The Pastor's Wife (22 page)

Mary's probation officer, Donna Dunlap, stepped up next on Mary's behalf. Ballin asked, “Have you found her compliant?”

“Yes.”

“Truthful?”

“Yes.”

“Honest?”

“Yes.”

“Would you believe her under oath in a court of law?”

“Yes.”

On cross-examination, Freeland established that she'd only known her for eight months, and seen her only in her office once a week. “Your testimony is that she's been on her good behavior since she's been accused?” Freeland asked.

“Yes.”

“Any opinion that you have of Ms. Winkler is based on what she has told you?”

“Yes.”

“And based on the thirty-five to forty visits, you have made a judgment about her truthfulness?”

“Yes.”

“And she's never lied to you?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

Dr. Timothy Fisher entered the box. He was the doctor who treated Mary in McMinnville when she claimed that
she had been hit in the jaw by a softball. In answer to Ballin's question, he said that his nurse practitioner characterized the injury by a softball in the medical record as “Mary's story.”

Freeland got the doctor to admit that he had no recollection of the visit, but had referred to his medical records for all his information. Ballin, on re-direct, elicited the testimony that the injury was caused by blunt force trauma that could have been from a softball or from a hand or a foot.

Dr. Lynne Zager, a clinical psychologist, established her credentials and was declared an expert by the court. She looked type-cast for the role—long hair, simply styled with a part on the side, a long nose and thin, downturned lips, wearing silver-framed glasses with thick lenses and a tailored suit.

She told the jury about her first few visits with Mary, which included the administration of the MMPI—the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—their work with Rorschach cards and the lengthy conversations with Mary that led to her diagnosis of PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder—dating back to the death of her sister when Mary was 13 years old.

Leslie Ballin asked, “Did Mary share with you any information about the issue of this abuse?”

“Yes, she did. She described situations—it was very hard for her, as she didn't want to speak in a negative light about her husband Matthew. But after we worked together for a time, she described situations where he was verbally inappropriate to her, physically inappropriate to her, sexually inappropriate to her and emotionally inappropriate to her.”

“I'm going to have to ask you for specific examples.”

“For example, one classic thing that occurs with people who are in a situation—when they are in an abusive situation, when they're a victim of that—one thing that most often occurs is that the person is isolated. Like, they have family, they have friends, they have co-workers, they have classmates, and when a person gets involved in an
abusive type of situation, it is very common for the abuser to isolate the person from all the other people who could perhaps be of support or help. And as Mary described her marriage with Matthew Winkler, it appeared as if that is exactly what happened.”

Zager described the common situation in which abused people stay with their abusers because the fear of what would happen to them if they left was greater than the fear of remaining in the relationship. She moved on to relate Matthew's habit of nagging Mary and controlling what she ate because of the weight she gained through the births of three children. She added, “She often said that Matthew helped her improve herself.”

“You spoke about sexual abuse. Did Mary share with you what she was made to do?”

“Yes,” Zager said.

“What's that?” Ballin said.

“Do you want me to talk about that?”

“Absolutely.”

“What she described was her husband asking her to do things that she wasn't comfortable with sexually. She described things like putting on wigs and high heels, or clothes that she wasn't comfortable with. She described that he had pornographic pictures or movies that he wanted her to watch with him, and she wasn't comfortable. She'd look at the desk or look down when he wanted her to do that. She shared the times that she didn't care to be sexually intimate at the time, but that was not okay.”

“Not an option?” Ballin interjected.

“That was not an option, no. Sometimes she would say she was on her cycle extra to avoid being intimate with her husband. And there were also times where he wanted—and insisted—that they have anal sex, and that was not something that she cared to be involved with, but it was something that occurred.”

In the jury box, heads turned downward, faces flushed red and the jurors seemed very preoccupied with taking
notes. At the defense table, Mary rested her chin in the palm of her hand, her skin flushed from her scalp to the neckline of her shirt as Steve Farese wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.

“Did she relate to you that she told him that it hurt, and to stop?”

“Yes, she did.”

“Did she relate to you whether or not if he did stop?” Ballin asked.

“Yes, she did. He would not stop and she was concerned that he would hurt her and her body in some way, and he made a comment that she could always have surgery to fix that.”

Ballin led her through an explanation of memory in situations like Mary's. Zager said that typically in a dissociative episode, common to people with PTSD, there was “…some recollection, but it is not complete.” Like Mary, “…people remember bits and pieces.” On the other hand, she said, “Fakers lose memory completely right before the event and remember nothing until after the arrest.”

Zager went on to discuss Matthew's physical abuse, saying that when Mary got out of jail in August, she said that it was the first time she'd been able to wear shorts in years because she didn't have any bruises on her legs, and that Matthew was also the cause of her bruised jaw, not the softball.

She said that Mary also claimed that she “…always had to carry a cell phone because she always had to answer when he called. He was very concerned about keeping up with her.”

Zager attempted to explain Mary's shooting of Matthew. “My professional opinion is that Mary suffers from PTSD, and at the time this occurred, she was in a dissociative episode and was not able to think or plan in the way she normally would do.”

“Was she capable of forming the intent to commit a crime?” Ballin asked.

“I don't believe so.”

“On March twenty-second, 2006, do you think she was capable of forming an intent to kill?”

“I don't believe she was.”

 

The prosecution could have sought and perhaps found a psychologist to offer opposing testimony, but it was a gamble. If they tried and failed, they had to inform the defense, who would then have two mental health professionals to bolster their claim. Dunavant had encountered Zager in court before, and believed that she could find “PTSD in an inanimate object.” But she'd made finding an expert who would disagree with her opinion more difficult by putting the genesis of Mary's PTSD in her childhood instead of in abuse by her husband. In the end, they decided not to take the risk of another psychological consultation.

Instead, Walt Freeland stood before the psychologist and belittled her profession and her credibility. He argued with her over semantics, and accused her of wanting a platform to speak on the issue of spousal abuse and PTSD. He attacked the mental health profession with its classifications of Caffeine-Induced Disorder, Nicotine-Induced Disorder and Football Widow Syndrome.

He asked, “There is no question in your mind, is there, that at the time of this event, Mary was sane?”

“That is a legal word, not a mental health word.”

“Can you say that someone charged with a serious crime has, at least, a motive to malinger?”

“Yes, sir.”

Freeland brought out the fact that Mary had no mental health records prior to Matthew's murder, and questioned Zager's assessment that Matthew was in charge of the financial situation. Then he asked, “Where did you get your information that Matthew Winkler isolated Mary Winkler from her family?”

“From Mary.”

“You don't recall her saying that she didn't want to be around her father? It was her decision and not Matthew's?”

“I don't recall that, but it doesn't surprise me. In many ways, she described her father as being like Matthew. In many ways, she described her mother as her role model.”

On re-direct, Ballin walked Zager through the validity scale in testing that measured people's honesty by determining when they attempted to make themselves appear worse than they are. The psychologist said, “Mary's score is very low—she was doing just the opposite.”

Up again, Freeland asked questions centered on the frequency of Mary's visits with her lawyers, in particular about how those sessions related to visits with her psychologist. Zager didn't have answers for him.

On re-cross Ballin popped up, approached the podium, and asked, “Did you do anything unethical in your examination?”

“No, sir.”

“Neither did we,” Ballin snapped, glaring at the prosecution table. He slammed his legal pad on the podium, then turned back and gave Freeland another dirty look.

The trial opened on Wednesday, April 18, with the most anticipated witness of them all, Mary Winkler. She took her seat looking demure and achingly vulnerable in a white cardigan sweater over a modest black-and-white dress. She personified an innocence and a lack of sophistication so complete, many wanted to believe every word she said even before she opened her mouth.

Steve Farese took her through her childhood, the death of her sister and the adoption of her five siblings. When he asked her if she was raised in a strict household, she agreed. Then he asked, “Strict in what way?”

“My mother and father wanted us to obey our elders, to have good manners and to obey the rules.”

In a soft, childlike voice with its laid-back east Tennessee drawl, Mary talked about her brief courtship with Matthew, their marriage, their beginnings in Louisville outside of Knoxville, their return to Henderson and the move to Louisiana. When asked about their life in Louisville, she said that she was surprised when, a short time into their marriage, the screaming and hollering began.

“When you say he screamed and hollered, what did he scream and holler about?”

“He wanted me to quit inviting brothers and sisters over, and staying over there and just us.”

“Did you do as he wished?”

“Yes, sir.”

About Baton Rouge, she said, “We had good times. We had bad times, too.”

“Why did you have bad times, Mary?”

“There's nothing I can tell you that's a particular reason. There was many times that I got hollered at, got on to. One time, Matthew thought I'd done something with the shirts wrong and I felt like it was my fault. But when I look back on pictures now, Matthew had just gained weight when I gained weight having Patricia. I see that now. That wasn't anything for me to be in trouble with. Patricia's elbow was dislocated and I don't know what happened there.”

“Let's talk about that. Children get hurt.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sometimes they hurt themselves, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sometimes they accidentally get hurt?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What happened to Patricia?”

“I don't know.”

“Well, were you with her when she got hurt?”

“No, sir.”

“Who was with her?”

“Matthew.”

“Do you know if he did anything intentionally or unintentionally?”

“No, sir, I don't.”

“What were you told?”

“That they were playing.”

“How old was she?”

“She was between nine months and a year-and-a-half.”

They talked about the death of Mary's mother and about the move to the Nashville area. Mary said the yelling and screaming continued there, too.

“How did he act when he yelled and screamed? What were his movements?”

“He flailed. He was a big guy. He was just all over.”

She said that he'd point his fingers inches from her nose.
“Whatever he was upset about, it was my fault. ‘Don't do it again.'” She said if she wanted to talk about it, “He would tell me that was just ugly coming out and it needed to be put away.”

She said, “Pegram was a hard place…a hard place in my life, in my home.” Asked why it was so difficult, she said, “Matthew's temperament escalated. He would just be furious about certain things. He went from certain threats to more serious threats.”

“When you say ‘threats,' what do you mean by ‘threats'? Can you be specific to the jury about what you mean by ‘threats'?”

“He told me one time he was going to cut the brake lines out of the van.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

“Did he ever get physical with you in Pegram?”

Mary did not respond.

“Mary,” Farese said to get her attention.

“Yes, sir?”

“Did he ever get physical with you in Pegram?” he repeated.

“No, sir.” She then described the medication incident in Pegram, but indicated that it had nothing to do with a drug reaction. She claimed that she covered up her distress when she spoke to Glenn and Brandy Jones. “Don't know what I told them. I laughed and tried to play it off. I was ashamed. I didn't want them to know how Matthew was acting.”

Farese then spoke to her about her husband. “Let me ask you something, during these times, could Matthew be good, too?”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a laugh.

“Was Matthew talented?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Was he smart?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did he have a way with people?”

She smiled and said, “Yes, sir.”

“Could he cause people to believe him?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That's part of being a minister, isn't it?”

“Yes, sir.”

In the courtroom, a very distressed Clark Freeman hung his head, shaking it back and forth as tears formed in his eyes.

“Is that what Matthew wanted to be—a minister?”

“If he could have his dream job, he'd be a history teacher.”

Farese questioned her about their time in McMinnville. “Did you love the town?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How was your relationship in McMinnville?”

“It was very bad.” Mary hung her head and swayed back and forth.

“Mary? Mary, tell the jury about how your relationship was.”

“It was very bad. I asked Matthew to have a divorce. And he absolutely denied it. That would not be allowed.”

“That was not an option?”

“No, sir.”

“According to who?”

“Matthew.”

“Why did you want a divorce?”

“Because it was just so bad. I just wanted out.”

“Why was it bad?”

“He just could be so mean.”

Mary described the softball injury that she said was made much worse when Matthew kicked her in the face. Farese asked, “Prior to being kicked in the face, had he ever been physical with you before?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell the jury how he had been physical with you.”

Mary did not respond, prompting the attorney to say her name again.

“He pushed me down, used his belt, kick.”

“But up until the time you had gotten to Selmer, had he ever actually hit you in the face? Hit you with his hands?”

“No, sir.”

“Did he hit you in the face in Selmer?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

“Mary, there has to be some reason, something he was angry about or something, why can't you tell the jury a reason?”

“I can't remember back to anything, why he was upset.”

“Well, did you ever do anything bad to make him mad?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you run around on him?”

“No, sir,” she said and laughed.

“Did you talk back to him?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you not go where he told you to go?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you not do what he told you to do?”

“No, sir.”

“Were you sneaking around seeing your family?”

“No, sir.”

“What did Matthew tell you about your family?”

“Once the girls started getting older, he didn't want them to be around my family. There was something talked [sic] that one of my brothers got into trouble, and we didn't have any facts, and that was just it. He didn't want them anywhere near Patricia and Allie.”

She said that Matthew got along with her father in the beginning, but over time, Matthew grew to dislike him. “He just got on his nerves.”

Farese asked her about disciplining the children. Mary said, “They could lose privileges or they would get spankings.”

“Did any of the spankings ever get out of hand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell the jury,” Farese urged.

“If Patricia and Allie ever got into trouble, if he was having a bad day, then they would just get some of it, too. And then, they stayed home from school sometimes.”

“Why'd they stay home from school?”

“Matthew didn't want anyone to see their legs.”

“Why?”

“They were bruised.”

After Mary said, “I would just do anything to help him stay happy,” there was a long pause. Then Farese approached the witness stand and handed her a bag.

“Mary, would you open that sack, please?”

She complied, glanced inside, scratched her face and closed her eyes.

“What's in that sack, Mary?”

“A shoe and a wig.”

“Show me that shoe that's in there.”

Mary pulled it from the bag and set it on her lap.

“Put it up on the side there.”

Mary set an outrageous white pump with a five-inch flared heel in the back and a three-inch platform in the front. It looked perfect for a striptease act in a gentlemen's club.

“Is that the kind of shoe you would wear to church?”

“No, sir.”

“What else is in the sack, Mary?”

“A wig.”

“Let me see.”

Mary pulled out another plastic bag containing a short brunette wig—not unlike Mary's own hair. She set it down beside the shoe and bent her head, putting one hand in front of her eyes.

“Where did you get that shoe?”

In a muffled voice, she said, “From Matthew.”

“Did he buy that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where'd you get that wig, Mary?”

“From Matthew.”

“Who bought that?”

“Matthew.”

“Why did you need a shoe like that, Mary?”

“I didn't need it.”

“Why was the shoe bought, Mary?”

“Matthew wanted me to wear it.”

“What do you mean, he wanted you to wear it, Mary?”

“He just liked to dress up.”

“‘Dress up'?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dress up for what purpose, Mary?”

“Sex.”

“Sex? Besides the wig and the shoes, what was the—how else were you dressed?

“Just skirts or something slutty,” Mary said with her head still facing downward. Prior to the introduction of the shoe, Mary had mostly kept her attention on Farese. Now she didn't seem capable of looking at anything but the hands in her lap.

“How long was the skirt?”

“Very, very short.”

“During the course of this, did you ever have the occasion that he asked to look at his computer?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What were you asked to look at?”

“Pornography.”

“What kind of pornography? Was it still photographs, movies or what?”

“I think they were movies.”

“Were any of them stills?”

“They might have been.”

“Well, why would you look at them? Did you enjoy that sort of thing?”

“No. He told me to, but I just looked at the back of the desk.”

“You wouldn't look at the photographs?”

“No, sir.”

Throughout this testimony, Dan and Diane sat rigidly upright, their faces devoid of any expression. Their stoic
response concealed the little death they suffered in their hearts, as they believed their son was being victimized again.

“What would occur after he asked you to look at the photographs?”

“We'd go have sex.”

“Did he ever ask you to engage in any type of sex you felt was unnatural?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell the jury what that was.”

Mary didn't respond or look up until Farese prompted her by saying her name again. “He just wanted to have sex in my bottom.”

“Did that concern you or worry you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did it hurt you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What were you told when you expressed your concern?”

“He said okay, and then he'd do it again.”

“What was his answer for if it did hurt you?”

“He saw some show one time and they said that does happen, but they had surgery that could fix it.”

“When he had you dress up, did he have you engage in any other kind of sex that you thought was unnatural?”

“It may not be unnatural, but stuff I didn't want to do.”

“Give the jury just one example.”

“Oral sex.”

During a sidebar, Mary continued to hang her head low. She formed a fist with her hand and leaned her forehead on it. Out in the rows, her sisters looked at her with furrowed brows and compressed lips.

After break, Farese said, “Mary, if it's okay, would you hold your head up? Okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

The attorney handed her the exhibit of pornographic images and asked her if she recognized them. A high red blush bloomed on her cheeks as she acknowledged that
she'd seen them on the computer at home. He pointed out an image of a shoe retrieved from the hard drive. Mary said that it looked just like her shoe except that the ones in the picture were black. The thick document of the computer analysis was passed to the jurors to review.

Farese's questions about abuse led Mary to testify that Matthew had hit her in the face in Selmer, but when she visited Dr. Eason, she told him that it was from a bee sting. Eason disagreed with that diagnosis and recommended that she see a dentist.

About other acts of violence, Mary said, “He threatened me with a shotgun, many times pointing it in my face…He said if I ever talked back to him the way one of my sisters-in-law talked to my brother-in-law, he'd cut me into a million pieces.”

Farese asked, “Mary, have you ever shot a shotgun?”

“No, sir.”

“Have you ever loaded a shotgun?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you know how a pump shotgun works?”

“No, sir.”

“Mary, when you were released from jail on bond, did you try to see the children?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How hard did you try…”

Freeland objected on grounds of relevance. The judge sustained. Farese changed direction. “Why would Matthew point a shotgun at you? For what reason?”