Appeals Court Blocks Visit Between Husband-Killer Mary Winkler and Her Children

Background: Mary Winkler–who shot her husband in the back and then refused to aid him or call 911 as he slowly bled to death for 20 minutes–walked away a free woman last month after serving a farcically brief “sentence” for her crimes. She is currently in a custody battle with Matthew Winkler’s parents, who have been raising their three daughters for the last 18 months. The Winklers seek to terminate Mary Winkler’s parental rights and adopt the girls. I support their position. Last week, Mary Winkler was granted supervised visits with her daughters–an important step towards getting custody of them. To learn more about this horrendous injustice, see my co-authored column No child custody for husband-killer Mary Winkler (World Net Daily, 9/14/07), or click here. A Tennessee appeals court yesterday blocked a supervised visit between Mary Winkler and her children, in response to an appeals by Dan and Diane Winkler, the children’s grandparents.
The Associated Press story is below. Mary Winkler Visit With Children Blocked Associated Press, 9/30/07 JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) — An appeals court Friday blocked a supervised visit between a woman convicted of killing her minister-husband and their children. The court issued a stay against the Saturday visit after a last-minute application from the children’s paternal grandparents, who have had temporary custody of the three young girls since Mary Winkler went to jail after the March 2006 shotgun shooting. Winkler, 33, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in April for shooting Church of Christ minister Matthew Winkler at their residence in Selmer. “It’s very devastating to Mary and I’m sure to the children,” said Winkler’s attorney, Kay Farese Turner. The stay is only temporary pending an investigation of Dan and Diane Winkler’s accusations that the judge who originally granted the visit ruled erroneously, Turner said. A call to the office of William R. Neese, Dan and Diane Winkler’s custody attorney, late Friday was not immediately returned. Winkler has said the grandparents will not let her see or talk to her children, who are now 10, 8 and 2 years old. They are seeking to terminate her parental rights and adopt the children while Winkler is attempting to regain custody. Her former parents-in-law also have filed a $2 million wrongful death lawsuit against her.