Steward suggested her daughter and Widmer weren’t always the perfect couple as was portrayed in the first trial. The Widmers wed four months before Sarah Widmer died on Aug. 11, 2008. Widmer is accused of drowning his wife in their Hamilton Twp. home. He was found guilty of murder last year, but was granted a new trial because of juror misconduct.
Steward said prior to the wedding in April 2008, Widmer and her daughter were “on edge” and argued over minor things like where to hang pictures in their new house.
When Steward took the stand a year ago, the defense declined to cross examine her. On Wednesday, defense attorney Lindsey Gutierrez questioned Steward about the couple’s relationship and whether her daughter ever complained about her new husband.
“She wouldn’t have,” Steward said. “She treated me more like she was taking care of me.”
While police haven’t detected any money issues in the marriage, Steward said she noticed Widmer watching Sarah Widmer’s spending.
“We would be out shopping and as soon as she would buy something he would call her on her cell phone and ask her why she bought it and did she really need it,” Steward said.
Widmer went with the Steward and her family to make funeral arrangements before he was charged with his wife’s murder on Aug. 13 His brother-in-law Mike Steward implored the judge to lower Widmer’s bond so he could attend the service. Widmer never made it, but Steward said he did attend a private burial in October with the family.
Widmer’s mother Jill Widmer, who has been relegated to the hallway because she was a potential witness in the trial, entered the courtroom just prior to Steward’s testimony.
Defense attorneys said they will not call Jill Widmer to testify. At the last trial, she testified about Sarah Widmer’s odd sleep habits. However, the defense in this trial is not maintaining Sarah Widmer fell asleep and drowned in her bathtub. They maintain she suffered a medical emergency and the bruising Warren County Coroner Russell Uptegrove found on her body can all be attributed to the 48 minutes medical professional spent trying to revive her.
However, Dr. C. Jeffrey Lee, deputy coroner and chief forensic patholist for Licking County, disputed the types of bruises found on her body. He testified the purple-colored bruising where the IV needle went into Sarah Widmer’s jugular vein can be differentiated from the brownish reddish bruise that stretches around to the front of her neck, as well a the small, fingertip-sized bruise on the right side of her neck.
“Because they are different colors there are two different mechanisms,” he said. “This one was from the IV and the second was due to squeezing or a blunt force trauma.”
Another expert also testified all the bruising on Sarah Widmer was not caused by efforts to save her life.
First Assistant Prosecutor John Arnold asked Dr. William Rogers if the finger mark could have been caused by someone performing the Sellick maneuver. That maneuver involves applying pressure near the Adams apple, to help bring the airway into view during intubation.
Rogers said that would be impossible.
“But if you are trying to do the Sellick maneuver over there, you have manifestly lost your way,” Rogers said.
Rogers also said the mark could have been caused in a fight or altercation.
It would be normal to find bruising on the sternum where first responders were compressing Sarah Widmer’s chest continuously for 40 to 50 minutes, Rogers said. Bruising also should have been present on her jaw, where medics attached a bag mask to try and ventilate her. There were no marks in either location.
“So we don’t have bruising where you would expect to see it from CPR,” Arnold said “And we do have bruising where you wouldn’t expect to see it from CPR?”
“Yes sir,” Rogers said.
When defense attorney Hal Arenstein cross examined Rogers, he used a technique the new defense team has used often, throwing a witness’ prior testimony in their face. Arenstein read from the prior trial transcript where Rogers testified that the medics had a difficult time inserting the IV needle in Sarah’s jugular.
Rogers testified Wednesday that “it was a successful stick, there were no problems and it was not difficult.”
Rogers said he talked to the first responders between the trials and that’s when they said the IV insertion in the jugular was uneventful.
It appears the prosecution is about out of witnesses on its list and could wrap up its case today, May 20.
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