Preacher's wife sentenced to three years in prison
By: The Associated Press

SELMER, Tenn. - A judge sentenced Mary Winkler, the wife of a Tennessee preacher, to three years in prison for the killing of her husband.

But Mary Winkler may end up serving only 60 days in a mental hospital.
Under Friday's sentence, she has to serve 210 days of her sentence before she can be released on probation. But the judge says she gets credit for the five months she has already spent in jail.

That leaves just two months -- and the judge said up to 60 days of the sentence can be served in a facility where she could receive mental health treatment.

That means Winkler may not serve any significant time in prison.

She was convicted of manslaughter in April, and could have received up to six years for killing her husband, Matthew. He was killed with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay in bed in the church parsonage where the family lived.

At the trial, she testified that she had been physically and emotionally abused by her husband. But at today's sentencing hearing, she said, "I'll always miss him and love him."

Her three daughters are now in the custody of her husband's parents.