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Read other letters about this article
Living in Tennessee, I've seen a lot of coverage of this case.
I think Mary Winkler's original, taped confession should be required reading for anyone expressing an opinion on the case.
In the confession, which was not extracted under duress (the interviewer repeatedly asks if she is comfortable, if she wants a coke, if she want to go on) she makes two statements which contradict her later testimony in the trial.
1) She says that she killed her husband because he yelled at her for falling asleep during a movie, that it was the last straw, and that her self-esteem made her kill him. She specifically states more than once that her husband never hurt her physically, she was just tired of him "riding her for every little thing."
2) She says that she remembers trying to get a good footing on the pillows on the floor around the bed because she was worried the gun would kick when she fired it.
Her trial testimony was a little different. She says she doesn't remember getting the gun or firing it. She says her husband abused her physically.
Considering that she had an obvious motive for lying, which do you think is the truth?
