Insanity Plea For Slain Pastor's Wife?

A minister's wife charged with shooting her husband to death in the church parsonage waived her right to a hearing that would have aired evidence against her.

Defense attorneys said Thursday that Mary Winkler was emotionally fragile and also wanted to protect her three young daughters from any painful details that might have emerged at the hearing, where she could have requested bail.

"Her condition is pretty fragile right now," defense attorney Leslie Ballin said. "We're concerned about it."

Winkler, 32, was ordered held without bail on charges of first-degree murder in the March 22 shooting of Matthew Winkler, the minister at Fourth Street Church of Christ in the small town of Selmer, 80 miles east of Memphis.

The case against her now goes to the grand jury, which is set to meet in June and will decide if there is enough evidence to support murder charges against her.

Authorities say Mary Winkler confessed to shooting her 31-year-old husband and planned the attack, leaving town with their daughters.

Fighting that confession in court won't be easy, CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports. Authorities have declined to disclose a motive, but Winkler's lawyers are considering a claim of temporary insanity brought on by post-partum depression, Strassmann says.

"That's one of the reasons that we're asking for the psychological examination," defense attorney Ballin told CNN.

"In a homicide case, a person's mental state is at issue," Ballin said. "Depending on what that evaluation shows it will dictate defense strategy."

Winkler gave birth to her youngest daughter a year ago.

Matthew Winkler's body was found in the parsonage after he didn't show up for an evening service. Mary Winkler was found the next day in Orange Beach, Alabama, with the children, who are now with their grandparents.

On Thursday night, state medical examiner Dr. Bruce Levy told CNN's Larry King that Matthew Winkler was killed by a single shotgun wound to his back, fired from a range of "a couple to a few feet." Levy said Winkler probably did not die immediately.

Defense attorney Steve Farese said Mary Winkler is upset and unable to concentrate on helping with her defense. He said he was unsure what she said in her statement to police or what they believe was a motive.

"What I'm trying to get to is a position where she can focus and we can get what she thinks she said at that interview, and we haven't gotten there yet," he said.

The defense may seek bond later, Farese said.

He said Winkler has asked to see her children, Breanna, 1; Mary Alice, 6; and Patricia, 8, but he was unsure when that might happen. The children are being cared for by Dan and Diane Winkler, their paternal grandparents, family friend Eddie Thompson told The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler.

Still, he said, "we don't feel that it does anyone any good to hear gruesome things about their late father."

Prosecutor Elizabeth Rice said defendants indicted by the grand jury in June generally go to trial in October. She declined to comment on evidence against Winkler.

Church members have described Mary Winkler as a quiet, unassuming woman who was a substitute teacher at an elementary school.