Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Pastor's Wife by Diane Fanning

When Pastor Matthew Winkler was found dead at his Fourth Street Church of Christ parsonage in Selmer, Tennessee, both police investigators and parishioners were shaken and mystified: How could evil strike this cradle of faith? Meanwhile, Mrs. Winkler and her three daughters were still missing...
A frantic search for Mary Winkler and the girls ensued. Once they were found, on a beach in Alabama, Mary was charged with murdering her husband in cold blood. But why did Mary pull the trigger? What sexual and psychological abuses did she allege she had suffered?
In the months that followed, the crime--and the Winkler's marriage--would be exposed by the national media; Mary herself even appeared on Oprah, Set in a world of domineering men, obedient wives, and unshakable faith, this is the true story about what happened to Matthew Winkler and THE PASTOR'S WIFE

I am now officially a fan of Diane Fanning's books as well as Ann Rule books.I just had to get used to her style of writing.This book is extremely well written and really allows you to get into the mind set of Mary Winkler.I truly believe her reasons for doing this,although they are trivial but I firmly believe that in her bid to be loyal to her husband,has not mentioned all the abuse she encountered throughout her marriage.Although in this day and age it is difficult to believe that there are still women like Mary out there(shy and retiring) Diane Fanning writes in a way that you can empathize and believe in Mary Winkler.

The way Diane Fanning writes about the family dynamics and how it all falls apart is easy to follow and understand.Bearing in mind that Mary Winkler was loved by her in-laws and how this relationship falls apart when she tells the truth really re inforces for me that nurture prevails over nature.Her husband obviously was brought up in abusive home(this is not mentioned in the book)but I believe more of the passive aggressive kind.I believe this because what his parents did afterwards for me is unacceptable and just proves for me that they were not as nice as they portrayed themselves to be.But this is just my opinion and if you would like to find out for yourself please see below.

Please visit here and leave a comment as to whether you agree with me about my perception of the parents(after you have read the book).If you have already read this book I would really appreciate your opinion.

To buy from Kalahari Books-South Africa

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Amazon Books-UK and Europe


I read this book in February 2009

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 5:30 AM

    I absolutely do not agree with Fannings book in which she tries to make Mary Winkler into THE victim in this case.

    I have kept up with true crimes for three decades and this is one of the biggest travesties of justice I can ever remember. It is a black mark when someone gets a way with murder.

    There was absolutely no evidence Mary had been abused. It is the first case I can remember that mere allegations never had to be proved. Mind boggling.

    If this case had been held in a major city, Winkler would be doing 51 years.

    All the lawyers did was shock the senses of the female jurors by entering tawdry sex. When is having your wife dress up a capital offense even if true which I will never believe it was. What man wants his wife to wear a wig the same color as her own natural hair? Preposterous. That gosh awful looking shoe had no wear on it at all. Where did it come from........where is the chain of custody? There was none.

    This trial was the biggest farce ever. Only a she/said with the victim dead and voiceless.

    She changed her stories more often than a baby's diapers have to be changed.

    In murder there are no coincidences. She murdered this man so he would never make it to the 8:30 am bank meeting to find out the wife he thought he knew had been running a check kiting scheme for three months.

    All the cards were stacked in her favor. She had a jury who was ignorant, religious, conservative in a tiny town filled with a 100 churches.

    This jury did not even understand the jury instructions and were left ignorant by the presiding Judge who told them to go back and deliberate without educating them. The same jury that didn't even know what a hung jury meant and who thought that they had to come to a decision THAT same day.

    At least Oprah and most of society didn't believe a word that came out of this woman's mouth.....no matter what story she told at the moment that was ever changing. The truth stays the same. Mary couldn't keep her lies straight.

    If she had not been a female the DA would have gone for the death penalty and hammered her hard on all her lies and inconsistences.

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