in the past few years - but definitely in the past)

    10. The Next Food Network Star

    11. Grey’s Anatomy

    12. Deal or No Deal

    13. The Amazing Race

    Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

    (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)
    1. Joan

    2. Ruth

    3. Jane

    Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

    The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

    How to be a Good Democrat

    Thursday, March 30th, 2006 at 7:34 am by carol

    Okay - a little controversy for a Thursday: Being a Democrat (i.e. “progressive”) means living with some major disconnects in thinking.

    (Note: These aren’t mine - they were sent to me by a friend)
    1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

    2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

    3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.

    4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.

    5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth’s climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV’s.

    6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.

    7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

    8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can’t teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

    9. You have to believe that hunters don’t care about nature, but activists who have never been outside of San Francisco do.

    10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

    11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make The Passion of the Christ for financial gain only.

    12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

    13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.

    14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, Thomas Edison & A.G. Bell.

    15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

    16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn’t worked anywhere it’s been tried is because the right people haven’t been in charge.

    17. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and a sex offender belonged in the White House.

    18. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

    19. You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding by the Chinese Government is somehow in the best interest to the United States.

    20. You have to believe that it’s okay to give Federal workers off on Christmas Day but it’s not okay to say “Merry Christmas.”

    H/T to B.W.

    Others with open trackbacks: Blue Star Chronicles, TMH Bacon Bits, Adam’s Blog,  The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Conservative Cat, Cigar Intelligence Agency

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