Uptegrove testified that since Sarah Widmer was essentially dead when first responders arrived, the bruising he found during the autopsy had to occur before they arrived because her blood was not circulating.
Widmer, 29, is accused of drowning his bride of four months, Sarah Widmer, in their Hamilton Twp. home on Aug. 11, 2008. He was found guilty of murder last year, but was granted a new trial due to jury misconduct during deliberations.
The defense countered that chest compressions done almost continuously for 45 to 50 minutes to revive Sarah Widmer would have moved blood in the body.
Defense attorney Jay Clark said drowning victims also suffer “hemodilution,” which greatly increases the volume of the blood. That blood has to go somewhere and Clark asked if it would reach where medics poked IV tubes in her jugular vein and expand into soft tissue.
Uptegrove admitted that’s possible.
Following his autopsy, Uptegrove declared Sarah Widmer died by drowning and said he found bruising on her head and neck, which led him to conclude she was murdered.
Uptegrove testified that severe bruising on Sarah Widmer’s neck was likely caused by some form of strangulation. “When you see petechia hemorrhage and anterior neck injuries, it raises a flag that foul play may be involved,” Uptegrove said.
The defense maintains the bruising occurred when first responders tried five times to intubate her and stuck IV needles in her jugular vein and both arms.
Uptegrove also testified that when someone’s airway is constricted, perhaps from a strangle hold, their ability to fight back is diminished. However, Clark showed him a drawing of someone being assailed in a choke hold from behind and the “victim” was grabbing the arms of his assailant.
During the autopsy, Uptegrove said didn’t find any defensive wounds on her hands or evidence she had scratched her attacker.
First responders to the scene have testified the victim’s fingers and toes weren’t pruny from soaking in a tub. None of them noticed her pristine French manicure except the man who is trained to look for those things. Clark said Uptegrove surely would have photographed Sarah Widmer’s hands had her nails been mangled. He asked Uptegrove if he knew what a French manicure was.
“I’ve never had one but I know what one looks like,” Uptegrove said and admitted nothing was amiss with her manicure or her pink painted toenails.
When asked by defense, Uptegrove admitted Sarah Widmer could have suffered a first-ever stroke. But nothing in her medical history suggests that was likely, he said.
Clark asked Uptegrove if there were other tests he could have ordered to determine genetic illnesses no one might have known she had. He said there are tests but they are very condition-specific and can take a very long time.
Uptegrove said he determined the drowning death a homicide before he received records from Sarah Widmer’s previous doctor visits. He agreed it is important to talk to family and friends, but admitted he did not talk to her husband.
“I figured her mother would know her better than anyone else,” he said.
During the presentation of the autopsy photos, Widmer did not look and the defense turned off the monitor at its table that displays evidence that is on the giant screen for the jury.
Hamilton Twp. Lt. Jeff Braley, the lead detective in the case, testified the night of Sarah Widmer’s death he investigated the house for about three hours before he left at 2 a.m. and removed the crime scene tape.
The defense made a big deal Monday the house wasn’t preserved as a crime scene after the tape was taken down.
“It was not a known crime scene,” he said. “I knew I had a suspicious death, but I did not have a crime scene.”
The defense quizzed Braley for almost two hours, questioning whether he followed usual protocols as he built his case against Widmer. The defense said he didn’t keep a timed log of evidence as he collected it. He didn’t record the weather conditions or atmospheric state inside the house. He had a list of who came and went from the home that night, but not the times when they arrived and departed.
The defense had previously said they wanted to introduce evidence from Braley’s work records from General Electric, the U.S. Postal Service and Hamilton Twp. The prosecution and Braley fought hard to keep that information out and apparently they won that pre-trial battle.
Sarah Widmer’s best friend since they were four years old, Katherine Cook, also took the stand. She said she has not known her friend to be overly sleepy and the night she died, Sarah Widmer did complain about a headache but no other maladies.
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