Background: News footage of Nathan Gingles in court (WTVJ). Inset (top): David Pozner and Mary Catherine Gingles (provided by family). Inset (bottom): Andrew Ferrin (provided by family).
A Florida mother who was allegedly killed by her estranged husband warned people prior to her death that her spouse was “unhinged” and that she feared for her life.
Mary Catherine Gingles, 34, was attempting to get a permanent domestic violence injunction against her husband Nathan Gingles, 43, after filing for divorce in February 2024.
On Feb. 16, Nathan Gingles allegedly shot his father-in-law David Pozner, 64, at Mary Gingles’ Taramac, Florida home. Surveillance cameras showed Mary Gingles fleeing from the home to a neighbor’s house, followed by Nathan Gingles and the couple’s 4-year-old daughter. Nathan Gingles then allegedly gunned down his estranged wife and that neighbor, Andrew Ferrin, 36, before driving away from the scene with his daughter.
Nathan Gingles was eventually found at a local Walmart store with his daughter, who police said witnessed the morning’s horrifying events. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, child abuse, child neglect, and other charges related to domestic violence. He appeared in court on March 6, and pleaded not guilty through his attorney.
But an attorney representing Mary Gingles also presented a new filing on behalf of her late client. On March 7, a new filing obtained by several local news outlets including WTVJ, a local NBC station, seemed to allow Mary Gingles to speak from beyond the grave – and she had a dire warning.
The family court filing was in response to a “request for admission” filed by Nathan Gingles on Feb. 4, in which he demanded his soon-to-be ex-wife to admit that she was not in danger of being harmed by him. She filed her responses two days later, denying him that request and spelling out that she was in “imminent fear” for her life.
Her attorney Kelley Joseph stated that Mary Gingles warned “in her own words” that she felt she was in danger, and that his requests for her to admit she wasn’t were all “denied.”
When asked about a lack of documented threats against her by her husband, Mary Gingles wrote, “Deny. I have documented several threats involving the tracker, the break-ins and other issues.” Mary Gingles recovered a tracker on her vehicle that Nathan Gingles allegedly used to follow her without her consent. She was able to connect credit card transactions and internet searches made by her husband to prove he was responsible for the tracker.
When asked to admit that her husband never threatened to harm her, she wrote, “Denied. Any reasonable person would consider Nathan’s action threated [sic] to harm me.”
Most chillingly, Mary Gingles wrote when asked to admit she was not in fear of becoming a victim of domestic violence, “Deny. Nathan has acted unhinged … for a long time. I am in imminent fear of becoming a victim of domestic violence.”
Ten days later, Mary Gingles was shot to death, allegedly by Nathan Gingles.
Joseph did not share with WTVJ why she waited until after Mary Gingles’ death to file the latest document. However, the filing did meet the deadline required by the court to formally recognize Mary Gingles’ denial of her husband’s request and put her fears for her life on the record.
Now that Nathan Gingles has entered a not guilty plea and requested a jury trial, prosecutors have 45 days to decide if they want to seek the death penalty.
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