Direct Exam: John Arnold

He graduated from the police academy in 2001 and has been an officer with Hamilton Twp. for 9 years. He works road patrol and is also a certified evidence technician. He has also worked in Morrow, OH.

He was on duty the night of Aug. 11, 2008 when he received a dispatch call about a possible drowning. He was nearby and arrived about 5 minutes later.   On his computer screen, he was advised while en route that the female was unresponsive, CPR was in progress and the caller had drained the water and removed her from the bathtub.

He arrived at the same time as Officers Elliott and Bedwell and the cadet who was riding with Deputy Bishop was on the street and told them which house to go to. They entered the residence, headed upstairs, and he saw Ryan standing by the bedroom door.   When he walked in the bedroom, Deputy Bishop was doing CPR, and a few EMTs had just walked in.

He asked Bishop if he needed help, because he's certified in CPR, but Bishop said he was fine. He saw that Bishop was doing compression correctly and saw that the patient was nude and had a pink froth around her mouth and vaginal area.

Sgt. Elliott asked him and Bedwell to move Ryan to another room because it was too upsetting to watch resuscitation efforts. They moved him to an upstairs sitting area and asked him what happened. Ryan told him he'd been watching TV downstairs and came up to find his wife face down in the tub. He didn't have any further contact with Ryan after that.

He went back to the bedroom and asked medics if they needed a towel to dry Sarah off prior to placing the defibrillator pads on her but they said she was dry. Short said he would have expected her body to be wet since it was a drowning but only her hair was damp and there was no water on her body.

He did not assist the paramedics when they rolled her on to the backboard and carried her downstairs. Instead, he stayed upstairs and looked around for some explanation as to why she might have drowned. He saw Ryan putting on shorts and a T-shirt but didn't see any water, blood or any injury marks on him. He didn't see any "water marks" to indicate that his boxer shorts were wet when he was getting dressed.

Arnold asked again where Ryan was when he went upstairs and Short said Ryan was standing in the doorway but then moved to a squatting position, with his hand on the floor. Arnold asked if Ryan offered to help the paramedics, if he said anything to Sarah, inquired of her condition or said he loved her.   Short replied "No" to all the questions.

After Ryan was taken outside, he went into the bathroom to look for evidence and saw magazines on the floor and a wrinkled up rug with a towel laying on it. The trash can in the bathroom had been dumped out on the floor. He said there was some water along the drain stop in the tub, but he didn't see any water on the floor. He was expecting to see items knocked off the edge of the tub onto the floor, water on the floor, wet magazines and wet towels, but "There was nothing there to explain why she was the way she was" he said.

After walking out of the bathroom, he was met by Sgt. Elliott, and they talked about calling Det. Braley. When Braley arrived, they examined the outside of the home for forced entry but found nothing. He took Braley into the house and showed him the bathroom and told him about everything being dry. Braley then called the coroner’s investigator, Doyle Burke. After getting consent from Ryan to search the house, they began looking for evidence and taking photographs.

Short photographed the outside of the house first and then, starting at the front door went through each room and photographed inside the house. He didn't remember how many photos he took. He didn't collect evidence during the photograph session but after taking the photographs, he went to the bathroom to collect evidence.

Arnold put various photos of the inside of the house on the screen for Short to identify. The Widmer dog was looking at the photographer in one photo and a photo of the living room showed a closed Dell laptop sitting on the coffee table.

Arnold asked Short to identify an item shown in the sitting room photo and he said they were bed sheets, but he didn't handle them or examine them.

In a photo of the master bedroom he noticed the TV was on to the Bengals game--a preseason game against the Packers. He also noticed a TV downstairs, and when he turned it on, it was on Ch. 5 but the Bengals game was on ESPN.

The photo of the bedroom showing the two blood spots on the carpet was put on the screen and Short pointed out where Sarah's feet and head were. He then marked an "X" by the doorway where Ryan was standing.

A photo of the inside of the bathroom showed magazines on the floor as well as the vanity, and an unplugged hair straightener lying on the vanity counter. The next photo zoomed in on some balled up clothing on the side of the tub, which Short said was dry. It was a sports bra and cotton underwear.

The next photo showed the drain and a Dial soap bodywash container and a yellow cup in the tub. The officer said there was some moisture on the drain but everything else he photographed was dry. A photo of the front edge of the tub showed a Lysol wipe and container on the front corner at the faucet end and a couple of items that looked like bath product bottles on the edge of the tub. Short thought it was odd that bottles were lined up neatly along the tub's edge. A close-up photo was shown of the Lysol container and used wipe and Short said the used wipe was dry. Another photo shown of the inside of the tub showed a loofa sponge, body wash bottle and shampoo bottle laying near the drain.

A photo of the kitchen table was shown with two crushed Bud Lite cans sitting on it. A photo of the basement laundry room and a kegerator were shown, and Short said there were no towels or clothes in the washer or dryer.   He thought the kegerator had a keg installed. Two empty Bud Lite cans were sitting in the laundry room.

The officer then put on a pair of purple latex gloves and began to ID some evidence items. An envelope containing the Lysol wipe, a gray sports bra that was on the floor next to the tub, Victoria's Secret underwear, black sports bra from the back corner of the tub, Cincinnati Bearcats T-shirt, a tan pair of Victoria's Secret underwear from the edge of the tub, a gray tank top from the edge of the tub, a brown towel recovered from the bathroom floor; the officer stood up and opened the towel to show the jury its size. Magazines were also recovered; Parents, In Touch, Star and People. Short stated that all of these items were dry when they were recovered. He didn't recall what time they were collected but it was after Sarah left the home and after Det. Braley was called.

They also recovered a handwritten note marked "To Ryan, from Sarah" which said, "I can't believe it's finally here. I love you so much. I can't wait to see you. Love, Sarah. PS: I promise I will not be a witch anymore! :) Love you more".  Another envelope was found in another nightstand that said "to Sarah, from Ryan". Both envelopes were marked "in case of a marriage emergency".

A copy of Ryan's cell phone records showed an attempted 911 call at 22:49 for three seconds. Sarah's cell phone was recovered from the dresser in the master bedroom and her phone records showed a 911 call at 22:49 for 391 seconds .

Carpet samples containing the blood stains were also removed from the home. They cut the area out and took the carpet and padding. Short said they made sure they removed the whole stain. There was no indication of moisture on his gloves from the underside of the carpet and the flooring under the carpet was dry.  Short took measurements of the room and drew a diagram of the bedroom as well.

He was on the scene that night for several hours. As a photo was displayed on the screen showing the floor where the carpet and padding was removed, Arnold handed him pieces of the carpet samples to identify.  The officer drew blue circles on the screen to show where each carpet sample came from on the photo. There was a carpet sample from the vaginal area with a blood stain and a carpet sample from the doorway. Another carpet sample taken from where Sarah's head was, showed a brownish-yellow stain.

Arnold asked if he knew the bottom of the carpet sample bag was stained as if it was wet. Short said he heard this but the last time he saw them they were dry. When investigators left, they submitted the evidence into a temporary evidence location and it was stored in a locked evidence cabinet. The bags were brand new, in good shape, they were dry, and didn't have any blood on them. They didn't leave the scene marked as a crime scene because, at the time, it wasn't considered a crime--just a suspicious drowning.

Short dusted the bathtub for fingerprints; he's trained to do this, he said. The tub was dry when they put fingerprint powder on it, and there appeared to be fingerprints sliding down the backside of the tub. A photo was put on display, showing a close-up of the tub with black fingerprint powder, showing the streaking of fingers on the back wall of the tub. Arnold showed several photos displaying the same marks, in different angles and from different views. After they saw the finger streaking in the tub, they contacted the Miami Valley Crime Lab. Two technicians responded to the call and fingerprinted what was dusted. It was decided at that time to remove the tub from the house.  Superglue was used on the tub to make the marks adhere to the tub and show up. They are less likely damaged using this technique, he said. The tub was removed in his presence and everyone wore gloves and were told where they should not touch so they wouldn't contaminate any evidence.

Arnold, Short and the detective sitting at the prosecutor's table moved the tub to the middle of the floor in front of the jury box. Short said the tub was taken to the Miami Valley Crime Lab and he pointed to the "streaks" in the tub.

Arnold then asked why Kroger brown bags are used for evidence. Officer Short explained that plastic will allow the evidence to mildew. Paper bags allow for breathing and drying. Nothing further.

Cross Exam: Lindsey Gutierrez

She began by asking Officer Short if he testified at both previous trials and he replied "yes".

The photo of the Lysol wipe container and used wipe on the edge of the tub was put on the screen. Short agreed he testified today that the wipe was dry, but Gutierrez called his attention to his testimony in the 2010 trial (trial #2), where he said, "When I recovered it, it was still a little damp" because it left moisture on his glove.

Gutierrez asked about his testimony last year when he said he physically touched the carpet as they were removing Sarah from the home, but today he said he never helped move her from the home. He said he was probably referring to 'we' as in them. He never helped to move her, he said.

He testified that the first time he saw the trash can the trash was in it and upright, but Deputy Bishop told him he'd emptied the can and that's how he saw it the next time. The photo was taken with the trash dumped out.

He said tape was put up the night Sarah died as they were processing evidence but he believed someone took it down later that night. Det. Braley arrived at the same time as the ambulance was leaving with Sarah. He said he observed the master bedroom and bath prior to Braley's arrival but he didn't touch anything. He took photos of the outside of the house while awaiting a phone call giving permission to collect evidence and photos from the inside of the home.

The photo of the inside of the tub showing the bottle of Dial soap, yellow cup and loofa sponge was put back up on the screen and Short agreed that nobody touched anything before Braley arrived. He said he was with Braley when he called the coroner's office and Braley told Doyle Burke to go to the hospital.

He admitted that Braley entered the home before Burke obtained permission from Ryan to search the home, but they didn't start photographing the home yet; Short just showed Braley the scene. A close-up photo of the bathroom vanity was then shown displaying a clock that said 11:43. He said if the clock was accurate, that's when he took the picture and it took at least 30 minutes to photograph the home inside and out. Braley followed him as he took photos and he agreed he took photos outside first, then to first floor, then upstairs, and then to the basement. The close-up photo of the drain was shown with the water droplets. He said time had passed since he first observed the tub to the time that he photographed it but he saw some moisture when he first observed the tub too. He agreed that he didn't touch anything on the tub until after the photos were taken but Gutierrez placed photos on the screen showing items had been removed from one evidence photo to another.   A red tube of "Coochy" shave cream is in one evidence photo and missing in another.

He said he photographed the scene first, then picked up an item, and Braley would hold it while he photographed it, then he put it in the evidence bag Braley was holding. He, Braley and Bishop are trained evidence technicians. The drain, stopper and faucet were not removed from the Widmer bathroom. Gutierrez handed him an evidence bag and he identified a faucet inside as the one from the bathroom.  

A photo of the People magazine was shown and Gutierrez asked Short to take the magazine from the evidence bag and open it to the page shown. He did, and said the magazine appeared wrinkled, but it didn't appear it had been wet or stepped on. He said he didn't know what wrinkled it; it just appeared wrinkled and agreed it was wrinkled.

He identified a copy of the evidence log, and agreed it's the information he entered into the computer that night and is a true, accurate copy. The evidence log was displayed on the screen and Gutierrez pointed to the entry that said a bottle of Dial Yogurt Aloe Vera was on the edge of the tub, but the photo showed it's lying inside the tub. Short agreed that was a mistake.

A photo of the sitting area was shown and Gutierrez asked if he was present when Bedwell moved the pile of sheets from a chair so Ryan could sit down. He said that was the first time he heard of that.

Gutierrez handed him a cell phone which he identified as Sarah's. It was turned on the night it was recovered. Investigators read text messages a few days after she died and Short said there was nothing on the cell phone indicating Ryan and Sarah were having problems. Asked if investigators ever found any indication of a problem between Ryan and Sarah, he said they didn't. He identified the envelopes that were found in the bedroom which said: "Open In case of marriage emergency". He said they were not open but investigators opened them.

Short pulled a carpet sample out of the brown evidence bag, held it up and turned it around to show both sides to the jury. He then showed a smaller carpet sample, with a blood stain on it. The stain on the back side appeared larger than the front. When asked how that could happen, he said if it was wet, the stain could have spread making it appear larger than it was originally.

Short and Braley listened to the 911 call at the Widmer house, but he couldn’t remember who else was there. He believed they listened to it before they started collecting evidence. On Aug. 14, 2008, they requested a copy of the 911 call.

He agreed that police believe they may find evidence of a crime when they request a search warrant so he went to Det. Bailey's house, [another detective for Hamilton Twp PD] and then they went to the prosecutor's office and prepared an affidavit for a search warrant. He wasn't sure when he did this, but officers asked for one Aug. 12 and executed it on Aug. 13.

That's when they retrieved items like the computer, the "in case of marriage emergency" envelopes and the magazines, towels and clothes that were in the bathroom. He took swabs of the sinks and the tub but couldn't recall if he took swabs of the toilet.

Det. Braley dusted the tub and called the crime lab but then left halfway thru the day, prior to removing the tub. Short said he wasn't present on Aug. 13 when Braley signed an arrest warrant and he wasn't present when Officer Bedwell arrested Ryan.

Gutierrez began to say nothing further, but Clark said something to her and she walked over to him. Addressing the judge, Arnold said, " How many lawyers are we having today?" Before the judge could reply, Gutierrez said "nothing further".

Re-Direct: John Arnold

Short said he physically touched the area between the blood stains on the carpet after Sarah left, and said it was dry. " He didn't know what condition the evidence bags were stored in; they could have been stored flat, on their side or sometimes relocated. Nothing further.

Re-Cross: Lindsey Gutierrez

Asked if he cut the carpet samples or if Det. Braley did and Short replied, that Braley did.

Nothing further.