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 summer 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 20 months.
The Winklers seek to terminate Mary Winkler’s parental rights and adopt the girls. I support their position. In September Mary Winkler was granted supervised visits with her daughters–an important step towards getting custody of them. Shortly afterwards an appeals court blocked the visit after a last-minute application from the children’s paternal grandparents.
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.
Court clears way for Winkler visits with children
Associated Press
11/27/07
JACKSON, Tenn. — An appeals court has removed a barrier to supervised visits between convicted killer Mary Winkler and her children.
A Carroll County judge ruled in September that Winkler could begin visits with her three young daughters, but the children”s paternal grandparents appealed that order.
The Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the visits while considering the grandparents” request.
But the appeals court ruled in Jackson on Tuesday that the lower court can go ahead with allowing Winkler”s visits while she tries to regain custody of her children.
Winkler was convicted this year of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her husband, Matthew Winkler, a minister in Selmer.