reporter: they wrestled on the bedroom floor, he said. just a couple of feet from the crib where 7-month old alex was sleeping. and, overweight and out-of-shape, said todd, he was fighting for his life with his much fitter wife. it was a long, long, long protracted struggle. uh-huh. i don t know how long, but it was a long time. she s a very strong girl. uh-huh. she s an extremely strong girl. and she had me on the bottom. and she was on top of me. like, back and forth between bottom and top in this struggle over the scissors reporter: then, he said, he finally overpowered her, got control of those scissors. i was able to get them turned around onto her. uh-huh. and give her some jabs. she was injured at this point, but probably not seriously. uh-huh.
here again is keith morrison. reporter: todd winkler, distressed by his wife s infidelity, found an unlikely ally as he prepared to confront her lover james white . but in this case, rachel s dad don hatfield was only too happy to help. he did not approve of his daughter s behavior just too much like his own once was. and don was a guy who d been carrying his guilt like a cross for years. i tried to lead all of my children to the love of jesus christ. there was only one major obstacle to that ever occurring in a way that that i would be happy with. and that was my hypocrisy. what do you mean? huh? your hypocrisy? my hypocrisy chasing women uh-huh. blowing my marriage. reporter: as don tells it, women found his role as an ascendant artist quite appealing. never mind he was a married father of four. and that kind of thing destroyed this - literally,
i poked her in the eye really hard and got her to break free. reporter: he retreated, he said, as quick as he could. and i got up and got out of there and then ran to my car. got to my car and thought, get out of here. i thought, oh, my god. i didn t realize. get the children, get the children out here. reporter: his two daughters were in their room, but baby alex was with the wounded rachel. standing there in the garage, he said, he made a decision. he had to protect his children. he would go back in and rescue them from rachel. i grabbed my motorcycle jacket at that point. put it on, zipped it up. it s got pads over here for, like, breaking down the door. uh-huh. and i rushed into the room. reporter: she must have been waiting, said todd, to pounce. he was, he told police, soon in a fight to the death to save his own life. i tripped and fell forward when i rushed into the room. she kicked me in the face and then we got into
reporter: she must have been waiting, said todd, to pounce. he was, he told police, soon in a fight to the death to save his own life. i tripped and fell forward when i rushed into the room. she kicked me in the face and then we got into uh-huh. another subsequent struggle on the floor. and once i, you know, started to get the upper hand, i just, i pushed the scissors in as far as i could. and where was that, do you recall? in her throat. in her throat. i don t know how long. quite a very long time. okay, and why did you hold her there like that with the scissors in? i knew if i d let go, i mean, she still had her hand on these scissors. i was also fearing for, you know, she was, it was probably
and don was a guy who d been carrying his guilt like a cross for years. i tried to lead all of my children to the love of jesus christ. there was only one major obstacle to that ever occurring in a way that that i would be happy with. and that was my hypocrisy. what do you mean? huh? your hypocrisy? my hypocrisy chasing women uh-huh. blowing my marriage. reporter: as don tells it, women found his role as an ascendant artist quite appealing. never mind he was a married father of four. and that kind of thing destroyed this - literally, destroyed my family. reporter: by the time rachel was in middle school, don s string of affairs led to a home-shattering divorce. i think that the the obliteration of the nuclear family had a profound effect on rachel. reporter: now, he feared, the apple hadn t fallen far from the tree. his daughter rachel was in the middle of an affair herself and it was putting her marriage at risk.