The Innocent Victims
6 year-old Mary Alice and 8–year old Patricia Winkler carry flowers from the funeral of their father, Matthew Winkler, last Tuesday.
Matthew Winkler was laid to rest last Tuesday. His father, Dan Winkler, also a Church of Christ minister, delivered the eulogy in the Fourth Street Church of Christ where Matthew Winkler was described as an energetic and popular leader since he moved to Selmer more than a year ago.
The 55-minute funeral, closed to the media, started about 11 a.m. The sanctuary at Fourth Street was full to its 500-person capacity, and the basement was filled with people watching the funeral on TV monitors, Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said.
Immediately following the funeral, Winkler was buried in Carroll County Memorial Gardens in Huntingdon. After the 15-minute grave site ceremony, Matthew Winkler’s two oldest daughters, Patricia and Mary Alice, plucked flowers out of floral arrangements atop the casket and took them home.
Incidently, the reason why Mary Winkler waived her right to a public hearing last Thursday was because she didn’t want her three children to hear “gruesome things” about their fathers death. It’s too bad Mary wasn’t as concerned about her kids the night she took their father away from them forever.
Meanwhile, there has been much speculation over Matthew Winkler’s official cause of death.
Even though Mary Winkler confessed that she had shot her husband, the TBI would not confirm the cause of death, saying that the death was suspicious and was in fact a homicide.
Last Thursday night, state medical examiner Dr. Bruce Levy told CNN’s Larry King that Matthew Winkler was killed by a single shotgun wound to his back, fired from a range of “a couple to a few feet.” Levy said Winkler probably did not die immediately.
Steve Farese Sr., Winkler’s attorney, says research by the defense team may show that the shooting was an accident.
“Anytime you have a gunshot fatality, it’s not always, ‘Did something happen?’” said Farese. “There are the three questions: Did it happen? Why did it happen, and how did it happen? … Was it an intentional act or an unintentional act or an accidental act, and there’s a difference.”
Yet, there’s the confession from Mary hanging out there in the public domain. Did she confess to killing Matthew accidently? That would be very odd. If it was accidental, why did she flee to Alabama? Out of fear?
So many questions…
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 |
