A woman convicted of shooting and killing her husband after allegedly suffering years of abuse wants women to know they can get help without resorting to violence.

Women are sometimes “hesitant to speak out and ask for help,” Mary Winkler told NBC’s “Today” show this morning. But, she said, “someone will believe you.”

Winkler, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for the March 2006 killing of her preacher husband, Matthew Winkler, served less than a year behind bars. Just two years later, in 2008, she regained full custody of her three daughters. But the Tennessee woman said justice was served.

“I felt like it was a very fair verdict,” she said. That’s because Winkler, 36, says her husband raped and abused her for years before she finally snapped and shot him in the back while he slept.

In today’s Religion News Roundup: your beauty products may be pushing a religious philosphy; 60% of gays say faith is important to them; and an American preacher arrested in Kenya faces charges of trafficking pornographic material.

Germany has more Muslims than previously thought, and the German government is making some concessions to them.

Meanwhile, the debate about the Burka continues elsewhere.

A brief roundup, posted from our vacation spot.

Mary Winkler and her late husband’s parents embraced Friday after a judge gave the mother permanent custody of her three daughters.

Winkler said she’s reconciled with the children’s paternal grandparents, who had fought to keep the girls away from her after she was convicted of killing their father two years ago. [video]

Mary Winkler has gotten her three daughters back.

The girls had been living with their paternal grandparents since Winkler killed her husband Matthew in 2006. Now it appears the bitter custody battle is coming to a close.

Mary Winkler and the parents of the husband she killed were back in court Friday, arguing over custody of her three daughters and information about the trust fund established for the children.