Mary Carol Winkler is an American who was convicted of voluntarily man-slaughtering her husband, Matthew Winker, in 2006. Battered woman syndrome is a category of post-traumatic stress disorder that develops as a result of abuse. According to the stories and accounts I read, Mary was a victim of battered woman syndrome. First, she confessed of killing her husband Matthew, who was a minister at Church of Christ in Tennessee, but she denied pulling the trigger. Secondly, she had been undergoing various forms of abuse such as emotional, verbal and physical abuse caused by her husband.
According to Wikipedia, Mary said, “h e had really been on me lately criticizing me for things — the way I walk, I eat, everything. It was just building up to a point. I was tired of it. I guess I got to a point and snapped." she also confessed that Matthew forced her to wear “slutty” costumes for sex and she felt berated. “One Sunday, Mary came into the church and I looked at her and she had a black eye” (ABC 2006).
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Another characteristic of battered woman syndrome exhibited by Mary was financial insecurity as there was evidence that the couple may have lost over $17,000 and she admitted that they had argued with Matthew about money and their financial issues. Also, she admitted that she was a cause of the problems she and her husband were undergoing. Such guilt is a characteristic of battered woman syndrome alongside the fear of her life especially kidnapping which resulted in her to relocating to Alabama with her children.
Yes, I support her release as all that she did were as a result of psychological stress caused by combined and frequent physical, emotional and verbal abuse. According to her account to the jury, she said all she wanted was her husband to change and be responsible which supports that she had no intention of committing murder whatsoever. I believe that Mary Winkler was in a state of depression which would account for her outrageous act.
Reference
ABC NEWS. (2006). Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=2667042&page=1
