Timeline of third trial
»Day 1 (Wed., Jan. 27): The former manager of an Iowa gentlemen’s club was revealed as the mystery witness who is expected to testify for the prosecution and say Widmer admitted he killed his wife. In opening statements, the defense claimed Widmer expressed his love for his wife to Jennifer Crew, who memorized an episode about the case that aired on “Dateline,” the NBC news magazine. »Day 2 (Thurs., Jan. 28): Hamilton Twp. EMT Jeff Teague agreed portions of a run report contained erroneous information and several form sections were left blank. Warren County Sheriff’s deputy Steve Bishop testified he saw a small pool of water in the middle of the Widmers’ bathtub. In prior testimony, first responders have only said there were droplets on the tub drain.
»Day 3 (Friday, Jan. 29): Warren County Coroner Russell Uptegrove tells jurors that Sarah Widmer died of a drowwning, but her manner of death was a homicide. Uptegrove said he found bruising that were inconsistent with bruises made by life-saving procedures. Ohio State expert Dr. James Moore testified Sarah Widmer’s medical records revealed nothing that could have led to her death, but said there’s a possibility she could have had a seizure for the first time.
LEBANON — Both sides agree Sarah Widmer died from drowning, but Warren County’s coroner told jurors again Friday the manner of death was homicide.
Uptegrove testified for more than five hours on the third day in the murder trial for Ryan Widmer. He told the court, as he has in the other trials, following his autopsy of Sarah Widmer on Aug. 11, 2008, he determined the young woman’s death was not an accident or a suicide attempt.
The defense for her husband countered that Uptegrove declared this without the benefit of some crucial information.
Uptegrove told First Assistant Prosecutor John Arnold during questioning that toxicology tests, medical records and information from first responders are important cogs in formulating a decision on the manner of death.
During cross examination, Uptegrove told defense attorney Lindsey Gutierrez that he declared the death a homicide without having seen the toxicology report. Although the tests later show Sarah Widmer only had caffeine in her body, Guiterrez said they could have shed light on whether she had drugs or alcohol in her system that could have caused her to pass out and drown in the tub,
The prosecution alleges Widmer, 30, drowned Sarah Widmer, his wife of only four months in their Warren County home. This is the third time he has been tried for her death. The other two were declared mistrials.
During Uptegrove’s testimony, the prosecution walked him through gruesome autopsy photos of Sarah Widmer’s body.
Uptegrove, who told jurors he has performed nearly 4,000 autopsies, testified he found suspicious bruising on Sarah Widmer’s head and neck. He said it was caused by either compressional force or blunt force.
Medics tried unsuccessfully five times to intubate Sarah Widmer, pressed forcefully on her chest for 45 minutes and stuck her arms and jugular vein with IV needles.
Uptegrove said the bruising he found on her body was nefarious and he has never known life saving measures to cause such extensive injury. During questioning, he said he had reports during the autopsy from medics and Bethesda Medical Center at Arrow Springs where Sarah Widmer was taken.
It became apparent in cross examination he didn’t look at those reports because he testified medics only tried to put an IV needle in one arm. He said it took several tries to get the IV needle in the jugular vein. Hamilton Twp. paramedic Jason Stevens testified on Thursday that he tried unsuccessfully to get a line in both arms, but it only took in the jugular.
Given that Sarah Widmer’s death was so unexpected, Gutierrez asked why Uptegrove didn’t try to discover if she may have suffered a first-ever seizure or heart problem. Uptegrove said there were no indications to prompt further investigation.
Gutierrez said had Uptegrove taken samples from 14 sections of the brain, he could have had a neurological pathologist do tests to determine if she suffered a seizure. The coroner said he wasn’t certain that would have detected a possible problem.
The prosecution countered by asking Uptegrove if renown forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, who did a second autopsy on Sarah Widmer, asked for the extraordinary tests. Uptegrove said he wasn’t even aware Spitz was involved in the case at the beginning
Earlier in the day, Dr. James Moore, a medical doctor and adjunct professor at Ohio State University, testified Sarah Widmer’s medical records revealed nothing that could have led to her death, but said there’s a possibility she could have had a seizure for the first time.
Moore said he found nothing that would make him think she was a candidate for seizures.
But during cross examination, Moore said “it couldn’t be ruled out” when asked about her having a first-time seizure.
Arnold was quick to counter during his redirect of Moore, “You acknowledge theoretically lots of things could happen, but that is not the same as a reasonable probability.”
Both Moore and Uptegrove said a heart murmur Sarah suffered when she was 10 months old was not a factor in her death and Uptegrove said he didn’t detect any remnants of such a malady when he inspected her heart.
Now that Uptegrove’s testimony is finished, the prosecution is free to put Jennifer Crew on the stand. Crew, who remained unnamed until the start of the trial, is expected to tell the jury Widmer confessed to killing his wife.
The prosecution had to first establish with the coroner that a crime occurred, according to legal expert Ian Friedman.
“The court is making sure that the state lays the foundation for the alleged subsequent confession,” he said. “If you do not properly lay a foundation for a series of questions, you may not be able to elicit testimony on the point. It is like putting the cart before the horse.”
Mystery witness e-mailed Widmer
Crew, 36, is traveling from Iowa to testify for the prosecution that an inebriated Widmer confessed in a phone conversation with her to killing Sarah.
According to the defense, Crew is a former gentlemen’s club manager with a prescription drug problem, who hooked up with Widmer electronically and via telephone after a TV show about his case aired on NBC’s “Dateline” in September 2009.
E-mails allegedly from the woman to Widmer were released by a website that supports the suspect. The operators of FreeRyanWidmer.com posted the e-mails that show that she became invested in Widmer. One e-mail dated Sept. 18, 2010 reads:
“Hello Ryan, I just watched the Dateline program and my heart went out to you. It is a travesty that you were convicted. I could tell by watching the video that you loved your wife so much! God knows that you are innocent that is why you are free now,” the e-mail reads.
“Your wife is watching you from heaven and is now your heavenly angel just as she was your angel on earth. You and your family are in my prayers. I will be watching and praying for you. Please let me know if there is anything I personally can do to assist you and your family. God Bless you, Jennifer.”
First two trials set scene for third
The first trial in 2009 produced a guilty verdict that was nullified by jury misconduct. The second trial ended with a hung jury in June.
The prosecution has laid out its case in the same fashion it did for the first two trials. They have followed chronologically from the 911 call to what first responders observed and did at the scene.
The lawyers in this case have the benefit of hindsight and have capitalized on it, using prior testimony of the witnesses to impeach what they said previously.
Hamilton Twp. Police Sgt. Lisa Elliott told defense counsel Lindsey Gutierrez the bathroom was dry when she arrived. Gutierrez pointed to her prior testimony, in which she it was fairly dry.
It was the first time Elliott testified Widmer was visibly upset, talking loudly and gesturing wildly out in the front yard before he went to the hospital with his wife.
She also added to her testimony that Sarah Widmer’s hand rolled during chest compressions, revealing no pruning, which would be expected from soaking in a tub. Elliott testified again that she didn’t notice Sarah’s pristine finger and toe nail polish and manicures, despite being aware there was no pruning.
Coroner’s investigator Doyle Burke testified the absence of pruning would be variable since he didn’t have tub water temperatures or know the length of time Sarah was out of the tub.
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