Page 6 - Forceful Drowning News Today

The prosecutors would have to convince other jury that ryan widmer had killed his wife. its got to be hugely frustrated, you got a guilty verdict, youve got to do it over again. >> on the other hand, we knew how a jury would react to our evidence. >> on the other side of the choice, the defense has seen your case. >> and we cant change it very much. >> ryan widmer trial, take two. >> imagine ryan at 6 2". >> a new juror makes a dramatic return to the scene of the drowning. and later, ryan widmer...

After a jury found ryan widmer guilty of murder, only to have the verdict thrown out, it would start over again. this time a new defense team would take over ryans case. the new lawyers worried that even though they were starting the trial with a clean slate of jurors, the verdict from the first trial would still hang over the accused. >> hes still innocent until proven guilty. everyone thinks and knows he was proven guilty. >> across the courtroom, the prosecution team was the same. it would ha...

>> finally a woman came in and we said is she gone, and she said, yes. he just dropped down to his knees and was just balling and sobbing, went to the chair. >> sarah whitman, 24 years old, the bride of less than four months was dead. her husband ryan told the emergency services people he thought shed fallen asleep in the bathroom and drowned. but those emts doing cpr didnt understand one crucial observation they made at the home that night. theres something here that doesnt look right. >> comin...

There had been a violent confrontation in the widmer house that night. >> ryan widmer purposely killed sarah stewart widmer and murdered her by drowning. >> the prosecutors began with the first moments of the case. ryans call to 911. >> my wife, she fell asleep in the bathtub, i think. i was downstairs. i came up here and she was laying face down in the bathtub. >> on the stand the emergency dispatcher testified that the voice on the phone that night was giving more details than normal. >> it se...

Hemorrhage in her neck can be the result of cpr. >> as the coroner saw it, the significant bruising on sarahs neck was caused by ryans forceful drowning of her. >> do you have an opinion as to the manner of sarahs death? >> yes. the manner of death was homicide. >> and that took prosecutors into the realm of speculation. what had happened in the bedroom that night if sarah hadnt drowned by herself in the bathtub? this forensic pathologist had one scenario explaining a damp head but dry body. >> ...

Mom. ♪ >> reporter: that monday night the cincinnati bengals were looking more than decent against green bay. fans across town, like jeff braley, wondered if this could finally be a miracle season for the back-then hapless local franchise of the nfl. but braley didnt get to see all of the game. he was a cop, a detective. and you dont get to pick your down time. >> i was at home watching the bengals game. i get a call from the sergeant. "lieutenant, were out on a drowning. the paramedics are wo...

Guilty of murder, only to have the verdict thrown out, it would start over again. this time a new defense team would take over ryans case. the new lawyers worried that even though they were starting the trial with a clean slate of jurors, the verdict from the first trial would still hang over the accused. >> hes still innocent until proven guilty. everyone thinks and knows he was proven guilty. >> across the courtroom, the prosecution team was the same. it would hammer home the argument that a h...

Expect. when you are a cop more than a decade you become familiar with the signs of the drowning like the froth about the victims nose and mouth. >> your mind starts running immediately about possibilities. they initially tell me i have a 24-year-old drowning victim that died in the tub. im thinking that we will find evidence of something. drugs. evidence of an overdose or something. as he pulled up the victim was already loaded in the back of the ambulance. the arriving police officer was still...

The prosecutors would have to convince other jury that ryan widmer had killed his wife. its got to be hugely frustrated, you got a guilty verdict, youve got to do it over again. >> on the other hand, we knew how a jury would react to our evidence. >> on the other side of the choice, the defense has seen your case. >> and we cant change it very much. >> ryan widmer trial, take two. a new jury makes a dramatic return to the scene of the drowning. and later, ryan widmer tells his own story.

Shes undergone significant cpr. however there is no hemorrhage anywhere in the area of the chest. so its difficult to try to rationalize that the hemorrhage in her neck can be the result of cpr. >> as the coroner saw it, the significant bruising on sarahs neck was caused by ryans forceful drowning of her. >> do you have an opinion as to the manner of sarahs death? >> yes. the manner of death was homicide. >> and that took prosecutors into the realm of speculation. what had happened in the bedroo...