Murder With My Husband - 71. Donnah Winger and Roger Harrington - The Web of Lies

Episode Date: August 2, 2021

On this episode of MWMH, Payton and Garrett discuss the murder of Donnah Winger and Roger Harrington. LIVE ONLINE SHOW TICKETS HERE! https://www.moment.co/murderwithmyhusband Case Sources: ABC 20/20 - S43 E22 “The Perfect Lie” https://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/winger-mark.htm https://abcnews.go.com/US/families-torn-killer-dad-reflect-years-believed-hero/story?id=77097895 https://thecinemaholic.com/who-was-roger-harrington-did-he-kill-donnah-winger/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqN9KQ-fLQo Ad Links: Charlottes Web https://www.pntra.com/t/SUNITEtOSU1DSEpNTUlOQ0dORkdOTw Links: https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yes, you energy, energy for everything. Captain Banner now to our podcast. This is murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Morland. And I'm Garrett Morland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. I did just want to talk real quickly about Patreon because we did receive a couple questions about that. So our Patreon is basically a donation to our show, Murder with My Husband, and there are different tiers, and depending on what tier you get different things. So all Patreon is ad-free.

It's also released a day early, so every single episode drops a day early for every single member of our Patreon. And then also there is exclusive Patreon bonus episodes that aren't released to the public and those are just basically everything we do for you here, except more and only for the Patreon people. So that is kind of what our Patreon is and if you want to check it out, it is murder with my husband Patreon. And you can get to it by going to patreon.com slash murder with my husband or there's a couple links in our Instagram bio.

We don't have anything posted on Facebook so we'll get something posted on there. And then in YouTube it's inside the description it's just one of those links. When if anyone has any questions or needs help with it, please reach out to us. Either message us on Patreon or send us an email. We are sifting throughout all of the emails and trying to catch up on messages and everything. And I also did just want to give another update about our case suggestions. It's been a while, but we actually do have an official case suggestion form that you can submit your case Suggestion. And that is just once again in episode notes in our links in our Instagram bio. You can find that.

It just says like a little tab that says case suggestion and you could submit your case suggestion through that. And I know we probably sound like a broken record but honestly thanks so much for just all the support and love and comments. We may not respond to every single one but we do read them. Yes we do. Okay, Gare, do you have your 10 seconds for this week? I do have my 10 seconds for this week. I played golf yesterday. I played 18 holes. It was the first time I played 18 holes in, I don't know, like two years. I don't know. That's about it. And how to go? It went okay. I got three hole in ones. So that's all that matters. No, I did not go. I did not ride in the car. I stayed home. I did not get three hole in ones, by the way. Okay. So our case was suggested this week by Megan McDermott. So thank you to our listener Megan for suggesting this case.

Our case sources are ABC 2020 episode season 43 episode 22 murderpedia.org ABC news.go the cinema hallick.com and then also YouTube. On August 25th 1995 in Springfield, Illinois, 32-year-old Mark Winger calls the Springfield Police Department in a panic. His 33-year-old wife, Donna Winger, has been shot in their Springfield home. The intruder who shot her was still inside the house as Mark dialed 911. I need everything. I need everything. Take a place. Yes.

Hold me. What's the problem? Oh, I just thought this man in my house. It's inside your house in my house. Oh, it's in my house. It's in my house. It's in my house. Is he in there right now?

Yes, it's in my house. Is he in there right now? Yes, it's in my house. Is he in there right now? Yes, it's in my house. Is he in there right now? Yes, it's in my house. Is he in there right now? Yes, she's a boy. Is he ever done? Not playing, but everywhere. Where's the man at? He's waiting on the floor.

Is he dead? I don't know. He's making weird sounds. All right, 20 seconds. 20 seconds. 20 seconds. 20 seconds. I can't understand you slowed down.

Is the man still in your house? Yes, he's waiting on the floor. The boy that it had. Did you shoot him? I saw him, he was killing my wife. Please, my baby's crying. My baby's crying. Oh, I'm crying right back.

Hello, my man, yes. Yes, this is the police department with that officer's and Ralph. I need to know what's going on. My wife is dying out of poor. Okay, is she still alive? I think so. Okay, with that ambulance and Ralph, I need to know what's going on. My wife is dying out of floor. Hey, is she still alive? I think so. OK, with that ambulance and Ralph, and it got police officers in route.

Where's the gun? I've clustered out the table. It's out the table. It's out the table. Please, come here. Is that people's way? OK, so it's the man. I don't know who he is.

He's still inside the house. Yes, he's playing out of floor. OK, you've got to hold my Okay. You've got to hold me. I've got to get to my wife. Okay. Are you Mark Wingard? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Okay. And your wife is Donna?

Yes, she is. When did the man come here? I don't know a few minutes ago. Wait, I've got to get to my wife. Please, just let me get to my wife. I'm walking up. Okay. Okay.

Is it not straight to my house? Okay. My'm walking up. Okay. Okay. I'm just sitting around. Okay. My door's open. Okay. Okay. Was he running around the house? No, but I mean, there's two people laying on his floor. Once his wife and one's a man, he just shot for killing beating up his wife essentially.

And so I think he's definitely in a panic. And you can tell he sounds in a panic. Mm-hmm. So police respond to the Winger family's Westview drive home. It was the middle of the day when the call came in. As police arrived to the Winger home, they come across a gruesome scene. Donna Winger was on the floor,

visible from the front door. She had been beaten in the head at least seven times with a hammer, but her heart was still beating when police arrived. She was barely alive. The unknown intruder was laying on the floor next to Donna with two gunshot wounds to the head, but he too had a faint pulse. As emergency responders began working on Donna and the intruder, police pulled a wallet

out of the unknown male's back pocket. The driver's license in the wallet says Roger Harrington, they had a name. Doctors transport both Donna and Roger in separate ambulances and the Springfield police begin working the fresh scene. They find a hammer covered in blood and a 45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, which confirms Mark Winger's the husband's story. His wife was being beaten with a hammer when Mark Winger shot the intruder with the gun. Okay. The gun was on the dining room table when the police found it and next to it was a pack of cigarettes and a yellow drinking cup. Police discovered Roger Harrington's car parked on the wrong side of the street outside the Winger's home and they claim it looks out of place in the nice neighborhood.

Investigators discover a piece of paper in the car with the time 4.30 pm. The address to the winger home and the name Mark Winger written on it. Back inside the master bedroom detectives begin to talk to an emotional Mark Winger as now his wife has been taken away in an ambulance Yeah, they get him calm down enough to explain what had happened less than an hour earlier Mark claims he was running on his treadmill that afternoon in the basement when he heard a loud noise upstairs. Curious, he turned off the treadmill and made his way upstairs to make sure everything was okay. Mark and Donna had just adopted a three-month-old baby named Bailey. So the bang warranted an investigation. Mark walks into the couple's master bedroom and finds Bailey laying on the bed alone and unsupervised.

This concerns Mark because he knew Donna would never leave their brand new baby unattended. Mark walked over to his nice stand and retrieved his gun where he then intended to surveillance the rest of the house. Which I don't think is that weird. You don't think that's that weird? I didn't think that's weird. I agree with you. I know we haven't gotten to this story yet, but I feel like it's not that weird. Obviously, he heard something that like made him worried and then seen the new brand

new baby alone. I don't think it's that weird either. As Mark walked out into the hallway, this is when and where Mark discovered the unknown man, Roger, who we now know, beating Donna to death with a hammer. Oh my gosh. Mark says that Roger looked up at him as he entered like the hallway, but continued to hit his wife with the hammer. The first shot was fired and Roger fell backwards onto his back from the force of the bullet. So he was on his knees.

Mark shoots Roger and he falls backward onto his back from the force. Mark says he begins to sit up like begins to attack again. And so Mark fires the second bullet into Roger's head. What the heck? Okay. Police have no reason to question Mark's story, but they are concerned when Mark asks them who the man is, who is that man? Do you know who that man is? Police tell them they don't know who he is even though they do. And after numerous more times asking, Mark finally asks police if the man who beat his wife was named Roger. Confused as to why Mark claimed multiple times that he didn't know who the man was,

but then all of a sudden, throughout the correct name of the wallet, the police found in his back pocket, police then confirm, okay, yes, the man who was beating your wife was in fact named Roger Harrington. Mark then quickly tells police in a panic that Roger was the man who had been harassing his wife this last week. Five days before the attack,

Donna Winger had been in Florida visiting her parents. Mark had a conference that week, and so Donna decided it would be a good time to let grandma and grandpa spend some quality time with her and Mark's brand new baby in Florida visiting her parents. Mark had a conference that week, and so Donna decided it would be a good time to let grandma and grandpa spend some quality time with her and Mark's brand new baby they had just adopted. Did they have any evidence as far as harassing, like did they call the police before, or was,

yes, yes, we're into it. Together Donna, Bailey, and her parents all had a lovely time in Florida. Nervous about traveling home with a brand new baby, though, Donna's parents set up a service to pick Donna up from the St. Louis International Airport after their flight and drive her and the baby directly home. So like taking out the whole, you know, trying to catch a cab or like taking the tram or whatever,

they're like, hey, we've set up a car for you. All you have to do is get your luggage, get outside. He'll like have a sign with your name on it, you just get in the car and he'll bring you and baby directly home. It was about a two hour drive home from the airport, and during the drive, the gentleman who picked Donna and her baby up began striking conversation,

but the casual stranger to stranger conversation quickly turned into something else entirely that left Donna feeling more and more uncomfortable. The driver began disclosing to Donna that he had a voice in his head named Dom that would tell him to do bad things. And according to the ABC 2020 episode called the perfect lie, Dom had been telling this man to hurt people. The driver then takes another approach by asking Donna to join him at the sex party so he would attend. Yeah.

What the heck? So, I mean, you have to imagine how uncomfortable this is for Donna, not because sex parties are bad, but because this is not something you tell a stranger, let alone a stranger with a baby that you picked up while on the clock at your job. Does that make sense? It's weird too because she probably feels awkward. Like I can't just get out of the car because I don't want them to hurt me. Exactly. Such an uncomfortable

situation. And Donna is not equipped to help someone who is obviously struggling with demons and evil voices. This is not the person, the time, or the place to be having this conversation. Despite the scary and honestly scarring situation, the man drives Donna directly home and drops her off. Donna immediately calls her sister and relays what happened to her and how scared she was. I mean, this guy knows where she lived, right? Her sister tells her, okay, that was an awful situation,

but you know, your home now, everything's going to be okay. The driver was just obviously not well, but everything's going to be okay. As the days went on, Donna began to receive some random prank calls, and together her and Mark decided it was the airport driver still bothering her. Mark calls the service company and files a complaint upon filing they discovered the man who drove Donna home was named Roger and he would eventually be suspended for his actions in the car with Donna that day. Mark also encourages Donna to write down every detail of what had happened documenting her

story with Roger just in case they need it for further action with police. And so she does. And when police are at the crime scene a couple days later, after Roger has come in and attacked Donna, they find a note hanging on the fridge in Donna's handwriting, completely about her encounters with her harasser, Roger. So after hearing Mark's story from that awful day, finding Roger's driver's license on the intruder, and now this very well-documented harassment from Roger to Donna, this feels like some pretty good evidence in this case.

One of the detectives on scene actually rented a trailer to Roger and so he knew him previously and said that him and his wife had domestic disputes all the time and fights would occur and police would have to show up. It seems like a pretty open and shut case. Right. So for the most part. Knowing about Rogers Temper and his history with violence, police think it's quite possible that Roger went to the

Winger's house after being suspended from his job because of Donna and Mark and tried to confront Donna about it. He most likely picked up the hammer that was laying on the table and began attacking Donna. Oh, so it wasn't his hammer No, the hammer belonged to the wingers apparently Don and like set it out for Mark to do some like Chords around the house with and so it was just laying on their table and the worst part was Despite responders efforts Donna had died shortly after no way. Yeah, she had been beaten to death with a hammer. Oh my gosh

No way. Yeah, she had been beaten to death with a hammer. Oh my gosh. It's just awful. Horrible. So back to the day of the murder, police have to break the news to mark that Donna had in fact died. After that, they continue examining the scene now that they know the backstory of everything who Roger is the connection with the family. And within 48 hours, the murder of Donna Winger was closed. Mark Winger had acted in self-defense to try and save his wife. And like Donna, Roger had also died. So Mark had killed him with the two bullets to the head. So both Roger, the intruder and Donna had died.

But as you know, these cases are never as open and shut as you see. I was gonna say it's only been 15 minutes. So I assume there's more to this. And despite how nice it would be for just one of these cases to make sense. Yeah. They just never do. So this is not the end of Donna Winger's case. In fact, it's honestly just the beginning. Okay. Six years earlier on March 4, 1989, after Donna and Mark had just gotten married, they moved to Springfield for Mark's job. Springfield is the capital of Illinois and has a population of roughly 115,000 people. Mark and Donna lived an upper middle-class lifestyle with good jobs and a home in a

good neighborhood. He was a nuclear engineer and Donna was a tech at a medical center. Donna loved her family and was the oldest of three girls. She was extremely outgoing and knew how to light up a room. Donna and Mark had been set up on a blind date and almost immediately fell in love. They were both part of the Jewish religion and so they seemed like a perfect match. Donna's family liked Mark and his family. He had a good sense of humor, but he was not too loud. Life was going well for Mark and Donna.

They were happy and healthy, but there was one thing they desperately wanted. One thing that was keeping them from the life they had always imagined. Donna and Mark wanted a family of their own. They wanted a baby. And despite their efforts, Donna could not conceive. The reality was hard for the couple. They had tried everything and Donna just wanted to be a mom so

bad. Their perfect life was growing tension as they continued to struggle for a family. But things were about to look up. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads unsure of which direction to take in life? We all face those moments of uncertainty where the right path seems elusive. But guess what, there's a solution that can help you find clarity and confidence. And that's therapy. As you guys know, I talk about therapy all the time. I go to therapy weekly. I definitely am a big supporter of it. It's helped me manage my stress and anxiety and really helped me work through difficult times.

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money dot com slash husband. Rocket money dot com slash husband. One day at work Donna was working the operating room when a physician walked in and told Donna that there was a young teen mom next door who was wanting to put her baby up for adoption, Donna felt like God had just answered their prayers. Bailey had almost literally fallen into their laps. Donna and Mark couldn't wait to tell their families their life was finally about to start. Becoming parents was all they wanted and oh, they loved their new baby more than anything. Donna says the minute Bailey was put into her arms, she loved her more than

life itself. As Bailey came, Donna and Mark began documenting everything with a new video camera and we will be putting up some of these home videos that have really special moments between Donna and Bailey and just shows how happy Donna was to have this new baby and start this new family. And it's really, really nice videos. She can't believe she died. I know. And it's during some of these home videos that you really get to see a lady named

Diane Schultz being very present in Mark and Donna's life. They actually refer to her in the videos as Aunt Dianne. And Donna and Dianne were close friends, if not best friends at the time. Dianne spent time with not just Donna, but Donna's family. And she was almost like the fourth sister of the family. Dianne and Donna worked together at the hospital. So that's how they met.

And then Donna and her family just kind of brought Dianne. So they were just friends? Yes, they were just friends, but best friends. Basically family, like she helped raise Bailey. She was around. She came to family unions. Like she was definitely a part of this family. In December of 1995, four months after Donna's murder,

Donna's parents and sisters are still helping mark with baby Bailey, right? Like it's a three month old baby. And now he's a single dad trying to raise this baby. But after some time, Donna's family could just not keep traveling from Florida to help. Like they're making this trip pretty consistently, and it's just getting too much. And so they suggest to Mark who they love, like their own son. This is their son-in-law.

Hey, maybe you should get some help with Bailey. This is just too hard for us, but we still care, and you need some help, like. Like your single dad, maybe he could hire a nanny to help with Bailey while he was at work so they could begin to heal and continue on with their new reality. And so Mark hired a young woman named Rebecca. She was blonde and tall. She was very sweet and innocent, realizing the situation she's stepping into, right? Like she's becoming a nanny for a family whose wife was murdered in front of the father, right? So Donna's mother actually trained Rebecca in her first couple of weeks working as Bayley's nanny.

Donna's mother loved Rebecca and actually says it was hard not to like her after seeing her interact with baby Bayley. Rebecca actually moved into the home, the home that Donna had died in, to take care of Bailey full time. And in a lot of ways, Rebecca says Bailey made her mom and she loved her like her own. I mean, she lived there full time, took care of her full time. Was that weird for a marketell?

Maybe at first, but keep in mind, he's a brand new single dad. He's just gone through this tragedy. So I think he was taking all the help he could get. And Rebecca began to fit into the new position really well. And everyone seemed to love her and accept her. Everyone except one person. And that one person was Donna's friend, Diane. Okay. Diane did not seem to handle the new nanny situation very well. And she was very cold to Rebecca, even. Yeah. Well, she is Donna's best friend. And she probably feels like totally. She's coming in and replacing her, right? Uh-huh.

Rebecca mentioned it to Mark and he told her, Hey, Diane is just hurting. She lost her best friend, her sister. She's just trying to heal. Mark Winger filed a civil suit against the transportation company for hiring Roger Harrington in the first place. And in January 1996, five months after the murder, Mark called the Springfield police and asked if he could get his gun back.

Rogers family was claiming that Roger was not violent and could not have done this. So despite the case being closed, Rogers family keeps calling in as like, he didn't do this. Oh, so they're saying there's no way it was him. There's no way. There's absolutely no way that he went to this house and killed her. There's just no way.

And police are like, hey, it's an open and shut case. We have history of him harassing her. Like, he was suspended from his job for harassing her. And how do you disprove that? Yes. And they're like, but he didn't do it. They just stand firm.

They're like, he did not do this. Okay. So police had closed the case though. Evidence does not lie. And that was that. Back at home with Mark and Rebecca, the nanny, things were getting confusing. It's hard to raise a baby with someone,

live with them, essentially play house, and not begin to take those roles seriously. Mark was so appreciative of Rebecca and Rebecca felt like it was her purpose to make this family hold again, to heal what had been done. It quickly went from a business relationship to a romantic one. Yeah. So that one coming. And soon enough, Rebecca became pregnant with Mark's baby. Wait, what? Yes, he had impregnated the nanny. They were having a romantic relationship. Oh, so it was serious.

It was serious. Okay. Rebecca felt pressure to marry Mark. He wanted to raise their family together. Keep in mind, Mark was very religious with Donna. How old was Rebecca again? She's young. She's a lot younger.

She's like in her early 20s. And they had even began going to a Christian church together, which was pushing the marriage idea even further, like she's pregnant, it's time to get married. And yes, Mark had been a practicing Jew while married to Donna, but had decided to leave Judaism because it was quote, too unforgiving. So now he's moved over to Christian life. In October of 1996, a year and two months after Donna's murder, Mark and Rebecca eloped in Maui.

And a couple months later, Mark decided to sell the home that Donna and him had shared together and move in with Rebecca into the country, start a brand new life. They had their baby Anna and then a year later, they had another one named Maggie, and together, Rebecca and Mark were living their best lives raising Bailey, Donna's baby, and then their two new babies. Things are getting a little suspicious now. Mark's new life could be painful for Donna's family, right? Like they of course wanted him and Bailey to be happy

and to have a family, but they also grieved Donna's absence. Like she's missing and Mark was not helping the situation because he didn't like when Donna's family would mention Donna around his new family. So whenever Donna's grandparents would come around to see Bailey, he'd be like, don't mention Donna. Don't mention your daughter. Even though their daughter was the only connection

they had to this family, he didn't like when they would cry or grieve for her absence. And eventually one day, Mark wrote to Donna's family and told them he would not be referring to them as grandma and grandpa to Bailey anymore. He essentially wrote Donna's family out of Bailey's life. Whoa. Pretending basically Donna never existed. Bailey's mom was Rebecca and this is their new life. That's pretty messed up. I think it's very painful for her family. So in October of 1998, three years after the murder of Donna Winger, Mark went to the emergency room because he wasn't feeling well.

It wasn't like a big deal, but he goes to the emergency room. And at the doctors, Mark and Rebecca run into Donna's old friend, Diane Schultz, because remember, she works at the hospital. And who based on this run in still was not a fan of Rebecca. She didn't say hi. She was not nice. She only talked to Mark. She wouldn't even look at Rebecca. And despite it being three and a half years later, better Deanne was about to turn this case on its head. Okay. The Springfield Police Department randomly gets a call one day from Deanne Schultz. Deanne Schultz, Donna's best friend at the time of the murder, tells police that she knows this is out of the blue and that it's a little late, but

she had actually been having an affair with Mark Winger at the time of Donna Winger's murder. So taking what I just said, her basically sister, this woman who was invited to everything, her best friend who was helping her raise Bailey was sleeping with her husband. Okay. And she comes out three and a half years later after the murder to tell police this. And, and Deanne was also married. So, Deanne was married at the time that she was also having an affair with Married Mark Queen. So, there's part of the reason why she really didn't like Rebecca. Really didn't like Rebecca.

Okay. So, and when police confront Donna's family with the news, they call Donna's family, they're like, hey, Deanne just said they're having an affair. They tell them, well, Donna had actually told us the week before her murder when she was in Florida, that Deanne and her husband at the time were having marital issues. And Mark had been acting as a mediator to help them through it. At least that's what Donna thought. But we now know that's not the case. They were having marital issues because she was cheating on her husband with Mark.

So Deanne also tells police that Mark used to say things about their affair being easier if Donna just disappeared, if she just died. And he even said, hey, we could do this together. Like I could kill Donna and you could come in and find the body and we could totally cover it up. Yeah. So Deanne comes in and drops this on police. Why wasn't this drop three and a half years ago? Well, she was still in love with them.

The affair didn't stop. Oh my gosh. So Diane says that she told Mark, no, I'm not going to be involved in that. But after Donna had the awful encounter with Roger, Mark, like, for on the way home from the airport, Mark told Dianne that he needed to get a hold of the driver he needed to talk to the driver. And Dianne also tells police that back on the day of the murder, Mark had actually called her and asked if she would still love him no matter what. And Dianne said, yes, of course. And

then later that day, Donna was murdered. So were Deanne and Mark still sleeping together after Donna died? Yes, for about six months. Okay. You just literally said that. So my next sentence, yes. Chemistry. So these six months after she's died and they're still continuing their affair,

remember, Rebecca was already hired and living in Mark's home. And Diane hated her for it. Rebecca thought it was strange how flirty Diane was with Mark considering that she had a husband at home and that also she had been best friends with Mark's former wife. Diane tells police that after the murder, possibly murders now of Donna and Roger, she tried multiple times to end her life and that she never came forward until she saw Mark with his new wife Rebecca at the ER and it just triggered her and she came forward to police.

With the new information from Diane Schultz, police began to take a second look at this case from like with a new lens. They decided to reopen the case and when they got down to the evidence room, they discovered the evidence box for this case was missing. It had been released to mark Winger's attorney during his civil suit against the transportation company as evidence. So going off of photos, because that's all they have right now, police find it weird that there

was no signs of forced entry on the house. They're looking at things they didn't really take a look at before. There was no forced entry on the house. A knife and tire iron were in Roger's vehicle, but he chose to use the hammer that just happened to be on the table. And that was his cup and his cigarettes on the dining room table, which is weird because if you come in to kill someone, why are you bringing a cup and cigarettes? Yeah. Was Donna's chance encounter with Roger as her driver, the opportunity that Mark saw to turn his fantasy into reality, his affair with the Anne permanent.

As police are pondering this question, they retrieve the evidence box from the attorney's office, and the attorney also passes along some Polaroids taking it to scene, and police had no idea these Polaroids even existed. They didn't see them the first time around in this investigation. The Polaroids were taken individually by a responding officer with his personal camera. There was only three images, so it was like just kind of quick, quick, quick, and then that was it. And these were the only images that showed the body positions of Donna and Roger before they were moved to their separate ambulances and taken to the hospital, rushed to the hospital. They were breathing. So this officer arrived, Donna and Roger are dying on the floor, and he like quickly captures the moment and then puts his

camera away and these pictures are never seen again. And the Polaroid pictures of Donna and Roger on the floor do not match the version of events that Mark told police that day. He said that he shot Roger who was on his knees who then fell backwards, right? He was on his knees beating Donna with the hammer. Yes. Mark comes up on the scene, shoots Roger, and he falls backwards on his knees. So that would mean that his feet were then facing Donna's feet, right? Yep. But these Polaroids show that Donna and Rogers' feet were both facing the same way. They were laying in the same direction. Donna and Roger are dying, facing the same direction. Donna and Roger are dying facing the same direction. And this is the final no in the coffin for police. Oh, so almost like they were both looking at

Mark as they were attacked. Okay. Not that he was attacking her. And then he fell backwards. And so that's the scene he came into. That's not it didn't match Mark's story. So in September of 1999, four years after the murders of Donna and now Roger, Roger's no longer the intruder and attacker. He's now a victim. I guess what I'm confused at is... Why he's there? One of the hammer.

Someone obviously still beat her, but then Roger was there at the same time. Like what happened? We'll get there. Okay. Jumping into an ad and it is native. I use their body wash, I use their shampoo, we use their sunscreen, everything. They're deodorant.

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order. That's native D E O dot com slash husband or use promo code husband at checkout native D O dot com slash husband and use promo code husband. So police now believe that Mark Winger killed both of them. Donna's parents could not believe it when police told them they were like, no, I we don't think that he did this. And Rogers family are relieved. They're like, we told you he never did this. You have to remember that for years, people believed Roger had killed somebody. Roger Harrington

is now just as much as a victim in this as Donna. He was killed and then falsely accused. His name completely slandered, which is awful. Police interview Susan Collins, which was Roger Harrington's roommate at the time of the murder. And Susan says that Mark called Roger that day and invited him over, hence the piece of paper in the car

with the time, the address, and Mark Winger's name on it. Remember in Roger's car there was a piece of paper? Yeah. This was because Mark had called Roger and said, hey, come to the house. He totally took, this is, that's so messed up. Roger Harrington was lured into the Winger's home by Mark Winger.

Now, all of this comes out and Rebecca Winger is living at home with a murderer who planned his ex-wife's death and also killed an innocent person in the process. Despite the evidence, police conduct an extensive investigation into Mark and this drags out for quite a while, so he's not arrested, but everyone knows that they're kind of looking into him, but they don't really believe it. So people are still giving him the benefit of the doubt on these allegations before police have released all the new evidence they have.

On August 23rd, 2001 at 7.30am, police began conducting surveillance on the new wingers' home. So on Rebecca and Mark's home in the country. And as Mark confronted the police watching him, so he goes outside and confronts the police. And at the same time, a grand jury was convened back in town and they indicted Mark on the murder. They basically say, yes, we think he did it. You can now take him to trial. Okay. At 11 a.m. police show up to Mark's work to arrest him for the murder of Roger Harrington and his ex-wife, Don Winger. Okay. And media is waiting outside to document the arrest. So they were tipped off that this was happening. Rebecca gets a phone call from Mark's work

and finds out that her new husband, her husband that she's created a family with had kids with, has been arrested. He's a murderer. And this life that she has chosen to create years ago with a poor man who had just lost his wife and his motherless daughter had now literally been obliterated. Like her whole life has now been blown up.

This is crazy. The police had already done their investigation and so they immediately move into the prosecution like phase of this process. And in May of 2002, seven years after the murder of Donna and Roger, Rebecca stood by her husband as he went to trial for their murders. The state claims at trial that Mark called after getting his information from the transportation company during his complaints, he called Roger and he asked him to come to the house

that day based on the piece of paper and Roger's car. Roger showed up to the house, the wing are home, and Mark let him in. There was no signs of forced entry. He obviously had showed up to the house, the winger home, and Mark let him in. There was no signs of forced entry. He obviously had been let into the house. Detectives believe that Mark then shot Roger in the head. Like as soon as he steps in the home, they think that Mark shot him in the head. And that Donna ran out of the master bedroom at the sound of the shot, leaving Bailey unattended on the bed. They believe that Mark then grabbed the hammer that was sitting on the table and began beating his own wife with it until she was rendered unconscious,

which is why they're laying in the same position. Mark puts the weapons down and then calls 911. And in the call you heard at the beginning of the episode, Mark ends this 911 call because he says his baby's crying. Remember, he's like, oh, my baby's crying. I have to go, which number one is a little weird way to end the phone call considering your wife's dying on the floor.

Yeah. And you're more concerned with the baby, but whatever, you can clearly hear in the audio Roger moaning in the back. And this is even confirmed because Mark says, oh, he's making strange noises. Remember, he says that. And you can hear Roger in the back moaning of that 911 call. Police believe that he ends the phone call abruptly

and then puts the second bullet into Roger's head. And got it. Because you can hear on the 911 call that he says, I just put a bullet into the head of the man who was beating my wife. He says that on the 911 call. He says, a bullet, one bullet, when police arrive, there's two bullets in Rodgers head. It's police believe that he ended the 911 call, like shot him because he clearly hadn't

finished the job in the first place. And then at the point the police showed up, there was two bullets in Rodgers head. What an evil person. Yes. Deanne, who blew this case up, testified at trial. She was really shaky. She seemed unstable. Deanne says that she actually asked Mark at the ER that day how he could live with himself.

Like, I know what you did. How are you just moved on with this new family? And Mark told her, well, I found Jesus Christ and I'm forgiven. Deanne was actually granted immunity from any legal responsibility in return for her testimony. Okay. Remember, police don't believe that Deanne had any involvement in this, but she did know that there was a high chance that Marquette killed Donna, way before anyone else knew. On June 5th, 2002, the jury came back with a guilty verdict and sentenced him to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

And years later, in prison, he was also charged for trying to hire someone to murder Deanne Schultz outside of prison and also to murder his childhood friend who wouldn't pay his bail. This guy is insane. Insane. So not only was he charged for murdering one person, then in prison,

he's also charged for trying to murder. I can't believe he killed his wife. What the heck? That just seemed perfect. Like these home videos, they just seem so happy. The Springfield police have come out and apologized for running Rogers name through hell. They're not investigating further for hurting such an innocent victim in his family. And the Springfield police department has issued

responsibility for that. They're like, that's on us. We did an awful job and we ruined his name of victim and innocent victim was hurt in all this because of us. Rebecca and her kids had to come to terms with the fact that their life was a lie. Their father was not who he said he was, and those children did not deserve that. They are also victims in this. There was a lot of people hurt deeply in this case, a lot of victims. Donna's family still hurts. Rogers family hurts.

And Rebecca's family still hurts. Roger's family hurts. And Rebecca's family hurts. Donna was a light. And I could do not while watching these home videos. You could fill her smile through the video. I could fill her lighting up the room in the home videos. She led a life of happiness and left a legacy of love and light. Roger was accused of something he did not do. And he lost his life in the process. His

family doesn't blame anybody except Mark for what happened. They miss him and they love him so much. Rebecca and her three kids, including Bailey, all changed their names to Rebecca's last name. They lost their livelihood, their father, and their reality. Like they went bankrupt after he was arrested. According to ABC 2020, Rebecca reached out to Donna's family and asked if they would want to meet Bailey in hopes that they could teach her about Donna and her love. So this is a big deal because Donna's family was written off as Bailey's grandparents. And then after all this happened, Rebecca, the nanny, reaches out to Donna's family and says,

Hey, why don't you meet with Bailey and teach her about her mom, Donna? Donna's fund, that's what it's called, was founded by her family and is a part of a shelter that women can go to to escape abusive relationships. And so we will put the link in the episode notes for Donna's fund that you can donate to or just read about and check it out.

And that's in memory of Donna. And that is the case of Donna Winger. Oh my gosh. I knew when we were 10, 15 minutes in, I was like, something's gotta be, there's something up. Something's gotta be wrong. It's really confusing because Mark Winger has said over and over again that he didn't do it, that he's not guilty.

Oh, he's still now. So is that? Yes. He claims in a sense, he claims that he didn't do it, that he's not guilty. That he's still now, so is that. He claims in a sense, he claims that what he's in prison for, he did not do, that he claims that Roger Herrington showed up that day and killed his wife. But it's obvious now that. I mean, I feel like there's a lot of evidence there was motive, he was having an affair.

Oh my gosh. Yeah, he totally took advantage of Roger that's so messed up and then killed his wife. Yes. Like I said, oh, she had this weird encounter, I might as well. And I also feel like Mark was doing those prank calls pretending it was Roger.

Yeah, that's interesting. Trying to set up this narrative that Roger had been harassing her. Even though Roger was just obviously going through a tough time, you know what I mean? And then was an innocent victim of this time. And I do want to say, I've been thinking a lot lately of the victims that we tell their stories. And they stay with me, and they stay in my heart. And Roger and Donna are real victims. And so can we please take a moment to remember them in the amazing people that they

were and also remember their families and you know just if you pray, if you put out good thoughts, if you meditate, whatever it is, just take a moment to remember them today. Yeah, what a crazy story. Okay, we love you guys so much. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for supporting and for being a part of this literally phenomenal community that we have and we will see you guys next week with another episode. I love it. And I hate it. Goodbye. you