Eric Wrinkles

Matthew Eric Wrinkles (January 3, 1960 – December 12, 2009) was a convicted multiple murderer. He served 14 years at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana, and was executed there on December 12, 2009.

On July 21, 1994, Wrinkles murdered his estranged wife, Debra Jean Wrinkles, his brother-in-law Tony Fulkerson, and Fulkerson's wife, Natalie Fulkerson, at their residence in Evansville. Debra Wrinkles and her two children had been living with the Fulkersons since her separation from Wrinkles.^[1] Wrinkles blamed his actions on his addiction to methamphetamine.^[2]

Two weeks before the murders took place, Wrinkles' mother had made efforts to have him committed to a psychiatric facility due to his erratic behavior, but was informed that he didn't meet the criteria.^[3] He was then hospitalized at a different facility; after three days of evaluations, a psychiatrist concluded that he was not "gravely disabled", and discharged him.^[4]

After his release, despite a protective order in effect, Wrinkles went looking for Debra. He showed up at her place of employment, and at the homes of two of her friends, demanding to see her. He was unsuccessful each time. On July 20, 1994, Wrinkles, his wife, and their attorneys met for a provisional hearing in their divorce proceeding. They reached an agreement to set aside the protective order, and for Wrinkles to have visitation. They also agreed that Debra and Wrinkles would meet, with the children, at a restaurant later that day, but Debra elected not to keep that appointment. Later that night, Wrinkles, dressed in camouflage clothing and face paint, armed with a .357 handgun and a knife, drove to the home of Tony Fulkerson. He parked a block away, cut the telephone wires, and kicked in the back door. When he fled the scene, Fulkerson was dead in the bedroom with four gunshot wounds to his face, hip, chest, and back; his wife was dead on the front porch with a gunshot wound to her face; and Debra was dead in the hallway with a gunshot wound to her chest and shoulder area. Wrinkles was later arrested at the home of his cousin, where the .357 murder weapon was recovered. He was convicted of the murders on June 14, 1995, and sentenced to death.^[4]

On November 3, 2009, after the Indiana Supreme Court declined Wrinkles' final review motion, an execution date of December 12, 2009, was announced. A week later, Wrinkles appeared as a guest, via remote feed from the prison, on a segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he was confronted by members of his victims' families.^[5]

Execution

Wrinkles' last meal—prime rib, loaded baked potato, pork chops with fries, rolls and two salads with ranch dressing—was served on December 9. Indiana serves the traditional last meal three days prior to execution, maintaining that a condemned prisoner tends to lose appetite as the time of execution approaches.^[3] His execution by lethal injection took place as scheduled; the time of death was 12:39 AM CST on December 12, 2009. He was 49 years old. Wrinkles declined to make a final statement, saying only, "Let's get it done. Let's lock and load ... it's plagiarized, but what the hell."^[4][6]

References