Sensational and heinous crimes across the nation, notable for the type of crime, the celebrity of the criminal, or both.

A woman shooting her husband isn't all that odd. Add the component that the husband was a minister beloved by his congregation and the disappearance of the wife and three children after the deed and there's the makings of a true crime that doesn't end with just the facts.

Mary Alice Winkler was a substitute teacher at a local school, Matthew Winkler was a minister, and the three daughters are adorable. By all accounts, the family participated in normal social events and always seemed companionable and happy.

It's always that way, isn't it?

The good news is that Mary Winkler and the three daughters were found safe. It had initially been feared that the disappearance of Matthew Winkler's family after his death could indicate a forced abduction, although that bit about the family van also missing seemed to point to a wife taking off after shooting her husband.

Once Mary Winkler was found, speculation abounded. Why did she kill her husband, the handsome cable anchors asked. Where are the children? Why did she run? Where was she going?

The latest is that Mary Winkler has been charged with first-degree murder of her husband. That first-degree thing is ominous as it implicates pre-meditation.

When reporters queried the police on the whereabouts of the children, the police were oddly mum. "They are at the police station and being questioned gently by authorities," I paraphrase the response. The public was assured that the children did not witness the murder.

Now one would suppose that questioning the children was required in this circumstance but it seemed that as a response to every query, the police responded that the children were still being questioned. This went on, as the handsome cable news anchors kept reporting, for over eight hours by my count.

Also, the handsome cable news anchors kept reassuring us that the motive for the murder was not infidelity. Now it is softly whispered that Mary Winkler might have killed her husband for abusing the daughters.

The crime was not done in the passion of a marital moment of discord else that first-degree thing would not be in effect. Also, the lengthy questioning of the children seemed odd. The children have now been released to their grandparents, the handsome cable anchors report.

If speculation proves correct, this could be an interesting case. Will a woman who murdered her husband for abusing their children get a pass? Are the prosecutors fairly certain that this first-degree charge will stick? Will this be a death penalty case?