Wellington bicycle ride to honor memory of Donnah Winger, slain by her husband in 1995

WELLINGTON — Donnah Winger, a 33-year-old mother and nurse, was beaten to death with a hammer inside her home in Springfield, Illinois, during the summer of 1995. For seven years, her husband, Mark, got away with the murder.

Mark Winger framed another man for her death. A man whom he had shot that day. Years went by before the case was re-opened and Mark Winger was sentenced to life in prison for plotting a double-murder. Donnah's family was devastated.

On Sunday, her sister, Jenny, and her husband, Stephen A. Levin, will host a community bike ride in Wellington to raise funds for Donnah's Fund, the family's nonprofit that supports women suffering domestic abuse. It has helped more than 300 families regain their independence, working with Women In Distress of Broward County, a domestic violence treatment center based in Lighthouse Point.

"We conceived the Western Ride to combine Donnah's tragedy with a sport that I love and continue to keep her memory alive," said Stephen Levin, an avid cyclist who has lived in the village since 2003. "It's a ride, not a race."

Sunday's ride in Donnah Winger's memory offers 15-, 30-, 60-mile loops

The event will feature courses of 15, 30 and 60 miles with entries in each priced at $75. All proceeds will go to Donnah's Fund, the nonprofit founded by Sara Jane Drescher, Donnah's mother, on the 15th anniversary of her death in 2010.

The village is co-sponsoring the ride, which will start and end in front of Village Hall on Forest Hill Boulevard.

The 15-mile ride, recommended for novices, will stay close to the village's center. Participants will start on Forest Hill, head east to Lyons Road, then south to Pierson Road before returning to the starting point, crossing through Greenview Shores Boulevard.

For the 30-mile route, intermediate riders will pedal a loop starting on Forest Hill,  head east to Lyons, then south to State Road 7 before turning west onto 50th Street South and then north along South Shore, Pierson, Greenbriar Boulevard and Aero Club Drive before returning to the start.

The 60-mile ride is a two-loop version of the 30-mile course. Deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office will guard all intersections.

"As an emergency-room nurse, she was always about helping others," Stephen Levin said. "We want to make sure that Donnah's Fund continues to help others."

Mark Winger tried to pin Donnah's murder on Illinois airport shuttle driver

The Wingers seemed to have the perfect marriage, Donnah's mother, Sara Jane Drescher, said in an email to The Palm Beach Post.

"We never knew or suspected abuse in Donnah’s relationship," Drescher wrote. "So there was no way we could have prevented her murder."

It was 1995, and the couple had been married for 10 years. Mark worked as a nuclear engineer, and they lived in a comfortable home. In June that year, they adopted a child.

Three months later, on Aug. 29, everything changed.

Mark called 911 saying a man had broken into their home and killed Donnah after repeatedly striking her with a hammer. He told police he had shot the man in self-defense.

The man in question was airport driver Roger Harrington. Almost a week earlier, he had driven Donnah and the baby home when they returned from visiting her parents in Florida. Donnah told her husband that Harrington was speeding and talking about killing people during the half-hour ride, according to Mark Winger. He promised to call the company, according to police records.

Six days later, Mark told police he shot Harrington when he found him laying on top of Donnah, hitting her with a hammer that was left in the living room. Only three Polaroid pictures of the scene were taken before Donnah and Harrington were rushed to a hospital, where they died.

Police confirmed the meeting from the airport between the two and learned Harrington had a record of poor mental health. A prosecutor closed the case the following day.

Donnah's parents and friends and other community members supported Mark and called him a hero. Almost everyone believed his story. Harrington's family and a local detective, however, never did.

Donnah Winger's friend told police of Mark Winger's fantasies of killing wife

Three years later, a witness came forward with revelations that reopened the case.

Donnah's friend, DeAnn Shultz, told police she was having an affair with Mark at the time of the murder. She said he constantly fantasized about killing his wife, and even talked of a plan to get Harrington to the house.

Officers questioned Mark, who admitted the affair but denied ever wanting to kill his wife. Police re-examined the pictures taken of the bodies and found evidence that Mark had talked with Harrington to set up a meeting at the house.

Detectives arrested Mark Winger in 2002, and seven years after Donnah's murder, he was sentenced to life in prison without parfor both murders, an outcome that drew national media attention.

In 2005, Mark plotted from his prison cell to kill DeAnn Shultz, and two years later was found guilty of soliciting murder. The conviction added 35 years to his life sentence.

Drescher says the nonprofit has given the family the opportunity to save other women and is grateful the ride will provide them funds to keep going.

"It also keeps Donnah’s spirit alive, and that has helped us endure these past 27 years," she wrote.

The Western Ride

What: Bicycle rides of 15, 30 and 60 miles through Wellington. The entry fees will raise money for Donnah's Fund. The nonprofit helps Women In Distress of Broward County provide services to domestic violence victims in South Florida.

When: Sunday, starting at Village Hall at Forest Hill Boulevard and Wellington Trace. The 60-mile ride starts at 7 a.m., followed by the 30-mile at 7:10 and the 15-mile at 7:20.

Cost: The entry fee is $75.

Details: Go online to www.bikereg.com/56916.

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on Twitter at @ValenPalmB.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Donnah Winger murder: Wellington bike ride to benefit abuse victims