Invitation to a Murder

0:00Music

0:06Now approaching the entranceway via the front door, in the family dining room area, we see what appears to be a large pool of blood. I learned never let anyone's emotions cloud your vision when you're investigating a crime. A hammer covered with what appears to be blood. And never jumped to any conclusion. Some automatic handguns. Until you've had plenty of time to think about it.

0:42I had seen many crime scenes where there was a lot of blood and gruesome sights, but none that bad.

0:51I was at the Springfield Police Department in the major case office, and I heard the radio call.

1:09Detective Cox, who was my partner at the time, drove. The dispatch advises that the second victim that was at the scene was actually believed to be the intruder, and that the husband had shot the intruder.

1:27I just saw this man in my house. He's inside your house. He's doing my own. He killed his. He beat my wife. He had the hammer in his hand, and he was standing over her. And I was like, oh, my God. Donna, oh, my God. Are you Mark Wingers? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Your wife is Donna? Yes, she is. I've got to get to my wife. Please, just let me get to my wife.

2:02Springfield is a beautiful little town. It's Midwestern, it's small, the people are sweet. It's just a lovely place. It's a very friendly and clean city with very sensitive and compassionate people. My name is Sarah Jane Drescher and I am Donna Winger's mother. Mark and Donna were just so happy. We don't know where she's sleeping tonight. I mean, she was just so enthused. I mean, that's all there was to it, to be a mommy. I mean, that was the best for her. She's beautiful. My name is Ira Drescher, and I am Donna Winger's stepfather. Mark told the police basically what had transpired.

2:48Here he was, 31 years old, with a three-month-old child, and he had to shoot a man. My gosh, our hearts bled for him. I don't think there was ever anyone who met her who couldn't love her. Say hi. Who would want to hurt such a beautiful person? Where's the man at? He's laying on the floor.

3:13From every case, you learn something. And this one taught me, you never take anything at face value. Nothing. He was killing my wife.

3:27Invitation to a Murder. Tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.

3:42Emergency. Emergency. Emergency. Please help me. My God, my wife's breathing. Okay, you need an ambulance? I need everything. I need everything. Mark Winger was calling from his own home after his wife Donna was attacked on a hot August afternoon in 1995. Who is this man? I don't know who he is. So many of the good things have been stripped away from me.

4:16Almost everyone who knew Mark and Donna Winger... They were terrific together. Adorable. She was crazy about him. thought they were perfect together. They were absolutely an adorable model couple. They were both respected and successful members of their community. Mark was a nuclear engineer for the state of Illinois. Donna was an operating room technician. I would like to just say hello to Donna and Mark. And both sets of in-laws were delighted when the couple got married in 1989. Donna, Mark, we love you so much. The wingers were eager to start a family. But there was a problem. They learned Donna could not bear children.

5:04She's so excited. She hasn't slept for days. So when Donna and Mark adopted a baby girl in June 1995, they were elated. I mean, my heart was just pounding. I just couldn't believe it. Here's Grandma Drescher. Mark and Donna doted on their daughter. Are we on, Daddy? And here's Deanne. There's Deanne. Here's Aunt Deanne. And they showed her off to everyone, especially Donna's best friend, Deanne Schultz. Donna was really special, very friendly, really exuberant, full of life. But just three months later, the good times ended abruptly. It all began when Donna returned from a visit to her mother and stepfather in Florida.

5:55When I kiss them goodbye, the last thing I always say is tell the pilot to drive carefully. And I kissed her and off she went.

6:07Donna Winger and her baby arrived here at the St. Louis airport and got into a shuttle van for the hour and a half long ride back home to Springfield. It was an unusual drive with an unusual driver. A man named Roger Harrington, who'd been working for the van company for six months. The guy scared her. She said that he was very frightening. He said things about killing people, setting car bombs, mutilating people. Harrington was also speeding. He was telling Donna that sometimes while he drives, this godlike character would come to him, pull him out of his body, and he would be flying above the trees.

6:53She and the baby made it home, but Donna was very rattled. She was scared enough to tell me that she was very uneasy and scared to be alone. Mark Winger complained to Roger Harrington's boss. I blew up at him, told him about his van driver speeding with my wife and my son. baby the inappropriate things he was saying then less than a week after Donna's wild ride winger says he was on his treadmill in the basement when he heard a thump you come up the stairs and it's very dark in that stairwell i'm just starting to hear crying from sounded like the bedroom the baby he says was alone in the master bedroom and there were strange sounds coming from the dining room.

7:40Instantly, I knew that that wasn't right at all. I just grabbed my gun and started going down the hall. Winger says when he came down this hallway, he saw one of the most horrifying things any husband could see. His wife was on the floor here in the dining room. There was a stranger over her, bludgeoning her with a hammer.

8:11You can't imagine it. You can't. When I came down the hallway, I had my weapon pointed at him, and I went to pull the trigger. And that's when Winger says he shot the man in the head. When police got to Winger's house, the victims were in terrible shape, but alive. The male was taking real deep, labored breaths, and I thought his time was limited. As paramedics went to work, Officer Dave Barringer got his Polaroid camera. So I thought if we're going to have pictures showing where the bodies were located, I'm going to have to take these pictures now because they're going to be gone within a matter of a few minutes.

8:52He showed us how quickly he took pictures. Three pictures. I only had three pictures left in my camera. Within minutes, both Donna and the man were rushed to the hospital. I just knew that she was in dire straits. And Mark Winger began telling police what happened that day. And I was like, oh my God. You know, it's a ton. Oh my God.

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10:37I've been in crime scene work a long time and there's been very few as severe and bloody as this one was. Homicide detective Charlie Cox knew there was little hope that either Donna Winger or the man lying near her on the floor would survive their wounds. I said a prayer. I do that at all my homicides. I stand over the body and... Say a little prayer. Yeah. Cox grabbed the man's ID from his wallet and then he got right to work, questioning Mark Winger in the bedroom. I was in shock. I was in shock the whole time they were questioning me. I did my best. And he's more or less rocking back and forth as he's talking to us.

11:17And you can tell he's nervous and upset. So I'm trying to be as delicate as I can with my questions. Winger told the detectives the hammer was his, left out by Donna as a reminder to hang a hat rack. And he had a question of his own. He said, who is that guy out there? Is his name Roger? At that point, I felt compelled to let him know the truth. And I said, yes, that's Roger Harrington. He says, oh my God, that's the guy that's been harassing my wife and me. Oh my God. And I fell over on my side and just cried. Harrington was the van driver who drove Donna home from the airport six days before.

12:00Winger told Cox about that harrowing ride. He also told Cox about two anonymous phone calls that Winger believed were from Harrington. I thought I was going to jail because I just shot a man in the head. But Winger could not have been more wrong. I tried to console him. The police had all but cleared him. They didn't consider him a killer. They considered him a victim. At least here, in my mind, you're somewhat of a hero. I said, you've killed the person who was killing your wife. I said, uh... You say he was a hero? Yes. Cox's partner, Doug Williamson, helped to calm Winger. I was trying to let him know what we were going to do, how the police were going to help him.

12:46After Donna and Harrington were taken away, Winger managed to give the detectives a detailed statement. He told them that Donna was on her knees when he took aim at Harrington. Harrington looks up at him. Yes, and he shoots him. Because he's getting ready to go down and hit her again. And then Harrington, from what the position he was in, he said at that point he fell off of her, his wife, and rolled back. Like that. Cox's investigation of the crime scene backed up Mark's story. Basic evidence in here where the crime occurred matched up with what he was saying. Everything, everything matched up.

13:26There was blood where Donna was killed. There was blood where Harrington's head landed. And the bullet was on the table as he said it was from when he called 911. What's more, Harrington had been a psychiatric patient with a history of delusions. and Cox knew him. He once broke up a fight between Harrington and his wife. He had her bent over the couch, getting ready to hit her again when I grabbed him. Harrington seems to fit the profile of a murder suspect pretty well. Very well. Harrington died shortly after arriving at the hospital and Donna died minutes later. She never regained consciousness.

14:10Oh, God.

14:16I felt deeply for him. I'm a very religious person. He seemed to be that as well. Donna's mother and stepfather, Sarah Jane and Ira Drescher, were inconsolable when they heard about her murder. I had to hold her because she was wailing, howling, wailing. They were shocked to hear that Donna's ride from the airport had escalated into a homicide. She's a good girl. Was she scared by this driver? She wasn't scared, no. She wasn't scared. She was just disturbed in a way, you know, that this was such a crazy conversation. Ira and Sarah Jane rushed to their son-in-law's side. We felt terrible for him.

15:02He's lost his wife also, and then he had to turn around and shoot a man. He was crying, and I said, Mark, I know you did the best you could, and I love you very much.

15:17It was an open and shut case. One day after Winger shot Roger Harrington, the prosecutor announced his conclusions. Mr. Winger acted in self-defense when he shot Mr. Harrington, and therefore at this time, no charges will be filed against him. and I anticipate that there will never be any charges filed against Mr. Winger. Yeah, I was fine with that. Case closed. Case was closed before then. There was an outpouring of support for Mark here in Springfield. Almost everyone believed he was a good family man whose life had been shattered by a madman. But one family wasn't buying that story at all. Roger Harrington's family.

16:07What were you trying to tell the police? I was trying to tell them there is no way. You guys are so wrong. I knew he was not capable. Harrington's sister, Barbara Howell, pleaded with Detective Cox. He was very rude. Very, very rude. He was rude? Oh, very rude. He said, ma 'am, anytime you want to know how your kid brother walked in that home, snapped, and killed that woman, come to my office, and I'll show you step by step. Roger's mother, Helen, felt the shame of a city that believed she had raised a psychotic killer. Just felt branded, like, who are we? You felt branded? Oh, yeah. How would anybody feel if their son was called a murderer?

16:54The Harringtons bore their grief quietly, believing they were alone. They didn't realize that someone else doubted Winger's story. someone close to the investigation. How convincing was Mark Winger that night and the night after? It was very convincing. Detective Doug Williamson. Were you convinced? No. Williamson had a lot of questions. Why would Donna leave her baby alone on her bed and open the door to Harrington, a man she supposedly feared? Roger Harrington was allowed into the house. There was no forced entry. Somebody let him in. And Harrington parked right in front of the Winger home, leaving behind a piece of paper with a puzzling message.

17:41I saw that there was a note on the front seat, and it had Mark Winger's name, his address, and 4.30 p.m. He says he doesn't know Roger Harrington, has never met him, and he does not indicate any appointment when I have already seen the note which indicates an appointment. There's always things in every homicide that don't fit. So what did you do with those things that bothered you? Just let them bother me like they always do. Cox saw no reason to doubt that the nuclear engineer justifiably shot a disturbed intruder. But Williamson wanted to investigate further. His bosses turned him down flat.

18:20They discounted everything I said. How did they discount it? They just said the case is going to be closed, that's it. Hello. And that's the way it stayed for three and a half years. Until... You didn't know what she wanted to say. No. But you knew it was going to be big. Yes. A surprise witness came forward.

18:49Everyone in Springfield, Illinois, knew Mark Winger's story. It was heroic and heartbreaking. But Detective Doug Williamson had never believed one word of it. I was argumentative. I pointed out what we call red flags, pieces that don't seem to fit. At first, Williamson couldn't even convince his own partner, Charlie Cox, that Winger was a murderer. But Cox says he started getting suspicious when Winger kept showing up here at the police station. A few months after the murder, Winger came by to ask for his gun back. I released the gun back to Mark, and we sat and talked for about a half hour. What did you talk to him about?

19:37Just things in general. He was wanting to know how the case was going. And as far as I was concerned, he should have just accepted it was closed. Winger denies it, but Cox remembers him dropping by a second time, this time to say he was getting remarried to his daughter's new nanny, whom he had hired just five months after Donna's murder. And he kept coming in. I kept feeling like he was trying to find out if we were checking into anything. And I went back to Doug and said, something's wrong here, big time. Winger's behavior was making Cox believe that his partner had been right all along. He thought about the problems in the case, like that note in Harrington's car.

20:21And now Cox also wanted the case reopened, fearing that Mark Winger had duped the police. And the bosses said, no way. We're not going to open a case of this magnitude with your gut feeling and embarrass the department and embarrass Mr. Winger.

20:42As the years passed, Mark's new wife adopted his child, and they had two other children. And then, all of a sudden, the whole case got turned on its head. We got a lucky break. What was that? Deanne Schultz. Deanne Schultz was Donna's best friend. Here's Deanne. Here's Deanne. And she was deeply troubled. I was hospitalized. I started drinking. I tried to overdose. I wanted to die. For three and a half years, Deanne had kept a secret, and what she was finally ready to say would change everything. I know the police think that he didn't do it, but maybe if they knew just a little bit that I knew, there could be an investigation.

21:39So she said that her and Mark had been having an affair. It was a shock to everyone, especially Cox, who right after Donna's murder had written, it was very apparent that he and his wife were very much in love and that this should have never happened. And now Deanne Schultz, just like that, says we were having an affair? Yes. What did you make of that, detective? I said we got the evidence we need. Deanne told them the affair began a month before Donna's murder and continued a few months after she died, until Winger ended it. It was an enormous burden. You sort of wanted to unload this information?

22:22Yes. And she dropped an even bigger bombshell. She told police Mark wanted out of his marriage so badly, he had talked about killing Donna. He mentioned that it would be easier if Donna just died. Deanne said Winger suggested that she could play a role. Daddy's feeding you. He had said that he would be out of town and he mentioned me coming and finding Donna. That was the gist of the conversation. Finding her body. Yes. And I said, you're crazy. And Deanne said Winger even talked about the van driver, Roger Harrington. According to Deanne Schultz, he told her he had to figure out a way to get him into the house.