56: Became a “Hero” After Luring a Stranger to His Home to Murder His Wife? | Donnah Winger

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

In the family dining room area, we see what appears to be a large pool of blood.

SPEAKER_2 (0:08)

Never let anyone's emotions cloud your vision when you're investigating a crime.

Annie Elise (0:35)

It was Tuesday, August 29th in Springfield, Illinois. 32-year-old Mark Winger was having a normal afternoon at the home that he shared with his wife, 31-year-old Donnah Winger, and their three-month-old daughter Bailey. And at that time, Mark's only focus was running on the treadmill and hitting the goal that he had set for himself for that day. But then he started hearing something. Now, since he was in the basement, it was a muffled sound. But it was almost like there was some kind of commotion going on upstairs, almost like a loud banging or something heavy dropping onto the floor.

So immediately he was on edge because his gut instinct told him that something was wrong. Maybe Donnah had passed out. Maybe she fell down. Maybe she had dropped Bailey or something like that. So he ran upstairs. And at the top of the basement stairs, there were multiple directions he could have turned to. To the right, though, was the master bedroom and the bathroom. And that was the first place that Mark decided to look, because it sounded like the noises were coming from there.

So as he enters the bedroom, inside he saw little baby Bailey lying in the middle of the bed, healthy and fine, but alone. So in that moment, for a split second, he relaxed, thinking like, okay, this is weird, but at least she's okay. But then once again, he started hearing those noises again. Only this time, they were louder.

So he made a spur-of-the-moment decision. He grabbed his 0.45 caliber gun, and he just wanted to have it just in case. I mean, he wanted to believe that it was nothing, but with every step that he took toward the sounds, they got louder and louder. Loud banging sounds, scuffles.

And that's when he came upon a scene that he could have never imagined in a million years. Donnah was on the ground, with blood and body matter all around her. And on top of her was a man who was holding a bloody hammer. Mark didn't even stop to think. His only instinct was to protect his family in that moment. So he fired off two rounds into this man and then immediately called 911

The first responders rushed over to the Winger home immediately, and they were shocked at the scene that they had encountered. From the front door, both Donnah and this mystery man could be seen lying on the floor, and there was blood everywhere, on the walls, on the carpet, the dining room table, the ceiling, I mean, you name it. Now, Donnah luckily was alive, but she was barely holding on. It was apparent that she had been repeatedly hit in the head with that bloody hammer that was now lying on the floor nearby that that man had been holding. And the mystery attacker, that man? He was also alive, but again, barely. He had two gunshot wounds to the head from her husband, right? So they both immediately were transported to the hospital. However, they died not long after everything. Everything had happened so quickly. The Wingers had been a happy, healthy family of three, and now suddenly Mark was planning a funeral and trying to figure out how to get blood stains out of the carpet in their family home. How had this suburban family's life turned into such a nightmare in the blink of an eye? Well, it's a case that was about to get even more twisted with things that nobody could have seen coming. Hey guys, I'm Annie Elise. This is 10 to Life. Let's jump right in.

Mark and Donna had first met sometime back in late 1987 or early 1988

They had been set up on a blind date by Mark's brother Greg, who worked with Donna. And Greg had told Donna that his brother was single, that he had just come back from a year in Korea as an army lieutenant, and the two of them should meet up and that they would hit it off. Now very rarely do blind dates ever actually work in anybody's favor, but in this case, it did. Mark heard that Donna was a single, beautiful operating room technician and thought, why not? Why not go out with her? I mean, worst case scenario, they don't vibe with one another, but why not take the chance? And when Donna considered the date, her mom's exact words were, how bad could it be? Just go. So she did. And their date went well, really well. And from there, they continued seeing each other, and they grew their relationship pretty quickly.