Under cross examination, Jay Clark quizzed Braley about Widmer’s sobriety on the night his wife died.
“Sgt. (Lisa) Elliott let you know that Ryan informed her he had four beers. In addition to Sgt. Elliott, officers Bedwell and Short and others said he was acting appropriately,” Clark said. “He wasn’t falling down drunk. No one was concerned about his level of intoxication. There was nothing to raise the concern he had blacked out?”
Braley said “no” his officers did not report that to him. Braley arrived on the scene just after medics took Sarah Widmer to the hospital. Prosecutors made other references to Crew’s testimony that Widmer confessed to her he killed his wife.
This is Widmer’s third trial. The first jury found him guilty, but Judge Neal Bronson tossed out the verdict after jury misconduct was discovered. The second jury was deadlocked last spring.
First Assistant Prosecutor John Arnold briefly quizzed Braley about his investigation in August 2008, when Sarah Widmer drowned in her tub.
Clark was not allowed to bring up alleged false information in Braley’s personnel file, but he did press the detective on his lack of crime scene investigation training and experience. He noted Braley charged Widmer with murder before he had interviewed witnesses and reviewed evidence, including a toxicology report and cell phone records.
Braley said the county coroner’s declaration the death was a homicide was a major factor in his decision to charge Widmer.
Another development on Thursday came when Sarah Widmer’s former boss took the stand.
Dr. John Becker, a dentist from Fort Thomas, Ky., was prevented from giving potentially damaging testimony, statements he has made in the two previous trials.
He previously testified Sarah Widmer inquired about obtaining life insurance shortly after she wed Ryan Widmer. She told him she wanted the coverage because she didn’t want her mother to have to pay for her a funeral if something happened to her.
Defense attorney Lindsey Gutierrez objected when Assistant Prosecutor Travis Vieux asked Becker why Sarah Widmer wanted the insurance. Bronson sustained the objection.
Becker said the Edgewood High School graduate rarely missed work due to illness, and she would go into a dark room on one or two occasions when she was plagued by a migraine.
He said he did not see any trouble in the couple’s fledgling marriage, and that Sarah Widmer did complain about her husband’s smoking and excessive drinking.
Annette Davis, a forensic scientist from the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab testified about evidence she tested in the case. She found no blood anywhere, except the blood-soaked carpet on which Sarah lay after Widmer allegedly pulled her from the tub. The prosecution maintains Widmer shifted his wife’s body, which explains blood stains and fecal matter both at her head and vaginal area.
Criminalist William Hillard once again testified the small handprints that streaked down the back of the tub were made by a “small statured” person. Sarah was 5 feet tall. And a male forearm print on the front of the tub was made after some bottles that were there were removed.
Bronson asked the jury at the start of the day if any of them had conversed with anyone about the case. Usually he just asks if they have complied with his lengthy admonitions about reading, researching or discussing the case.
Meanwhile, Dr. Werner Spitz — a renown forensic pathologist who performed a second autopsy on Sarah Widmer’s body, declaring her manner of death undetermineable — .filed a sworn affidavit Thursday that he is unavailable for trial. Spitz choked on a chicken bone Christmas Eve, according to the defense, and is recuperating. Prosecutors object to declaring Spitz unavailable, which would mean the defense can use his prior testimony in the case.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.
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