Sarah's mother

Direct Exam: Travis Vieux

Vieux put a photo of Sarah on the screen and Ruth identified the person as her daughter. About Sarah, she said, "Sarah just wanted to make people happy, she was my best friend." Sarah's father passed away from cancer in June 2007, a year before Sarah died.   She grew up in Trenton and went to Edgewood High School. She was in soccer, volleyball, t-ball, and basketball and was a very active child.   She was born with a cleft palate and a heart murmur when she was a baby but the murmur never affected her ability to participate in sports. Sarah was going to have surgery for her cleft palate when she was still a baby so she was taken to a pediatric cardiologist to be checked. She never complained of shortness of breath, a racing heart, dizziness, etc. and never had any serious head injury while playing

sports.

After graduating from Edgewood High School, she went to UC for dental hygiene training and graduated after five years. Sarah attended UC year-round, which she said was normal. After graduation, she went to work for a dentist across the river in Kentucky and found a place to live five minutes from the office. She moved to Warren County when she met Ryan.

The dentist Sarah worked for in Kentucky was Dr. Becker. He was very good to Sarah because he allowed Sarah to attend her father's cancer treatments.   She was very close to her father and when he had some experimental treatment, Dr. Becker allowed her to miss work frequently to be with her father during this. He also paid her during some out-of-town trips with her father when he went for treatment.   Sarah helped her take care of her dad 2 or 3 times a week and his death affected Sarah greatly because she watched her father suffer.   After he died, Sarah took over the "mother role", calling

her everyday to check on her.

Sarah never had a seizure and was never diagnosed with a seizure disorder. There's no family history of seizures, cardiac problems or heart disease on either side. Other than the heart murmur as a baby, she had no history of cardiac problems. She never collapsed while playing sports as a child or an adult. She never complained of headaches other than sinus headaches when the weather changed and an upset stomach from sinus drainage. She took medication for that. She suffered from headaches most of her life but they got worse as she got older. She had migraines during the time her father was sick and passed away, but never complained any further than that because Sarah took on the role of "mom"

after her father died to support her (Ruth Ann).

Sarah had no long-term illness. She heard the stories about Sarah falling asleep, but never saw it herself. She said Sarah might fall asleep in a boring movie.

She and Sarah spent every Friday together, running errands, going shopping, etc.   They took turns driving and she never fell asleep while driving, shopping, etc.  Sarah would call about 9 a.m. and they would get together at 11 a.m. The day would end around 4:30 or 5 p.m., depending on when Ryan got home.  She never saw Sarah fall asleep inappropriately.

Sarah and Ryan started dating while Sarah's dad was sick. She (Ruth Ann) didn't get to know him very well at that time because she was taking care of her husband. After he died, Sarah started spending more time with Ryan. They got along okay together but when Sarah and Ryan painted her house, she thought they talked "a little hateful" to each other. "They talked differently than I ever talked to my husband, but that's a generational difference. They called each other names and egged each other on." They would pick on each other's painting and call each other names. Ryan would call her "not nice words" in her presence and they appeared stressed with each other.  Ruth Ann said that she even told them to stop because she couldn't take it. She would not elaborate on the words Ryan called her daughter. She said, "just not nice words."

Christmas 2007 was their first Christmas together after getting engaged. Sarah was very traditional and they always went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and then opened presents.   Sarah left Mass early because she was sick. Ryan didn't come over because he was with his family. Sarah was sick on Christmas Day too but went to Ryan's family anyway.   She began to weep and the judge handed her a tissue.

Vieux than asked her about the wedding. Ruth helped plan the wedding and said there was a conflict because Sarah wanted to get married in a Catholic church.   Ryan said okay, as long as the ceremony wasn't too long. This period of time was very stressful. As part of the bridesmaids' gifts, Sarah bought the ribbons for their dresses. Ryan got very upset that she spent too much money and he called her and yelled at her. Another time, he called her when she bought a bathing suit on sale at Target.

Ruth met Ryan's mother while they were planning the rehearsal dinner, and both mothers attended the wedding, but Ryan's father didn't attend. She said she never met Gary Widmer.

She said Sarah was very neat and always used hand sanitizer but she wouldn't call Sarah a "neat freak". She was never a football fan until she met Ryan, but she never watched football unless Ryan was with her. She, Sarah, and her mother went to St. Louis to see Sarah's great aunt the weekend before she died (Fri to Sun). They stayed in a hotel together and Sarah pulled back the top bedspread, as they always did, and found stained pillow cases. They called housekeeping to replace them and Sarah sprayed the bed with Lysol. When Sarah was getting dressed Ruth never noticed any bruises on her. They were fairly active during the trip and Sarah never complained about dizziness or numbness

and never fell asleep inappropriately, but she and Sarah both took sinus medicine. She said Sarah didn't get a manicure during the trip.

They came back on Sunday afternoon Aug. 10, and Sarah drove her grandmother home. Ruth

never had any concerns about Sarah driving. That was the last time she saw her daughter, but on Monday Aug 11, Sarah called her on her way home from work. During that call, she never complained of a headache or stomachache. When she asked Sarah how she was, she said, "okay". She would get up early to drive to work so she could beat the rush. Then she would nap in her car until it was time to go in to work.

Ryan called her from the ambulance, and she thought he said, "Sarah fell and needed her

mom". She went immediately to the hospital and asked to see Sarah. "The nurse made me

think she was still alive, so I got to say goodbye," Ruth said through tears.   She then went to Ryan in the hospital, but didn't remember what he said to her.

The next day she went to their house and retrieved a ring Sarah got from her dad on her 16th birthday, a manger scene her dad carved for her and a patio set she bought for Sarah. Vieux asked who paid for the funeral and she replied, "I did". She said Sarah was called "Sweety" on her high school teams because there were other girls named Sarah.   Nothing further.

Cross-Exam: Lindsey Gutierrez

Gutierrez apologized for having to ask questions and make her testimony difficult. She asked Ruth to give more details about the arguments, asking if she would call it "bantering"? Ruth replied, "I don't know, you'd have to ask Ryan and Sarah".

They were never physical with each other. She never got any indication that Sarah was unhappy with Ryan. She was a bubbly, happy-go-lucky girl but was depressed after her father died. She and Ryan bought a home together in Feb. 2007 and moved in together.   They both had student loans and car payments. She wasn't sure if they were unhappy because they didn't get the raises they deserved.

They got married in a Catholic Church as Sarah had wanted. She wanted Ryan to take dance lessons for their wedding, which they did. In exchange, Ryan got a big screen TV. They were getting another dog that Sarah had picked out and they planned to go to Cancun. Ruth agreed to watch the new dog while they went to Cancun, but they never got the dog because Sarah died.

Sarah was concerned about germs because of her job and she always used hand sanitizer before she ate. She wasn't concerned at her house, but when she was out. She knows Sarah's friend Katie Cook and another friend that she met at the wedding, but didn't know they had nicknamed her "sleeper" or that she fell asleep at restaurants, parties, unusual places, etc.

Ruth didn't know that she was the first person Ryan called. He tried to call her five times, but her cell phone was upstairs and she didn't hear it. He was crying and said he was at the hospital--something happened to Sarah. When she spoke to him at the hospital, after seeing Sarah, he said he was sorry, but he didn't say for what. When asked if he said he was sorry, he tried to help her, she replied, "No, he just apologized."  

She spoke with Ryan at his bond hearing and encouraged both families to sit together to show their support for Ryan. She didn't call the coroner, but he spoke with her in the hallway after the bond hearing, and asked about Sarah's medical history. They had a private burial service in October so Ryan could attend. He wasn’t able to attend the first service in August because he was still in jail. Nothing further.

No Re-Direct