Dateline: Deadly Twist – Who was Rachel Winkler and what happened to her? Details of the 2012 incident, explored

Rachel Winkler, 37, was fatally stabbed on February 27, 2012, by her husband, as shown in the Dateline episode.

Rachel was a mother of three living in Cameron Park, California. Her husband, Todd Winkler, a former Air Force fighter pilot and pharmaceutical executive, during the investigation claimed that the attack was in self-defence; however, the evidence suggested the very opposite. After the investigation, Todd was convicted of first-degree murder and imprisoned for 26 years.

Read on to learn more about the case, who Rachel was, and what happened to her, as shown in Dateline.

Dateline: Deadly Twist – Who was Rachel Winkler?

The latest Dateline episode, Accident, Suicide or Murder aired on Oxygen and featured the case of Rachel Winkler, who was murdered by her husband, Todd, after a heated argument about their divorce. At 10 AM, Todd rang his neighbours and told them to call the police as the couple had gotten into a gruesome fight.

Rachel was born on January 31, 1975 and grew up in Napa, California. She graduated from Sonoma State University with a bachelor's degree in business and applied her skills to assist small businesses in the Napa Valley. its only later, she became the general manager of the Cameron Park Airport District.

She married Todd Winkler and shared three children with him: Eva (7), Ariel (5), and Alex (8 months) at the time. Unhappy with her marriage, she fell for James, a handyman at Cameron Airpark, and planned to divorce Todd. However, she died just a day after finalizing the divorce papers.

What happened with Rachel Winkler as per the Dateline episode

As mentioned, Rachel was stabbed fatally by her husband while they were engaged in a fight. Todd claimed that his deadly attack was in self-defence as Rachel was behind him with scissors. During the investigation, the officers, however, found minimal injury on Todd and cast doubt on his self-defence claim.

Additionally, the prosecution highlighted the mysterious death of Todd's first wife, Catherine Winkler, in a 1999 car crash in Georgia. She died because her truck crashed into the woods. This had resulted in a substantial insurance payout to Todd, raising concerns about a possible pattern of violent behaviour.

Todd's defence during the trial unveiled that he suffers from dissociative identity disorder and was in a psychotic state when this incident happened. While Todd's own statement revealed that Rachel was pleading for her life, this defence fell flat in the court. As a result, the jury convicted him of first-degree murder.

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In December 2014, Todd Winkler was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. At the court, Rachel's father, Don Hatfield, expressed his grief and the emotional toll on the children by stating,

"How will I ever explain, or even comment, on the question, 'Why did daddy kill mommy?'"

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