Category: Domestic Violence

Mary Winkler, Abused Wife Who Killed Preacher Husband Speaks Out

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.

Muslim accused of beheading his wife appears in court

Muzzammil Hassan A Buffalo, New York-area man accused of beheading his estranged wife made his first appearance in court Wednesday to face murder charges, according to the district attorney.

Muzzammil Hassan, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 37-year-old wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, days after she filed for divorce and was granted a restraining order against him.

Book reveals domestic violence behind the doors of the parsonage

Domestic Violence A California couple has broken the silence about the explosion of domestic violence that hides behind the “protected” doors of the parsonage and the Christian home.

Virginia and Robert Coombs have released “We Suffered in Silence,” which includes the courageous true story penned by deceased author Velva B. Holt, Virginia’s mother, about the devastating abuse she suffered while she was a pastor’s wife and the refusal of Church leaders to acknowledge the problem.

Abused Muslim Women in U.S. Gain Advocates

Domestic violence among Muslims has long straddled a blurry line between culture and religion, but now scattered organizations founded by Muslim American women are creating a movement to define it as an unacceptable cultural practice. The problem occurs among American Muslims at the same rate as other groups, activists say, but is even more sensitive because raising the issue is considered an attack on the faith.