Matthew Winkler was found dead in a bedroom at his home in Selmer, Tennessee after church members went looking for him because he did not appear for a Wednesday night service. His wife, Mary, and their three children, Patricia, 8; Mary Alice, 6; and Breanna, 1; were found by police late Thursday about 340 miles from their home in Orange Beach, Ala., where she had rented a condo. The police would not discuss any possible motive.
For many reasons, I find this tragedy very intriguing. The question right now on the mind of many is: "Why did Mary Winkler kill her husband?"
Wendell Winkler, the grandfather of Matthew, was a very popular preacher in the 1950s and 60s. I heard him in Ft. Worth many times as a young person. Winkler was one of the leaders of the right wing of the Church of Christ that began taking shape in the 60s. Thomas B. Warren, Roy Deaver, and others were part of this movement.
There are some significant characteristics of this movement, which may or may not have played a part in this tragedy. As most stories, I am sure there will be pieces of information released that will eventually put the puzzle together.
As information presents itself, I may blog about this, prayerfully and with respect. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share them.
5 comments:
David,
I too have some of the same thoughts you brought up. For the sake of not jumping the gun, I am keeping them quiet.
I have been part of a controlling man (C of C) and desperate people do desperate things.
I pray for all parties involved and especially for Mary.
Yes,
It is very sad.
No matter why it happened--it's just so very sad.
I am thankful you choose to handle this with prayer and respect.
You know, in my younger days this situation would have been one that would have been easy to make assumptions about and quick to judge; but I think we are a long way from hearing the real story; and we may not ever. We just have to always remember that even closest friends don't always know what's going on behind close doors.
So, instead of being quick to judge, my years have taught me to be quick to pray. So, I'm praying a long side of you for this hurting family and hurting church as I wait just from keen interest of human nature to hear the story about what happened to cause her to pull the trigger.
I can guess - and probably within three guesses can nail it pretty accurately. But, it doesn't serve any purpose and I certainly don't want to cause those hurting out there to hurt more. This instance calls for me to pray than to be right - so I pray.
Dee is so enigmatic! Talk about a woman of mystery!
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