Book Review: Invitation To A Murder by Gail Abbott Zimmerman (Mark Winger)

Donnah Winger was an outgoing, fun-loving, new mother when - on August 29, 1995 - she was beaten to death with a hammer in her own home as her newly adopted daughter lay in a bedroom just down the hall.
Who could commit such a vicious, cold-blooded killing in the middle of the afternoon?

According to her husband, Mark, it was the driver of an airport shuttle van service which Donnah had used just a few days before her death. A man known as Roger Harrington.

Mark Winger told a compelling, heart-wrenching story of hearing a thump and running to see what happened; only to be greeted by the gruesome attack on Donnah by Harrington.

And police believed him...for four years.

One detective, however, never bought what Mark was selling and tried to warn his fellow investigators. Unfortunately, the higher-ups of the Springfield, Illinois police department weren't listening.

Until Mark's mistress at the time of the murder stepped forward.

What ensues is a full scale investigation to bring Mark Winger to justice for killing not only his wife, but an innocent man; a man whose family, for years, had suffered the shame and humiliation as parents of an alleged murderer.

I first became interested in the Mark Winger case after watching CBS's 48 Hours episode on the subject (and the basis of this book).

This 336 page book is filled with more detail than could be crammed into an hour long television show. Even those who watched the documentary will be pleasantly surprised at the behind-the-scenes information contained within Invitation To A Murder.

More Resources On This Case:

• Donnah and Mark's Engagement Announcement in the New York Times
  
  
• 48 Hours correspondent Richard Schlesinger video on Winger case
  
  
• Donnah Winger Memorial Fund for Women In Distress of Broward County, Florida information