Day: July 21, 2006

Mary Winkler’s defense is beginning to take shape. It looks like her lawyers intend to pin the blame on the ‘Nigerian Scam’.

A woman accused of shooting her preacher husband to death after they argued over money may have been taken in by a remarkably common scam that strained their finances and their marriage.

Mary Winkler, who is charged with murder, had gotten tangled up along with her husband in a swindle known as an advance-fee fraud, or the “Nigerian scam,” in which victims are told that a sweepstakes prize or some other riches are waiting for them if they send in money to cover the processing expenses, her lawyers say.

“They were always kind of living on the edge of their budget,” defense attorney Steve Farese said, “so I’m sure this would have just wrecked their budget.”

No one has said how much money the Winklers may have lost, or what role the financial strain might have played in the slaying of Matthew Winkler, the popular minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in this small town 80 miles east of Memphis.

Matthew Winkler was shot in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun as he lay in bed March 22 and was found dead by church members.

I am continually amazed with people who are taken in by email scams, urban legends and the like. Don’t they know that search engines are their best friends? Obviously they don’t.

It’s clear that Winkler’s defense team is attempting to reveal Mary’s state of mind prior to the shooting. Given that she’s already confessed to being the shooter, her lawyers need to paint the picture that she was out of sorts, off her rocker, over the edge, if you will, when she blew her husband Matthew away. My guess is they’re simply trying to avoid a death sentence. There’s no doubt that Mary Winkler will never resume a normal life. I have zero pity for her. As I’ve said before, the real victims remain alive. Through no fault of their own, the Winkler daughters will face a lifetime without their parents.

Previously: | Shot Dead Over Family Finances | Winkler: Opening Up | Winkler Attorneys Waive Fees | The Innocent Victims | Winkler Family Fund | Possible Winkler Defense? | Mary Winkler: “Overwhelmed and Confused” | Winkler Vs. the State of Tennessee | She Did It |

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, talks with Cuba’s Fidel Castro during a Mercosur summit in Cordoba, some 434 miles from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The only person missing from this photo is Cindy Sheehan.

Saddam writes a letter to America. Actually, it reads more like blog post on Daily Kos. In fact, Hussein’s message is a clarion call to Cindy Sheehan type Leftists, a sympathetic segment of America where Saddam has realized a popularity growth spurt.

That’s the gist of the message sent by Israel to citizens of Lebanon. They should take it seriously.

Israel gave warning that it would not hesitate to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Lebanon if it thought it needed to do so to achieve its military objectives against the Hezbollah militia.

With radio broadcasts, leaflets and text messages, Israel has warned all Lebanese civilians within 20 miles of the Israeli border to quit their homes to evade the bombing raids.

Meanwhile, the military is staging for what appears to be an imminent ground invasion.

Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone. An Israeli envoy said it will allow aid supplies into Lebanon, a day after the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the country.

As told yesterday, Condi Rice will be travelling to the Middle East next week. It’s hard to know what she intends to do. (update: now we know) Just now I hear that Rice and Bush will engage in a conversation on the subject with the Saudis this weekend.

Last night a wide variety of Clinton-ites hit the cable TV news shows with talking points focusing on a diplomatic strategy. Unfortunately for them, their liberal ‘talk template’ didn’t contain a scripted answer to the question, ‘How can one negotiate with someone who doesn’t want to negotiate?’ How ironic that this is finally being asked by the MSM now, nearly 5 years after 9/11.