Households torn aside by killer dad mirror on years they believed he was a hero

The “Net of Lies” episode of ABC Information’ “20/20” restricted true crime collection “Dangerous Romance,” airing April 1 at 10 p.m. and streaming the following day on Hulu, encompasses a case beforehand lined in a 2021 episode of “20/20.”

After the brutal homicide of his first spouse, Mark Winger moved on. In spite of everything, he was seen because the hero who tried to save lots of her, subsequently killing her supposed assassin together with his handgun moments later.

Police rapidly concluded the 1995 killing of Donnah Winger was a tragic incident, dedicated by the hands of a seemingly mentally unwell driver who’d as soon as pushed her dwelling from the airport.

It was an earth-shattering tragedy for Donnah’s household and Winger went on to marry the attractive younger nanny that he’d employed to take care of his and his late spouse’s not too long ago adopted new child. He then had three extra youngsters together with her within the following years.

It wasn’t till 1999, greater than three years after Donnah’s homicide, when her finest buddy DeAnn Schultz got here ahead to say that she’d had an affair with Winger earlier than her buddy’s killing that police started to look deeper into the case.

On the time, Schultz informed police that Winger had made a number of incriminating feedback, together with, “It might be simpler for us to be collectively if Donnah simply died,” and, “All you’d need to do is are available and discover the physique.” Schultz mentioned she felt on the time that the feedback have been simply “loopy speak.”

Donnah’s household and Winger’s ex-wife, Rebecca Simic, spoke to “20/20” in regards to the horrific realization that Mark Winger was a manipulative killer hiding beneath the masks of an excellent engineer and a sort, loving husband and father.

Donnah and Mark Winger fall in love

“He was good, Jewish. He was engaging and he was enjoyable,” Donnah Winger’s sister, Jenny Levin, informed “20/20.” “[Donnah] simply felt like she had discovered her particular person.”

Donnah was the eldest of three sisters in what they described as an extremely close-knit household. The Dreschers grew to like Winger too.

“We at all times joked about that when one sister marries, that husband marries three sisters,” Levin mentioned. “We shared our lives with Mark.”

After Mark and Donnah Winger have been married in 1989, he was provided a job and the newlyweds settled in Springfield, Illinois. Donnah was working as an working room technician and he was a nuclear engineer.

“Donnah could not have been happier. The one factor was she would have favored to have had a baby,” her step-father, Ira Drescher, mentioned.

Donnah’s mom, Sara Jane Drescher, mentioned her daughter was overwhelmed when she discovered that she couldn’t get pregnant.

However then, someday whereas working on the hospital, a health care provider informed Donnah that a young person was trying to put her child up for adoption. Adopting the kid was a straightforward determination for her.

“She checked out me with tears and she or he mentioned, ‘Michelle, I knew it the minute they put that child into my arms, she has at all times been mine,'” Donnah’s sister Michelle Hansen informed “20/20.”

The Wingers welcomed child Bailey into their dwelling on June 1, 1995. Donnah’s household mentioned the couple liked their new roles as mother and father. They appeared to have all of the makings of an extended and blissful life collectively.

“Mark was simply as excited to grow to be a dad as Donnah was to grow to be a mother,” Hansen mentioned.

Donnah had met the girl who would ultimately grow to be her finest buddy, DeAnn Schultz, on the hospital and with the arrival of Bailey the 2 bonded over motherhood.

August 29, 1995: The day of the murders

Individuals have been simply returning dwelling from work the day Mark Winger referred to as 911 to report that he’d shot a person who “was killing” his spouse.

When former Springfield police Det. Charlie Cox arrived on the Winger’s dwelling, he remembered they might see the victims from the entrance door.

“Donnah was clinging to life,” former Sangamon County assistant state legal professional Steve Weinhoeft mentioned. “She had been hit a minimum of seven instances within the head with a hammer.”

The second sufferer, a white man, had suffered two gunshot wounds to the top however nonetheless had a pulse when police arrived, Weinhoeft mentioned.

“It was fairly chaotic,” Cox mentioned. “I knew that they have been in all probability gonna be transporting the victims quickly, so I wished to attempt to get identification on the male topic.” Cox discovered the person’s pockets and was capable of establish him as Roger Harrington.

Police recovered a bloodied hammer close to the 2 our bodies and located Winger’s .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, a yellow mug and a pack of cigarettes on the identical eating desk. In addition they seen that Harrington’s automotive had been parked in opposition to site visitors, going through the incorrect course.

On the crime scene, Cox mentioned Winger was “very upset [and] very emotional,” and that he repeatedly requested who the person he’d killed was. Cox prevented figuring out Harrington and tried to calm Winger down.

Winger informed police he was on the treadmill within the basement when he heard a noise upstairs, former Springfield police Detective Jim Graham mentioned. Winger went to research, first going to the main bedroom in the home, the place he discovered Bailey on the mattress, Cox mentioned. Then, he heard extra noises and grabbed his handgun from the nightstand earlier than heading to the eating room.

Winger informed police that as he walked down the hallway, he noticed Harrington with a hammer swinging at his spouse, Graham mentioned. Winger mentioned he shot Harrington, then instantly shot him a second time after he started to take a seat up, Cox mentioned.

As police combed by means of the scene, Winger requested police if the intruder’s identify was Roger. Cox confirmed that it was.

“Mark was shocked and he mentioned, ‘Oh my god! That is the person who has been harassing my spouse this week,'” Cox mentioned.

Simply days prior, Donnah had gone to see her mother and father in Hollywood, Florida. Her mom had dropped her off on the airport and employed a driver to select her up in St. Louis, Missouri, and drive her again to Springfield. That driver was Harrington.

“It was a couple of two-hour drive and there was a variety of time to speak,” Levin mentioned. “This gentleman began opening as much as Donnah about points he was having. He had a voice in his head named Dahm. … Dahm would inform him to do unhealthy issues. Just lately, Dahm was telling him to harm individuals.”

Cox mentioned the driving force began flirting together with her, telling her he favored older ladies and even inviting her to attend what he described as one among his “intercourse events.” Donnah had informed her household the experience was terrifying and that he was driving erratically at 75 miles per hour.

“After the harrowing experience, Donnah had been the sufferer of some unusual cellphone calls,” Weinhoeft mentioned. “They’d believed that the driving force had been stalking her and was a hazard.”

Winger referred to as the limousine firm to file a criticism and Harrington was suspended. Winger urged his spouse to write down the story down in case they could want it, Hansen mentioned. Police later discovered the observe describing Donnah’s harrowing automotive experience in her handwriting on the crime scene.

Cox, who was acquainted with Harrington after he’d lived in a trailer park owned by Cox, believed it was potential that Harrington had “snapped.”

“I knew him as a really volatile-type topic. … Him and his spouse rented a trailer from me,” Cox mentioned. “Realizing what I knew about Mr. Harrington up to now, how fast he was to anger, I believed that he very effectively may have went over there to attempt to get his job again … there is a hammer layin’ proper there on the desk. He picks it up and goes right into a rage then the husband shoots the unhealthy man.”

After police examined the scene and listened to Winger’s story, detectives concluded that he had acted in self-defense. The case was closed in about 48 hours, Weinhoeft mentioned.

Harrington’s household insisted from the start that their son was innocent.

“He was no troublemaker. He was a superb child. He would not even strike at anyone,” his mom, Helen Harrington mentioned. “I do not suppose he would damage anyone and I do not suppose he was loopy.”

Donnah’s mom spoke to “20/20” in regards to the night that the household obtained the information of her daughter’s homicide.

“It was 4 [o’clock] within the morning … and I mentioned, ‘Jenny, it is mother. One thing horrible has occurred,'” Sara Jane Drescher mentioned of her name to Levin.

“We sat there in my room … simply crying at this unimaginable loss,” Levin mentioned.

Within the following months, Donnah’s mom and sister took turns touring to Illinois to assist handle Bailey.

“I liked [Mark] as a result of he liked Donnah and that is what was necessary to me,” Sara Jane Drescher mentioned. “However I needed to be very cautious, as a result of I didn’t wish to destroy my relationship with him, as a result of I didn’t wish to destroy my relationship with the newborn. I wished to be a grandma and [Bailey] made me a grandma.”

Over time, they realized it will be too troublesome to proceed touring to handle the newborn in order that they advised that Winger rent a nanny.

January 1996: Rebecca Simic turns into Bailey’s nanny after which one thing extra

Rebecca Simic was a younger and exquisite nanny with a “coronary heart of gold” who wished to assist the household, Hansen mentioned.

“I did not wish to like Rebecca, but it surely was arduous to not like her,” Levin mentioned. “Seeing her with Bailey, there was actually nothing unhealthy lets say about her.”

Simic informed “20/20” she was “blown away” by what the toddler had been by means of in such a short while.

“She misplaced two moms by the point she was 3 months previous, and she or he was so smiley,” Simic mentioned. “I wished to get in there and say, ‘I am gonna assist and I am gonna make this little woman’s life higher.'”

However as Simic adjusted to her new function, Donnah’s buddy, DeAnn Schultz, started to make her really feel uncomfortable and gave the impression to be pushing to remain concerned in Bailey’s life, Simic mentioned.

In January 1996 Winger stopped by the police station to get his gun again. He requested Cox in regards to the standing of the case and if it was nonetheless open, Cox mentioned.

“I simply had an uneasy feeling about it,” Cox recalled.

In the meantime, Simic’s function at Winger’s dwelling had begun to evolve.

“Once you reside with somebody and also you’re taking good care of a baby collectively, it is very simple to form of play ‘home.’ You are already put in these roles,” Simic mentioned. “Mark made me really feel like I used to be like an angel despatched to him from God or Donnah, and it was my objective to make this household entire once more.”

She mentioned she noticed Winger as a hero within the household’s tragic story of Donnah’s homicide, and that she believed he’d tried his finest to save lots of her.

“I keep in mind asking him how he may transfer on so rapidly, and he defined to me that when you’ve gotten a superb marriage it is pure for you simply to need that once more,” Simic informed “20/20.”

Simic mentioned Winger had informed her he wasn’t capable of have youngsters. So, she mentioned she was “very shocked” when she discovered she was pregnant together with his little one solely months after shifting in.

“Clearly, I wasn’t cautious … It was simply form of a shock,” she mentioned.

Winger, then again, was “thrilled,” Simic recalled.

“I felt prefer it was a victory to him,” she mentioned. “Mark put strain on me to marry him and have youngsters with him.”

Simic mentioned that Winger, who was Jewish once they met, even began going to church together with her. She mentioned he informed her they might increase a household in a Christian dwelling.

“‘I might be honored to be your husband and blessed in case you have been my spouse,'” Winger wrote in a letter to Simic.

Winger’s rabbi Michael Datz requested him about his change in religion, and he says that Winger defined, “Judaism is simply too troublesome and unforgiving.”

Rabbi Datz did not perceive, asking, “Mark, I do not know what you are speaking about. What do you want forgiveness for?” He mentioned Winger did not reply.

The couple eloped in Hawaii.

December 1996: Mark Winger and his rising household drift other than Donnah’s kin

Sixteen months after his spouse’s loss of life, Winger informed Sara Jane Drescher that he was going to promote the home the place Donnah Winger had died and purchase one other one simply exterior of city. He and Rebecca had began a household of their very own and he began reducing ties with Donnah’s mother and father.

“I obtained a letter from Mark someday saying to me I couldn’t be referred to as grandma,” Sara Jane Drescher mentioned. “I wrote him again and I begged him, ‘Please let her name me grandma.’ And he mentioned, ‘I am sorry. There isn’t any approach that I’m going to permit her to name you grandma, and that is the best way it’s.'”

She mentioned she mourned that loss for “a very long time.”

Bailey Simic, now 25, informed “20/20” that her grandmother and grandfather, Ira Drescher, would ship a birthday card to her yearly.

“I at all times keep in mind asking my mother, ‘Who’s Sara Jane and Ira?'” she mentioned. “My mother would at all times clarify, like, ‘These are Donnah’s mother and father and so they simply wanna let you realize that, like, they love you and that they keep in mind you.'”

February 1999: DeAnn Schultz comes ahead to police

Three-and-a-half years after the murders of Donnah Winger and Roger Harrington, Schultz got here ahead to police in regards to the affair she’d had with Winger earlier than his spouse’s loss of life.

“Mark was having a romantic relationship with DeAnn — one among our sisters, as we thought-about her — and that was one thing that we by no means, ever suspected,” Levin mentioned.

Schultz informed police in regards to the incriminating statements Winger had made to her earlier than the murders.

“DeAnn acknowledged that she declined to take part in that,” Weinhoeft mentioned, referring to probably discovering Donnah’s physique. “After Mark discovered in regards to the journey that Donnah took with Roger Harrington, he informed DeAnn, ‘I’ve gotta get that driver in my home.'”

After the murders, Schultz’s life went right into a downward spiral as investigators claimed she struggled to make sense of the knowledge she knew. She revealed to investigators that she had tried suicide a number of instances.

As soon as Schultz got here ahead, investigators determined to reexamine the proof on the case, however to their shock, it was gone.

The proof they’d as soon as held from Harrington and Donnah Winger’s case had been launched to Winger’s legal professional, who was engaged on a civil lawsuit in opposition to BART Transportation. Winger filed the swimsuit in an try to carry the corporate accountable for his spouse’s loss of life, presumably dedicated by Harrington, who was the corporate’s worker on the time.

Police reexamined sure elements of the incident, comparable to why there weren’t indicators of compelled entry into the house and why Harrrington would possibly’ve left potential homicide weapons inside his automotive, together with a tire iron and a knife, and as an alternative used a hammer belonging to the Wingers, which occurred to be on the kitchen desk.

Harrington’s automotive had additionally been conspicuously parked the incorrect approach, showing to point Harrington didn’t attempt to disguise that he was on the Winger’s dwelling.

Detectives additionally found Polaroid images that had been taken by one of many officers first to reach on the scene on that day in 1995. The three images revealed the positions of the our bodies earlier than they have been rushed to the hospital. The photographs didn’t match the story Winger informed.

“Mark Winger had acknowledged that Roger Harrington was kneeling down proper subsequent to Donnah Winger’s head, and he was beating her with a hammer,” Weinhoeft mentioned. “He acknowledged that he shot him and that the person fell backwards, in order that his ft remained close to Donnah’s head. In actuality, the Polaroids images present the precise reverse.”

Cox mentioned the images confirmed that Harrington and Donnah Winger have been laying in the identical course.

“As such, there is no approach this homicide may’ve occurred the best way Mark Winger described,” Weinhoeft mentioned.

“Mark Winger had concluded that he wished to kill his spouse,” Weinhoeft mentioned. “Then, Roger Harrington occurred to be the one who drove Donnah Winger. … Mark noticed this as a golden alternative. And he informed DeAnn that he wanted to get that man into his home , and that is precisely what he did.”

December 1999: Mark Winger seen as a suspect in spouse’s homicide

In December 1999, greater than 4 years after the murders, the Springfield State Journal Register ran an article primarily based on allegations within the civil lawsuit that Winger had organized the homicide himself and killed each his spouse and Harrington. The allegations have been primarily based on a blood spatter professional employed by BART Transportation within the case.

“All the pieces got here to a head … It modified all the things,” Simic mentioned of the article. “I imply, it went from Winger because the hero who was defending his spouse — this noble, stand-up man — that each man wished to pat on the again, to manipulative, deviant assassin.”

Because the detectives continued their reinvestigation, they discovered that Harrington’s roommate, Susan Collins, had initially informed police that somebody requested to fulfill with Harrington on the day of the murders, and that she’d seen Harrington on the cellphone arranging that assembly. Inside Harrington’s automotive, they discovered a observe written on a financial institution deposit slip with Mark Winger’s identify, his handle and the time to be there.

“Roger Harrington was not an intruder however reasonably he was lured into that dwelling by Mark Winger,” Weinhoeft mentioned.

DeAnn Schultz’s cooperation with police and proof that raised questions on Mark Winger’s story prompted the voluntary dismissal of the civil swimsuit in opposition to BART Transportation.

“I did not see it coming,” Simic mentioned. “I did not know that this entire investigation was brewing. I by no means thought the entire time that they thought my husband was a diabolical assassin.”

Aug. 23, 2001: A grand jury indicts Mark Winger

A grand jury rapidly returned an indictment in opposition to Winger for the murders of Harrington and Donnah Winger. A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was taken into custody whereas at work.

“I had made plans to go to McDonald’s Playland,” Simic mentioned. “We have been there and I bought a cellphone name. And it was Mark’s secretary, and she or he informed me that Mark had simply been arrested — I simply was sick. Like, my entire physique simply form of went numb, and I simply could not consider it. … I used to be shaking so badly and I simply keep in mind feeling so scared.”

Hansen, Donnah’s sister, mentioned she did not really feel relieved following Winger’s arrest.

“I nonetheless wished to consider he was harmless,” she mentioned. “Here is this individual that I do know … in handcuffs, and what’s gonna occur?”

Simic mentioned when she discovered about Winger’s arrest, she was “feeling so scared” and did not really feel like “anyone actually cared in regards to the children and I as a result of we have been part of him.”

“I felt that I owed it to him and to my children to simply stand by him,” she mentioned.

Bailey was simply 6 years previous on the time of Winger’s arrest. She mentioned not having her father dwelling was scary.

“I simply keep in mind everybody simply attempting to stay calm and form of, on the time, being like ‘Dad’s simply going away for some time and that he’ll be again quickly,'” she mentioned.

Whereas he was detained, Winger wrote letters to his youngsters. Bailey remembered how excited she was once they arrived within the mail.

“He would at all times draw the circle on the finish of his letter after which he mentioned that he would kiss it, after which we might kiss it and it was like he was giving us a kiss,” she informed “20/20.”

Might 20, 2002: Mark Winger’s trial begins

“The primary time I noticed Rebecca was on the trial. I wished to like Rebecca. She adored Bailey,” Hansen mentioned. “However, I additionally wished to hate Rebecca, as a result of Rebecca took my sister’s husband, married him, adopted her little one, after which had three extra youngsters that my sister wasn’t capable of do.”

Levin additionally mentioned she felt their bond with Simic “was not there.”

One of many key factors the prosecution needed to show was that Harrington had gone to the home to fulfill with the Wingers, to not commit a homicide.

They offered the cigarettes and low mug that he’d introduced inside in addition to the weapons he’d left in his automotive and the observe with Mark Winger’s identify and handle.

Winger’s legal professional argued that Harrison was mentally ailing, that he behaved erratically and that these traits indicated he was able to homicide.

When prosecutors offered the Polaroids displaying the place of the our bodies earlier than they have been faraway from the scene, Winger’s legal professional argued all through the trial that first responders may have moved the our bodies.

“It is our perception that Roger involves the home, he is allowed into the house,” retired Detective Jim Graham mentioned. “There was no indicators of compelled entry and he was executed at the moment. Listening to the gunshot, Donnah Winger then comes from the bed room to research. He then beats his spouse to loss of life with a hammer. Mark then calls 911.”

Within the 911 name, Harrington may be heard moaning within the background when Winger tells the operator he can hear his child crying and hangs up. He had informed the operator there was “a bullet in [Harrison’s] head,” however when police arrived, Harrington had been shot twice.

Schultz additionally gave damning testimony on the trial, saying that Winger informed her that “it will be simpler if Donnah simply died.”

“I believed it was … loopy speak,” she mentioned throughout her cross-examination.

After an opportunity assembly years later, Schultz testified she confronted Winger within the hopes of gathering info and requested him how he lived with himself and that he’d replied that he had discovered Jesus Christ and was forgiven. She mentioned he warned her that if she ever mentioned something, they might each be in hassle.

“I did not suppose that anyone would consider her,” Simic mentioned. “I simply thought if Mark really did that, she would have come ahead straight away.”

Winger’s protection argued that Schultz was emotionally unstable and only a girl who’d been scorned.

“DeAnn Schultz’s testimony was capable of reveal that, in actuality, Mark was clearly sad, untrue and had particularly talked about eager to kill his spouse,” Weinhoeft mentioned.

“Schultz was granted immunity for her testimony,” he added. “There was no direct proof that straight linked DeAnn to actively taking part on this crime. On the finish, she was such a precious witness because it pertains to presenting the motive.”

June 5, 2002: Jury returns verdict on Winger case

After a trial that lasted three weeks, the jury discovered Winger responsible of two counts of first-degree homicide.

Simic mentioned she believed he would have been going dwelling with them. After listening to the decision, she mentioned the phrases “responsible” rang by means of her head and that she wished “the earth to open up and swallow me.”

Sara Jane Drescher mentioned her daughters, Donnah’s sisters, have been together with her once they heard the decision. “The three of us simply embraced and cried,” she mentioned.

Helen Harrington was relieved and grateful her son had been vindicated of Donnah’s homicide. “We knew that Roger was harmless, and it lastly bought confirmed,” she mentioned. “He was branded a assassin on the time, however then all this got here to an finish.”

The police needed to come to phrases with the defective preliminary investigation.

“I used to be ashamed of the best way the investigation went,” Cox mentioned. “I damage Roger Harrington’s household. I ran his identify by means of hell for no purpose. I imply, he was an harmless sufferer.”

“The police division had too unexpectedly closed the case and turned a blind eye to some purple flags, and to proper such a incorrect, it felt nice,” Graham added.

Simic mentioned there wasn’t any closure for her or her household.

“Once we lose somebody, you realize, we collect. We’ve got a funeral,” Simic mentioned. “However when somebody goes to jail, effectively, what do you do? You are simply form of left with this vacancy and this gap that, you may’t really– have closure with that.”

On Aug. 1, 2002, Mark Winger was sentenced to life in jail with no parole for the homicide of his spouse and Harrington. To today, Winger maintains his innocence.

“It wasn’t simply him being sentenced to life,” Simic mentioned. “We have been sentenced to a lifetime of a father in jail.”

A lifetime of penalties following Mark Winger’s murders

Bailey Simic says she missed having her father round whereas rising up.

“It was actually arduous being at school seeing all the opposite children have their dads and that relationship,” she mentioned. “And now, all of the sudden, I could not simply go to my dad’s room or have him decide us up from faculty or something like that.”

Ben Simic was solely a 12 months previous when his dad went to jail.

“I can have a look at the photographs and have a look at myself and say, ‘That child had no concept. He was approach too younger to know something that was occurring,'” he mentioned.

Rebecca Simic moved out of Springfield together with her children and the house that she’d purchased with Mark Winger was foreclosed. Simic, who had been a stay-at-home mother for seven years, filed for chapter.

“I did not have something to offer my children. All the pieces had been taken away. All I had was love,” she mentioned.

The household modified their surname from Winger to Simic.

In 2005, Mark Winger was implicated in a murder-for-hire plot the place he allegedly tried to place a success on DeAnn Schultz and a childhood buddy who refused to pay his bail.

He was tried and convicted once more, this time of solicitation of homicide. He was sentenced to an extra 35 years in jail.

Bailey has since reunited with Donnah’s household.

“It was so unimaginable to see that there is this entire massive household that loves me and Sara Jane nonetheless has my child image on her kitchen counter with all of her different grandkids, although we have been gone for therefore lengthy,” she mentioned.

“We might been damage rather a lot by the identical particular person. Nevertheless it did not break us,” Rebecca Simic mentioned.

Though Sara Jane Drescher says there’ll by no means be closure for the homicide of her daughter, the household has labored collectively to arrange Donnah’s Fund, which is part of Ladies in Misery, a corporation that works to supply shelter for girls attempting to flee abuse.

“I feel her legacy will reside on by means of the people who we assist,” Levin mentioned. “and thru the attractive reminiscences that we now have of her.”