Tuesday, August 05, 2008

When life isn't a joke - Mary Winkler

There is a sad joke about a young man who killed his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court saying he is an orphan.

Glenn Sacks reports about Mary Winkler recently being granted custody of her daughters:

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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 year after serving a farcically brief "sentence" for her crimes.
Mary Winkler’s claims of abuse were largely uncorroborated during the trial. According to the testimony from Matthew Winkler's oldest daughter, Patricia, the dead father--who as he lay dying looked at his wife and asked "why?"--was a good man and did not abuse her mother.
Mary Winkler has been in a custody battle with Matthew Winkler's parents, who have been raising the three girls since the murder. The Winklers sought to terminate Mary Winkler's parental rights and adopt the girls, a position I've supported.
Mary Winkler was granted supervised visits with her daughters last year. Now, sadly, she has gained back custody of the three girls, which is clearly not in the girls' best interests.
Last year Dan Winkler said, "These young ladies have not expressed any desire to be with their mother or her family,” but he and wife Diane have now ceded custody, knowing that continuing their legal battle to protect the girls would in the end be unsuccessful. A judge has approved the custody transfer.

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Jokes can be funny. Some times real life is sad.


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2 comments:

NerdMom said...

You know that the joke is that the situation you described is the definition of chutzpah. I think the whole Mary Winkler situation is a miscarriage of justice. We wouldn't be here with her if she was in jail like she belonged.

Henry Cate said...

I agree this was a horrible miscarriage of justics.

Glenn Sacks often points out that in many situations there is a double standard for men and women. If a man had killed his wife in a similar situation he would be doing twenty to life.