and i got a hold of them. and we had a struggle on the bed and rolled off onto the bed. uh-huh. and got into this struggle over the scissors. i took some cuts just on my hands trying to get them away from her. 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. 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.
todd and rachel winkler s marital issues did not noticeably ruffle the surface of normal suburban life. a neighbor bumped into todd that afternoon. he stopped and talked to us for, you know, a couple a minutes and, you know, wished us well and kept going. he was pushing the two strollers with all three kids and he didn t look particularly cheerful. reporter: todd had no way of knowing that sunday afternoon that rachel was back at james mountain house, double-checking her divorce application. she finished the paperwork and i m going to file it the next morning. reporter: you re continuing the relationship. she is filling out divorce papers. he s trying to block her. she s determined to do it. uh-huh. she turned to me that day, she say, you know what, james? whether you re in the picture or not, i m divorcing todd. i want out. reporter: whether you re in the picture or not? but was there some doubt about that? no. she said the reason why she wants to be with me is becaus
here and having primary custody on that. going to fight you on this. and, she said, no, you know, i m looking to have my boyfriend get rid of you. her boyfriend is a big gun collector. reporter: as todd told it, when rachel said that when she threatened to send james white to get rid of him, whatever that meant, he overreacted and punched rachel. where did you hit her? i hit her right by the face. after she had told you basically she was going to have this, her boyfriend take care of you. yeah, yeah. reporter: todd said he tried to apologize. and i m rubbing back saying, i m sorry, you know, i m just so sorry, there s not i m sorry. reporter: but then, he said, rachel turned around and attacked him with a deadly weapon. reporter: she was coming at me with a vee of scissors. uh-huh.
uh-huh. and give her some jabs. she was injured at this point, but probably not seriously. uh-huh. 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.