Minister found shot to death; family missing

If a tree falls in the woods and no woman hears it,is it still a man's fault?

Depends. Was it heard by a man who's a proud member of , as rush says, the new castrati ?

Good news! Mary and girls found safe!

They were in Orange Beach! In the family van, pulled over on the side of the road. Cops just stopped to check on them and see if they needed help. I had asked earlier on this thread why in the world LE hadn't sent the alert out to MS and AL, too - why just AR and KY?

Well, I'm certain there's more to the story now, but I'm glad those little girls are safe - and the wife, too, of course ... but we'll see what she has to say.

One news story said they knew in Selmer (the cops) at 6:00 that they might be found in southern AL or the panhandle of FL. Then at 7:30 was when they were found accidentally. Maybe the wife used a credit card or gas card or something. Good news, anyway.

More update excerpts - wife was named suspect overnight:

~~~~~
" ... ORANGE BEACH --
An unidentified Orange Beach patrol officer spotted the Toyota van at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday on Alabama 182, the coastal highway, near the Winn Dixie shopping center, Assistant Chief Greg Duck said at a news conference Thursday night.

The officer, recognizing the vehicle from a description put out by Tennessee authorities, detained the female driver, Mary Winkler, 32, Duck said. The children: Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8; are "in very good condition," he said, and were being questioned by authorities with the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

The four were staying in a local motel and were on their way to get something to eat when they were stopped, Duck said. Officers from the Orange Beach department later got meals from McDonald's for the youngsters, he said.

The mother was "very peaceful" and the four would have appeared to onlookers to be on spring break, Duck said. Officers hadn't yet inventoried the vehicle by the time of the news conference, he said.

The mother was being held for questioning by Tennessee authorities, who were en route to Alabama, Duck said. Only the mother and three daughters were in the van, he said.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said Mary Winkler had not been arrested, but is now being considered a suspect in the case. "We've known from the beginning that she was either a suspect or a victim," Johnson said.
----
The wife of a charismatic Tennessee minister found slain in his parsonage was a suspect in his death, authorities said, after she and the couple's three daughters were found in Alabama following a daylong search.
...
Late Thursday, authorities said they considered his wife, 32-year-old Mary Winkler, a suspect. 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., after an Amber Alert was issued for the children. She had last been seen Tuesday picking them up from school, authorities said.

Mary Winkler had not been arrested or charged, but Selmer police and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents were on their way to Orange Beach to question her.
......
Winkler was hired at the Fourth Street Church in February 2005, said Wilburn Ash, an elder at the church. The congregation quickly came to love his straight-by-the-Bible sermons. Church members also took to his wife, who they described as a quiet, unassuming woman who was a substitute teacher at the elementary school.
......
Mary and Matthew Winkler met at the Church of Christ-affiliated Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, where his father, also a minister, is an adjunct professor. Matthew Winkler later transferred and graduated from Lipscomb University in Nashville.

His grandfather also was involved with the church, with a 60-year career as an evangelist in four Southern states. Growing up, Matthew Winkler attended Austin High School in Decatur, Ala., while his father was a minister at the Beltline Church of Christ.

One of his peers in Decatur, Emily Jones White, told The Decatur Daily that he was a "great guy with a kind heart. He was one of those kind of guys you could call and talk to about your problems."

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060324/NEWS01/603240313/1002

Fellow Christians reach out in prayer, comfort

By WENDY ISOM

Surrounding Churches of Christ communities were holding special prayer services and reaching out Thursday to comfort the tight-knit Selmer congregation whose faith stood face to face with tragedy.

Members of the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer were left grappling with Wednesday night's shooting death of their pulpit minister and the statewide Amber Alert that followed in hopes of finding the minister's missing wife and three children. The family was found Thursday night in Orange Beach, Ala., almost 400 miles from their home.

The slain pulpit minister, 31-year-old Matthew Winkler, came from a prominent Churches of Christ family. Selmer marked his third church assignment, having previously served the Central Church of Christ in McMinnville and the Bellevue Church of Christ in Nashville as a youth minister. He and his wife, Mary, settled in Selmer about a year ago and were raising three daughters.

Winkler's father, Dan Winkler, was known as a frequent speaker at the Freed-Hardeman University Bible Lectureship and formerly served as minister to the 1,300-member congregation of the Crievehall Church of Christ in Nashville.
Ray Frizzell, an elder at Crievehall, said the church held a special prayer service Thursday morning for the Winkler family, where Matthew Winkler's younger brother, Jacob, is still a member. Another elder from Crievehall had driven over to Selmer to comfort the church family.

The Nashville church said they are prepared to offer prayers and any other assistance to the family. Frizzell said his son, Tim, and Matthew Winkler often worked close together in youth ministry.

Stephen R. Sutton, the 22-year-old minister of the Maury City Church of Christ, said he was "devastated" by the news. He and his congregation were preparing to send cards and condolences to the Fourth Street Church of Christ family. Matthew Winkler was known as a sound preacher, who hailed from a rich heritage of gospel preachers, Sutton said.

Winkler's grandfather, the late Wendell Winkler, and his father, Dan Winkler, were well-respected among the Churches of Christ brotherhood, said Sutton, who also serves as a chaplain.

"I let preachers that I respect a lot sign my Bible," said Sutton, adding that he carries the signatures of Dan and Wendell Winkler in his Bible. "Even though I wasn't close to Matthew, you still feel like you've lost one of your own."

The Winklers also had especially close ties to FHU. Matthew Winkler was enrolled at FHU in the mid 1990s and his father, Dan Winkler, served as an adjunct member on the Bible faculty.

"The Winkler family is very close to FHU, and the grief they are experiencing now is beyond comprehension for most of us," FHU spokesman Josh Woods said in a campuswide e-mail Thursday morning. "Let us do anything we can to comfort them, and let us pray hard for their strength and for the safety of Mary and the three girls."

Randy Carter, pastor of the Northside Assembly of God, did not know the Winklers personally and is not affiliated with the Churches of Christ, but was equally shocked and saddened by the news of the slain preacher.

"I want them to be assured of our prayers at this time," he said.

For members who are struggling to cope with their grief, Carter encouraged them to talk about their feelings with Christian counselors and ministers. It is also a time to rely heavily on the Lord, Carter said.

"In times of tragedy, you need to run toward the Lord, not from Him."

More ...

~~~~
The couple's three daughters, Breanna Winkler, 1, Mary Alice Winkler, 6, and Patricia Winkler, 8, "appear to be in good physical condition," and their mother was cooperative with police, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said. There was no one else with the Winkler family at the time they were found, Johnson said.

Since Mary Winkler was found with no evidence of trauma and with no extra passenger, authorities said it begs questions about why she was found in Alabama almost 24 hours after her husband was found dead.

"It's almost like she didn't know where she was going," Johnson said, adding, "We've known all along that she was going to be characterized as a suspect or a victim. ... She hasn't been arrested yet, but there are some tough questions we need to ask her."
...
Johnson said authorities were on their way Thursday night to interview Mary Winkler in Orange Beach as a suspect in Winkler's death. They also were in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the van, she said.
...
An Amber Alert was issued because the family's minivan was missing from the driveway. Mary Winkler was believed to be with the children and it was unclear at that time if the family was abducted.
...
The TBI began tracking Mary Winkler to the Gulf Coast area and alerted authorities in Florida and Alabama about the missing family. Police in those states were preparing to issue Amber Alerts just before the family was found.

"In this instance, good, old-fashioned police work found them instead of the Amber Alerts," Johnson said.

Church members were all relieved to hear the children were safe, said Ashe, who is also the mayor of McNairy County.

"The members can finally go home to get some rest," he said. Hundreds of church members had gathered to grieve after Winkler was found Wednesday night.

"Our first priority has been to make sure the children were all right," Ashe said. "The next step is to see if there's anything we can do for them."

After that, they could focus on finding out how and why their minister was shot, he said.
...
Other agencies across the region were participating in the investigation and search, said Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and the inspectors with the U.S. Postal Service.

The last time the police department conducted a murder investigation in the small town, with a population of around 4,500, was in 2000, Burks said.

Well, it's nice to see the double standard in journalism is alive and well this morning. Were the victims reversed, and the wife was found murdered while the husband was on the lam in another state, would the article have been written like this? Of course not. One wonders how the reporterette could type this with her kid gloves on.

Answer: Defense attorneys. I think we're lucky that LE came out with the word "suspect" this early in the game. Possibly it was the "turkey-hunting" gun that was the murder weapon.

We still have to stand back a little - there *could be* a blackmailer who was back at the motel in Orange Beach and she was too paralyzed with fear to try to escape or get help. "Could be" being the operative term there.

Minister's wife to be charged with murder

(Memphis, Tenn.-AP) March 24, 2006 - Tennessee authorities say they will charge a minister's wife with first-degree murder in his death.

A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent says officials are preparing charges against Mary Winkler in the shooting of her husband Matthew Winkler. The agent says investigators questioned her after she was found last night.

More ...

"...
Mary Winkler had rented a condominium at the beach, Orange Beach Police Chief Billy Wilkins told The Associated Press on Friday.

Wilkins also said the children's grandparents would seek temporary custody, AP reported.

Investigators have found no evidence of a history of domestic violence, Johnson said."

NEWS UPDATE: Authorities charging Tennessee minister's wife in his shooting death
3/24/2006 11:43:20 AM
Daily Journal

By WOODY BAIRD
Associated Press Writer

SELMER, Tenn. - The wife of a minister found shot to death in their church's parsonage agreed Friday to return to Tennessee to face first-degree murder charges in his death, authorities said.

Mary Winkler was found with the couple's three young daughters late Thursday in Orange Beach, Ala., 340 miles south of their home.

Orange Beach Assistant Chief of Police Greg Duck said Friday she had waived extradition and would be sent back to Tennessee later in the day or on Saturday. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent John Mehr said authorities were charging her with murder in her husband's death after interviewing her during the night.

[snip]

One more post to this reference thread, then I guess the other one supersedes this one.

Dan Winkler, Matt's father, read this prepared statement this afternoon:

~~~~~
Winkler family statement about son's death
March 24, 2006, 01:56 PM CST

A Statement From The Winkler Family

"We express to God our deep appreciation for allowing us the privilege of serving as Matthew's parents. We were blessed with raising three wonderful sons.

We are thankful for the existence of the Amber Alert System.

We cannot overlook the care, compassion, skills and professionalism of the FBI, The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, the Police Departments of Orange Beach and Okaloosa County Alabama, as well as the Alabama Department of Children Services. In addition, would thank the Police Department of Selmer, TN. We thank all of these agencies and departments for their investigative efforts and the safe return of Mary and the girls.

To all of our family and friends - thank you for your love and support.

To all of you who prayed for the safe return of the girls - your prayers and our prayers were answered.

Now we turn our immediate attention to the remembrance of Matthew and the care of our little granddaughters.

We ask that all of you realize the challenge of the task a head of us and honor our need for privacy."
~~~~~

Other Winkler case threads:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1601762/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1602406/posts