Mary Winkler details day she shot, killed husband
What follows is an unofficial transcript of the testimony Mary Winkler gave in court today regarding the events of March 22, 2006 – the day her husband, Matthew Winkler, was shot and killed.
Defense attorney Steve Farese: How were you awakened?
Mary Winkler: I heard Brianna crying but matthew kicked me out of bed. He caught me somewhere in the lower of my back and I was on the floor.
SF: With his foot?
MW: Yessir.
SF: What happened next?
MW: He walked out of the room and then I got up and went after him. I followed after him
SF: Did you catch up with him?
MW: Yes, he was in Brianna’s room.
SF: What he was doing?
MW: Suffocating her. Pinching her nose.
SF: What did you do?
MW: I said, ‘Can I please have her?’
SF: Did you get her?
MW: He just threw his arms up and walked away from the crib. He just said he was so tired of it, he just slammed the door frame, with his open hand.
SF: What did you do?
MW: I picked Brianna up and calmed her down. I changed her diaper, found a pacifier somewhere and put her back down and put her music on.
SF: She went back down easily?
MW: Mmm hmmm
SF: What did you do next?
MW: I was going to go make coffee. (pause) But I just wanted to talk tomatthew. (crying)
SF: What did you want to talk to him about?
MW: I just wanted him to stop being so mean.
SF: Did you try to talk to him?
MW: Yessir.
SF: Where had he gone?
MW: Back to the bedroom.
SF: What was his habit for getting up staying up, getting up and not staying up …
MW: He liked to sleep as long as possible. He wasn’t a morning person.
SF: Did you go back in the bedroom to talk to Matthew?
MW: Yessir
SF: Did you talk to him?
MW: No
SF: Why didn’t you talk to him, Mary?
MW: I couldn’t.
SF: What do you mean you couldn’t?
MW: I was just so scared.
SF: Of what?
MW: Matthew.
SF: You remember getting a gun?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Do you remember ever having a gun, holding a gun?
MW: Yessir.
SF: Do you remember ever pointing a gun?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Do you remember ever pulling a trigger?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Did you pull the trigger?
MW: Nosir.
SF: How do we know that, Mary?
MW: Cause I’m telling you.
SF: Do you remember a gun doing anything?
MW: Yes.
SF: What do you remember?
MW: Something went off.
SF: When you say something went off, what went off?
MW: At the time I didn’t know.
SF: What did it sound like?
MW: Boom.
SF: Did you see, hear or smell anything?
MW: It was an awful smell.
SF: What type of smell?
MW: Nothing I’ve ever smelled before or since. I don’t know.
SF: Do you remember what you did after the gun went off?
MW: Ran as fast as I could to get out of that house. I thought Matthew would be mad at me and I didn’t know what he would do to me.
SF: Where did you run to?
MW: Outside the carport.
SF: What’d you do next? Was anybody after you?
MW: No.
SF: What happened next?
MW: Thought about the girls. And so I looked in the living room and nobody was there. And then the hallway, nobody was there. And then Patricia came out and I told her just to go back for a minute.
SF: Did Patricia say anything to you?
MW: She probably asked what was going on.
SF: Do you remember?
MW: Not specifically.
SF: What did you do then?
MW: I went back in the bedroom.
SF: What’d you see?
MW: Matthew laying there. (crying)
SF: How was he laying there?
MW: On his back.
SF: How did he look?
MW: Like he was dead.
SF: Did you do anything to him or say anything to him?
MW: I wiped his mouth and it (blood) just kept coming.
SF: Did you say anything to him?
MW: I don’t remember saying anything. I don’t know.
SF: You gave statements to the police, didn’t you?
MW: Yessir.
SF: What were you thinking then Mary?
MW: I thought something terrible had happened and nobody would ever believe that was an accident and I would lose the girls. I just didn’t know.
SF: Did you know what had happened?
MW: Not for a fact, but …
SF: What’d you do Mary?
MW: I just ran away. I just put the girls in the van and we just drove.
SF: Did you have any clothes all packed up and ready to go?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Any reservations at any hotel or motel or anywhere?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Had you called any hotel to try to make reservations?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Did you know where you were going?
MW: Nosir.
SF: And you didn’t have anything for anyone, excpet something for Brianna?
MW: Socks.
SF: Do you remember what happened to the gun?
MW: I only remember it because of realizing it was in the van, but I do not know how it got in the van. I don’t remember that.
SF: As you drove away, what were you thinking, what were your plans?
MW: I don’t know. The Winklers were out of town. And I didn’t think of my own family at that time in my life.
SF: Why?
MW: They weren’t my family. It was just so engrained in me.
SF: So where were you and the children gonna go?
MW: I thought I would go through Memphis one time and just wait for the Winklers to come home. But I ended up in Jackson, Mississippi.
SF: When did you make plans sto go to Alabama?
MW: The next day I just looked at a map and that was just there. Because the girls have never done that before.
SF: Never done what?
MW: Been to the beach. And I thought that was just something to do.
SF: Why were you taking them to the beach, what was the purpose of that?
MW: To be together. Just for us to be together
SF: For how long?
MW: I knew the Winklers were going to be in town that weekend.
Defense attorney Steve Farese: How were you awakened?
Mary Winkler: I heard Brianna crying but matthew kicked me out of bed. He caught me somewhere in the lower of my back and I was on the floor.
SF: With his foot?
MW: Yessir.
SF: What happened next?
MW: He walked out of the room and then I got up and went after him. I followed after him
SF: Did you catch up with him?
MW: Yes, he was in Brianna’s room.
SF: What he was doing?
MW: Suffocating her. Pinching her nose.
SF: What did you do?
MW: I said, ‘Can I please have her?’
SF: Did you get her?
MW: He just threw his arms up and walked away from the crib. He just said he was so tired of it, he just slammed the door frame, with his open hand.
SF: What did you do?
MW: I picked Brianna up and calmed her down. I changed her diaper, found a pacifier somewhere and put her back down and put her music on.
SF: She went back down easily?
MW: Mmm hmmm
SF: What did you do next?
MW: I was going to go make coffee. (pause) But I just wanted to talk tomatthew. (crying)
SF: What did you want to talk to him about?
MW: I just wanted him to stop being so mean.
SF: Did you try to talk to him?
MW: Yessir.
SF: Where had he gone?
MW: Back to the bedroom.
SF: What was his habit for getting up staying up, getting up and not staying up …
MW: He liked to sleep as long as possible. He wasn’t a morning person.
SF: Did you go back in the bedroom to talk to Matthew?
MW: Yessir
SF: Did you talk to him?
MW: No
SF: Why didn’t you talk to him, Mary?
MW: I couldn’t.
SF: What do you mean you couldn’t?
MW: I was just so scared.
SF: Of what?
MW: Matthew.
SF: You remember getting a gun?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Do you remember ever having a gun, holding a gun?
MW: Yessir.
SF: Do you remember ever pointing a gun?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Do you remember ever pulling a trigger?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Did you pull the trigger?
MW: Nosir.
SF: How do we know that, Mary?
MW: Cause I’m telling you.
SF: Do you remember a gun doing anything?
MW: Yes.
SF: What do you remember?
MW: Something went off.
SF: When you say something went off, what went off?
MW: At the time I didn’t know.
SF: What did it sound like?
MW: Boom.
SF: Did you see, hear or smell anything?
MW: It was an awful smell.
SF: What type of smell?
MW: Nothing I’ve ever smelled before or since. I don’t know.
SF: Do you remember what you did after the gun went off?
MW: Ran as fast as I could to get out of that house. I thought Matthew would be mad at me and I didn’t know what he would do to me.
SF: Where did you run to?
MW: Outside the carport.
SF: What’d you do next? Was anybody after you?
MW: No.
SF: What happened next?
MW: Thought about the girls. And so I looked in the living room and nobody was there. And then the hallway, nobody was there. And then Patricia came out and I told her just to go back for a minute.
SF: Did Patricia say anything to you?
MW: She probably asked what was going on.
SF: Do you remember?
MW: Not specifically.
SF: What did you do then?
MW: I went back in the bedroom.
SF: What’d you see?
MW: Matthew laying there. (crying)
SF: How was he laying there?
MW: On his back.
SF: How did he look?
MW: Like he was dead.
SF: Did you do anything to him or say anything to him?
MW: I wiped his mouth and it (blood) just kept coming.
SF: Did you say anything to him?
MW: I don’t remember saying anything. I don’t know.
SF: You gave statements to the police, didn’t you?
MW: Yessir.
SF: What were you thinking then Mary?
MW: I thought something terrible had happened and nobody would ever believe that was an accident and I would lose the girls. I just didn’t know.
SF: Did you know what had happened?
MW: Not for a fact, but …
SF: What’d you do Mary?
MW: I just ran away. I just put the girls in the van and we just drove.
SF: Did you have any clothes all packed up and ready to go?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Any reservations at any hotel or motel or anywhere?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Had you called any hotel to try to make reservations?
MW: Nosir.
SF: Did you know where you were going?
MW: Nosir.
SF: And you didn’t have anything for anyone, excpet something for Brianna?
MW: Socks.
SF: Do you remember what happened to the gun?
MW: I only remember it because of realizing it was in the van, but I do not know how it got in the van. I don’t remember that.
SF: As you drove away, what were you thinking, what were your plans?
MW: I don’t know. The Winklers were out of town. And I didn’t think of my own family at that time in my life.
SF: Why?
MW: They weren’t my family. It was just so engrained in me.
SF: So where were you and the children gonna go?
MW: I thought I would go through Memphis one time and just wait for the Winklers to come home. But I ended up in Jackson, Mississippi.
SF: When did you make plans sto go to Alabama?
MW: The next day I just looked at a map and that was just there. Because the girls have never done that before.
SF: Never done what?
MW: Been to the beach. And I thought that was just something to do.
SF: Why were you taking them to the beach, what was the purpose of that?
MW: To be together. Just for us to be together
SF: For how long?
MW: I knew the Winklers were going to be in town that weekend.
