SELMER, Tenn. (ABP) -- On the day of Mary Winkler's initial court appearance, authorities have yet to disclose a motive for her crime, even though she has confessed to shooting her husband of 10 years.

Winkler, 32, has been charged with first-degree murder in the March 21 death of her husband, Matthew, who was pastor of Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tenn.

At church services after the death, Fourth Street elders told congregants to avoid speculation about the case. Robert Shackelford reportedly told people to “be very cautious about what you say or even what you think.”

“Perhaps over time we will better understand why this has happened,” he said, according to the Associated Press.

Church members spoke highly of Matthew Winkler, 31, who preached charismatic, “by-the-book” sermons in the 200-member church. Police found him shot in the back in his home in Selmer, a town of 4,200 roughly 80 miles east of Memphis. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents told reporters the couple's daughters were inside the house at the time of the crime.

After the alleged shooting, Mary Winkler traveled with her three young daughters to Orange Beach, Ala., where officers later arrested her. The daughters -- ages 8, 6, and 1 -- are now with Matthew Winkler's parents.

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