Member-only story
Mark Winger: From Hero Husband to Murder Suspect
Greed and Arrogance Ultimately Led To His Downfall.
The End of the Dream
When Donnah Brown married Mark Winger in 1989, it seemed the beginning of a fairy tale. Mark was a nuclear engineer for the state of Illinois making $72,000 a year (over $150,000 in 2020 coin) and Donnah worked as an operating room technician. The only thing that appeared to be missing was a family. When Donnah discovered she could not have children, the couple adopted a baby girl named Bailey in June of 1995.
Donnah took their new daughter to visit her mother and stepfather in Florida in August and upon returning to the St. Louis airport she took a shuttle to the Wingers’ home in Springfield, which was an hour and a half away. The shuttle was driven by a young man named Roger Harrington.
Twenty-seven year old Roger had been working for the company for only six months. During the ride with Donnah, she reported that he was speeding and related having an out of body experience while he was driving. He made Donnah nervous and she immediately informed Mark of what had transpired during the drive. Mark called the company and made a complaint to Roger’s boss while Donnah, at Mark’s insistence, wrote a letter detailing the incident. The company responded by suspending Roger.