Marriage Counselor Sentenced To Life For Killing Ex-Fiancee Who He Had Met On Dating Site
So, Lester Winningham murdered Deborah Houchin – I believe this was around the year 2005.
Houchin was in her 50s, she was divorced. After being single for several years after the divorce, she wanted to remarry, her friends said.
So, she joined a dating site or two – I think one news source says she tried “Match .com”.
Houchin went on dates with a lot of men who ended up being creepy or weirdos, until she met Winningham, who seemed to be a great match – he seemed normal and kind. I guess he didn’t give off any red flags, not immediately.
Well, as it turned out, Winningham murdered Houchin.
Prior to that, he proposed marriage, but one of her friends suggested before she accepted, that she get him to sign a pre-nup, because she was financially well-off.
When Houchin brought up wanting a pre-nup with Winningham, he became infuriated, very hostile, and it frightened Houchin; she told one of her friends that he acted like a totally different man.
The police detectives later found out in their research on Winningham that he was broke, and in a lot of debt. He had only wanted to marry Houchin for her money.
Houchin had met Winningham on a dating site.
The kicker to this is that the murderer, Winningham, worked as a marriage counselor!
Sort of reminds me of the blog post I did a few years ago about a husband who had written a marital advice book (on how to have a great marriage) who (Link): shot his wife in her head and killed her.
Here are a few links about this horrible news story:
(Link): Marriage counselor convicted of killing ex-fiance
A marriage counselor was convicted today of fatally shooting his ex-fiance.
Lester Winningham, 59, faces up to life in prison in the murder conviction. Jurors were expected to begin deliberating his punishment later today.
Winningham, a licensed psychologist, is accused of shooting Deborah Houchin three times in her Arlington home before dumping her body behind a mechanic’s shop in 2005. During three days of testimony, the jury was told how the couple fought often in the months before her death.
(Link): Marriage Counselor Sentenced To Life For Killing Ex-Fiancee Who He Had Met On Dating Site
A marriage counselor was sentenced to life in prison Friday for fatally shooting his ex-fiancee.
Earlier in the day, jurors convicted Lester Winningham, 59, of murder.
Authorities say the licensed psychologist shot Deborah Houchin three times in her Arlington home before dumping her body behind a mechanic’s shop in 2005.
During three days of testimony, the jury was told how the couple fought often in the months before her death and that the relationship soured after Houchin asked Winningham to sign a prenuptial agreement.
Winningham testified in his own defense Thursday, saying he is innocent, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its Friday online edition.
Houchin, 56, owned a marriage counseling clinic and had been engaged to Winningham briefly after meeting him through an online dating service.
She helped Winningham set up his practice in Arlington after he received his doctoral degree. He also moved in with her.
(Link): Marriage Counselor Convicted of Murder-How Ironic (Arlington, Texas)
(Link): Arlington psychologist murder conviction reversed – 2010
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – An appeals court has cited insufficient evidence and overturned the conviction of an Arlington psychologist sentenced to life in prison over the 2005 killing of his ex-fiancee.
A jury in Fort Worth in 2007 convicted 62-year-old Lester Winningham of murder in the shooting death of marriage counselor Deborah Houchin. Her body was found behind a mechanic’s shop in Muenster.
Trial testimony indicated the couple often fought in the months before her death and the relationship soured after Houchin asked Winningham to sign a prenuptial agreement.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Tuesday that a three-judge panel of the 2nd Court of Appeals ordered the case returned to district court for retrial.
Prosecutors say they plan to ask the full appeals court to reconsider the ruling.
Related Posts:
(Link): Woman Killed by Man She Began Dating After Her Husband Died of Cancer
(Link): Newlywed Christian Husband Fatally Shot by Stray Bullet as He Slept With Wife
(Link): Texas Double Murder Suspect Dreamed of Cutting Off Wife’s Head, Police Allege
(Link): Man Stomped Wife’s Head in Until She Died, Also Ran Her Over With Car
(Link): Tele-evangelist Body Guard Sentenced for Strangling Wife and Kids to be With Mistress
(Link): Man Who Worked as Preacher Allegedly Drowned His Pregnant Wife To Be With His Mistress
(Link): The Green River Serial Killer and Necrophiliac Was A Christian Married Father
(Link): Author of Marital Self Help Books Murders Wife
(Link): Ex-Church Usher Found Guilty of Hiring Hitman to Kill His Wife So He Can Pursue Kinky Sexual Lifestyle With His Mistress (the guy in this story is married AND is a parent)
(Link): Risky Business: The Dangers of Online Dating and How to Protect Yourself
(Link): Secret Psychopath Test Could Keep Dating Apps Safe
(Link): More 40-Something Single Women Falling Prey to Dishonest or Violent Men in Dating (says report)
(Link): Is Your Online Date Deadly? Here’s How To Spot The Red Flags -from InfoMania
(Link): Man Who Tricked Tinder Dates Out of $50,000 With Bogus Sob Stories Jailed
(Link): Florida Man Murdered By Woman (and her friends) Whom He Met On a Dating Site
(Link): Police urge caution when using dating websites / Murderers on Dating Sites
(Link): Beware of Rapists on Christian Dating Sites
(Link): How Most Americans Meet Their Spouses – WSJ
(Link): Beware of HIV / AIDS Infected Christian Male Preachers On Dating Sites
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