Illinois Department of Corrections/Facebook Mark Winger
On August 29, 1995, Mark Winger called police in Springfield, Illinois, and reported that he’d just shot an intruder who was beating his wife, Donnah Winger, to death in their home. The man who Winger accused of being an intruder was Roger Harrington, a shuttle driver who had recently driven his wife home from the airport.
Donnah Winger had complained to her husband about the strange shuttle driver and how uncomfortable she’d been on the drive home and the Wingers even complained about Harrington to the shuttle service company, court documents showed. However, as time went on, detectives became suspicious of Winger and believed that he’d set up Harrington as part of a larger plan to murder his wife.
Six years later, in August 2001, Winger was indicted by a grand jury for the murders of Donnah Winger and Roger Harrington and the former nuclear-power-plant technician pleaded not guilty. Where is Mark Winger today?
Winger Was Found Guilty of 2 Counts of 1st-Degree Murder & Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole
Illinois Department of CorrectionsWestern Illinois Correctional Center
In June 2002, Winger was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, public records show, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. His conviction came nearly seven years after he beat his wife to death, authorities said, and blamed it on Harrington, who he shot and killed, Jacksonville reported. The verdict was reached after a three-week trial and 13 hours of jury deliberation, the outlet wrote.
The 58-year-old is serving his sentence at Western Illinois Correction Center, where he was admitted on August 9, 2002. The Western Illinois Correctional Center is a medium-security prison for male inmates located in Mount Sterling, Brown County, with a current inmate population of 1,452.
Winger attempted to appeal his murder conviction but the appeals were denied by the 4th District appellate court and the Illinois Supreme Court, the State Journal-Register reported.
Winger Also Went to Trial for Solicitation for Murder While He Was in Prison
FacebookMark and Donnah Winger
In 2006, while he was already behind bars, Winger was also charged with solicitation for murder as authorities said he tried to hire another prisoner, Terry Hubbell, to murder two individuals on his behalf, the State Journal-Register wrote.
Prosecutors said he attempted to hire Hubbell to kill DeAnn Schultz, his ex-girlfriend who testified against him during the murder trial, and his friend from childhood Jeffrey Gelman, a wealthy real estate developer who had refused to pay his $1 million bail. Hubbell approached authorities about the plot and recorded conversations with Winger about his plan.
In 2007, Winger was found guilty of both counts of solicitation for murder and he was sentenced to 35 years in prison, which he is serving at the same time as his life sentence, the State Journal-Register reported. The judge at his sentencing hearing, Livingston County Circuit Judge Harold Frobish, said, “Your life shows, at least since 1995, that you live in your own world and try to make your own rules,” and called Winger a “very dangerous individual and a threat to the public.”
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