Winter Signaled Trouble, Pal Says

By RICH SHOPES The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 7, 2007

Wednesday afternoon, News Channel 8 technical director Bobby Fontaine received an e-mail from his best friend, colleague and business partner.

It was as simple as it was ominous.

"I'm feeling bad bro," wrote John Winter, a News Channel 8 meteorologist.

In an interview with the news station's Jennifer Leigh on Friday, Fontaine recalled knowing about Winter's inner pain.

"He was funny, witty and had this 10th-grade sense of humor, but had the ability to make it cool, even though it was old-school," Fontaine said. "But then John would get in a dark place, and it was depression.

"A lot of people have issues, have handicaps ... and you can see them, but when people are handicapped up here," he said, tapping his head, "people don't always see it. With John, I think he had problems up here."

Fontaine said he decided to speak with News Channel 8 to try to make sense of what happened and to urge people dealing with depression to get help.

Fontaine responded to Winter's e-mail, saying he was there for him and would see him the next day.

Bobby Fontaine knows about pain.

Several months ago, his son Devin was killed by an accidental gunshot wound.

Winter was one of those to console him.

Thursday afternoon, a day after Winter's e-mail, it was Fontaine who tried consoling a distraught Winter.

There were several frantic phone calls that day between Winter and Fontaine. Winter's wife, Karen, was worried, too, speaking to Fontaine and Winter on a three-way call. The weatherman was talking about ending his life. He called the two to apologize for what he was about to do.

Fontaine pleaded with him and offered comfort.

"I tried to tell him about all the positive things about him," Fontaine said. "John knows I'm a person of faith, and I tried to share that with him, in terms of things can get better and there are things to look forward to in life."

At one point during their conversations, it seemed Winter had calmed down, but then "this feeling" welled up in Fontaine's stomach. He decided to go to Winter's house to convince the distraught man in person that life mattered, that he was loved.

"I told him this was something he did not want to do, but he couldn't get from one point to the other."

Sheriff's deputies got to the house first.

Alerted by an anonymous caller at 3:30 p.m., deputies went to Winter's home in the Tealrise subdivision to check on him, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies found Winter's car in the driveway and knocked on the front door.

Fontaine arrived just after the deputies. He was outside, watching the events unfold.

Deputies say when they got no response at the door, they forced their way inside.

Then they heard a gunshot from the garage.

"I kept calling out to him," Fontaine said.

Deputies found Winter's body in the garage.

No one else was home, deputies said.

Winter, 39, is survived by his father, Jack Winter; his mother, Albina Schuster; his wife, Karen; and two sisters.

Winter left behind thousands of grieving fans. More than 7,000 people have signed a guestbook on TBO.com.

He also left behind dozens of stunned co-workers at the NBC affiliate where Winter had worked for almost 13 years.

Evening anchors Stacie Schaible and Bob Hite shared the terrible news with viewers on Thursday.

Friday morning, that sad responsibility fell to morning anchors Bill Ratliff and Leigh, who introduced a montage of video clips showing Winter joking with anchors and fellow meteorologist Steve Jerve.

The usually upbeat and active newsroom was so quiet Friday morning that "you could hear a pin drop," reporter Jeff Patterson said.

"As professionals, we have to deal with this kind of thing all of the time, but now we're on the other side of it. It's surreal," said Patterson, a friend of Winter's and fellow member of the Rough Riders charity organization.

Funeral arrangements had not been settled Friday.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.