Matthew Wrinkles

Case information

• Defendant: Matthew Eric Wrinkles
• Legal status: Executed by lethal injection in Indiana on December 11, 2009
• Place of execution / facility: Indiana State Prison in Michigan City
• Method: lethal injection
• Age at execution: 49
• Victims killed: three people
• Victim names (as stated):
  • Debbie Wrinkles (also given as Debra Jean Wrinkles), 31
  • Mark “Tony” Fulkerson, 28
  • Natalie Fulkerson (also given as Natalie “Chris” Fulkerson), 26

The offence

Matthew Eric Wrinkles was convicted of murdering his estranged wife and two relatives of his estranged wife in July 1994.

Around 2 a.m. on July 21, 1994, Wrinkles drove to the home where Debbie and the children were staying and entered after cutting phone wires and kicking in the back door. He was armed with a .357 handgun and a knife, and he was dressed in camouflage and face paint.

The killings occurred at the home of Tony Fulkerson (Mark “Tony” Fulkerson) in Evansville, where Debbie and the children were staying.

Wrinkles shot:

• Tony Fulkerson (Mark “Tony” Fulkerson), including testimony describing four gunshot wounds to his face, hip, chest, and back, and testimony that he was shot in front of his three-year-old son,
• Debbie Wrinkles (Debra Jean Wrinkles),
• Natalie Fulkerson (Natalie Fulkerson / Natalie “Chris” Fulkerson), after she ran out the front door and was later described as having a gunshot wound to her face.

One of the children, Lindsay Wrinkles (also written as Lindsay Christmas later), saw her father shoot her mother, then open her shirt and attempt CPR. Lindsay told him she was going to call police, and he fled.

After the shootings, Wrinkles was later arrested at the home of his cousin, where the .357 murder weapon was recovered.

Background

In the period leading up to the murders, Wrinkles and Debbie had continuous marital problems. Debbie moved out of their house with their two children and went to live with Debbie’s brother Tony (Mark “Tony” Fulkerson) and his wife Natalie on Tremont Drive in Evansville.

The narrative described:

• Twice in the past, Wrinkles had threatened Debbie with a gun.
• Wrinkles filed for divorce.
• Wrinkles’s mother was concerned about his behavior and had him committed; after three days of evaluation, he was released.
• In the next two weeks, despite a Protective Order being in effect, Wrinkles went looking for Debbie, showed up at Debbie’s place of employment and at the homes of two of Debbie’s friends, dressed in camouflage and demanding to see her.
• At a provisional divorce hearing on July 20, 1994, Wrinkles, Debbie, and their attorneys reached an agreement that set aside the Protective Order and allowed visitation. Debbie agreed to meet Wrinkles with the kids later that day at a restaurant, but Debbie decided not to show up.

The communications about Wrinkles and mitigation included statements that he was high on methamphetamine at the time of the murders, and that the trial court and jury considered his methamphetamine intoxication and extreme emotional disturbance.

Investigation and arrest

Police said Wrinkles was high on methamphetamine and dressed in camouflage and face paint when he cut the phone lines at the Fulkerson home and entered.

Wrinkles was later arrested at the home of his cousin, and the .357 murder weapon was recovered.

Trial

Wrinkles was convicted by a jury of three counts of Murder for the shootings deaths of:

• Debbie Wrinkles (Debra Jean Wrinkles), 31,
• Mark “Tony” Fulkerson, 28,
• Natalie Fulkerson (Natalie “Chris” Fulkerson), 26.

A jury recommended the death penalty, and the trial court imposed a death sentence.

Sentencing

• Sentence imposed: death sentence
• Sentencing date stated: June 14, 1995
• Aggravating circumstances stated: “b(8) 3 murders”
• Mitigating circumstances stated: no significant history of criminal conduct, methamphetamine intoxication at time of murders, extreme emotional disturbance, grew up in dysfunctional family

Appeals

Wrinkles’s direct appeal resulted in affirmance of his convictions and death sentence.

The record also described multiple post-conviction and habeas proceedings addressing issues including evidence rulings, instructions, constitutionality of Indiana’s death penalty statute, victim impact testimony, mitigation, and counsel effectiveness (including issues involving a stun belt).

United States Supreme Court petition / federal collateral review (as described)

Wrinkles filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The district court denied relief and the appeal was taken. The Seventh Circuit described procedural default and addressed ineffective assistance related to the stun belt.

Outcome

On December 11, 2009, Matthew Eric Wrinkles was executed by lethal injection in Indiana.

He was strapped to a gurney and hooked up to an IV, and the death warrant was read to him just after midnight. Prison guards opened blinds to an adjoining room so he and witnesses could exchange a final look.

Final statement and reported last words

When asked for his final words, Wrinkles said:

• “Not at this time, let’s get it done. Let’s lock and load. It’s plagiarized, but what the hell.”

His final written statement was described as including:

• “I wish I knew then what I know now. That is, as Einstein said, ‘only a life lived for others is worth living.’ Fifteen years ago I took the lives of people I loved, my wife, my friends. I did so voluntarily taking drugs to the extent I became an addict of the worst kind. I caused enormous pain to many. I am not proud of the man I was. But I am no longer that man. In the past 15 years I have come to grips with the extent of the harm I caused. Although tonight I pay for my actions w/ my life, it has been the last 15 years that has been the truth punishment. Living w/ the knowledge of the pain I caused was the severest punishment possible. Tonight my children lose their natural father. My friends lose me. My brothers grieve. More victims are created. As Albert Camus said: To kill a man in a paroxysm of passion is understandable. To have him killed by someone else after calm and serious mediation and on the pretext of duty honorably discharged is incomprehensible.”

A statement released from his daughter (hand-written) was described as:

• “I have been contacted by several members of the media. I have been asked to give interviews. I chose to make this statement and ask the media to stop contacting me. Regardless of what my dad has done, he’s still my dad. Having to re-live this ordeal is tragic. Re-living the day I had to testify against my dad, which I did not want to do, but was forced upon me, did and has affected my life, and the relationship I haven’t had with my father all these years. Recently we have made peace within each other. I will go on with my life having peace within me. Knowing god will take care of all of us. My father, Seth, and I have written a book titled: “Ridin the White Line.” If anyone wants to learn or know about my parents, or circumstances read the book when it is released. Now I pray that dad is reunited in heaven, and this story shows a realization what drugs can do to themselves, and others. And this country should abolish the death penalty. Our God is a loving God. He forgives all.”

A different report described his daughter’s statement as:

Execution drugs and medical sequence (as described)

The described lethal injection sequence included:

• Sodium Pentothal to render him unconscious,
• pancuronium bromide to paralyze his muscles and respiratory system,
• potassium chloride to stop his heart.

Doctors pronounced him dead at 12:39 a.m. (Friday), with reported timing that he was pronounced dead by lethal injection at about 12:30 a.m. / just after 12:30 in other descriptions.

Final meal, medications, and other last-day details (as described)

The described final meal included:

• two salads with ranch dressing,
• rolls,
• prime rib with a loaded baked potato,
• pork chops with steak fries.

He requested and received doses of Ativan, described as an anti-anxiety drug, on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. On Thursday he chose to begin his last day by skipping breakfast. The narrative also described:

• last meetings with family and friends and spiritual advisers,
• a list of witnesses being private but attorney Joe Cleary stating lawyers and spiritual advisers would be present,
• calls including calls to people in the Netherlands,
• spiritual advisers leaving at 11 p.m.

Aftermath

His body was to be transported to Evansville, where he would be buried.

Family members of the victims differed on whether death was the appropriate punishment. The record included statements from:

• Mae McIntire (mother of Debbie Wrinkles’s estranged wife), who said his fate was “well-deserved,” and that he never told her he was sorry for what he did to her children,
• Mary Winnecke (mother of Natalie Fulkerson), who asked for clemency and preferred he spend his life in prison,
• Tracy Hobgood (niece of Tony Fulkerson), who said she opposed his execution and cited methamphetamine addiction and lack of being in his right mind,
• Marti Pizzini (described as an anti-death-penalty protest leader) who protested outside the prison.

The record also described family and community statements about forgiveness, including:

• Tracy Hobgood writing a 21-page letter in March stating she had forgiven him,
• Wrinkles providing a final statement intended as his final statement,
• his execution being described as Indiana’s first in more than two years and his status as a death row inmate scheduled for execution by lethal injection in Michigan City.