Click on their name to read their testimony

Prosecution Witnesses

Day 1 - Don Sebastianell, Officer Steven Bishop, EMT Jeff Teague

Day 2 - EMT Jeff Teague, EMT Jason Stevens, Sgt. Lisa Elliott, Det. Doyle Burke

Day 3 - Dr. James Layne Moore, Dr. Russell Uptegrove

Day 4 - Dr. William Rogers, EMT Derek Roat , Officer Mark Bedwell

Day 5 - Lt. Brian Dapper, Officer Quillen Short, Ruth Ann Steward

Day 6 - Jennifer Crew, Floyd E. Hulett, Amy Costello

Day 7 - Annette Davis , John Becker , Danny Lee Harness , Dr. David Marcus, William Hilliard, Lt. Jeff Braley

Day 8 - Dr. Charles J. Lee

Defense Witnesses

Day 9 - Dr. Werner Spitz, Kim Liles, Monica Peppard, Amanda Antonczak

Day 10 - Dr. David Smile

Day 11 - Max Smith, Zachary Zoz, Carol Monnin, Shirley Bonekemper, Amy Karabaic,

Dr. Benjamin Messmer, Dana Parker-Kist, Patty Kroger, Christopher Kist

Day 12 - Dr. Michael Balko

Day 13 – Meliss Waller, Dr. Chandler Phillips

There are only 3 real options to describe the false statement David Fornshell made today in an article in the Middletown Journal:

• He really didn't follow any of the trials making him clueless.
• He's asleep at the wheel of the Prosecutors Office.
• He told a lie.

Here is David Fornshell's response to Denise Callahan of the Middletown Journal of the motion filed today, "Prosecutor David Fornshell said he finds it a little “ironic” that Berry would raise ineffective assistance of counsel arguments, since she has been an attorney of record on the case during at least the last two trials."

<blank stare>.................................................

ARE YOU SERIOUS? Where in the world have you been? Have you even followed this trial? Anyone that has would know that Michele Berry-Godsey was ONLY involved in getting the conviction overturned after the first trial, and had nothing to do with the second and third trials. I mean call me captain obvious but all you had to do was pay a little attention to know this. As a matter of fact, papers were filed to remove her name from the docket so that it would only reflect the names of trial counsel.

It appears David Fornshell is merely a Rachel Hutzel puppet. Maybe this is why he couldn't beat her to be the prosecutor and had to wait for her to move on to get an appointment from a buddy.

Here is another concerning comment made by the un-elected Warren County Prosecutor as written in the article by Denise Callahan of the Middletown Journal -

He also said the bathtub issue is new and equally puzzling to him. “It’s interesting that on one hand there’s this argument that there was not sufficient evidence to support a murder charge,” he said. “But on the other hand they’re saying this bathtub was so damning if you will, or prejudicial in terms of it proving Widmer murdered his wife, that allowing it in and not suppressing it early on was actually ineffective assistance of counsel.”

Shouldn't the Prosecutor put our Constitutional Rights 1st???????? How about our Civil Liberties???????? Guess it's only about winning at the Warren County Prosecutor's office and not about protecting 'We The People'.

David Fornshell is either lying in hopes of confusing the facts of this case or he's incompetently asleep at the wheel - you make the decision, I'm just pointing out the facts.

Here's a screenshot of the article, incase Fornshell claims he was misquoted like Russel Uptegrove claimed.

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/crime/attorney-seeks-4th-trial-for-man-convicted-of-killing-wife-in-tub-1297919.html

Was Ryan Widmer’s murder conviction “a manifest miscarriage of justice?”

In an appeal filed Monday lawyers for Widmer allege that a jury lost its way and that authorities made crucial mistakes, including improperly seizing the bathtub in which his wife, Sarah, 24, had drowned in 2008.

Widmer, 30, of Mason, is serving 15 years to life in prison after a jury convicted him of murder in February.

Since then, Widmer has given two public interviews protesting his innocence and saying he wanted to testify but he did not take the witness stand during any of his three trials based on his lawyers’ advice.

• Read the motion

Ryan Widmer is trying for a fourth trial – and his lawyer has filed court documents accusing officials of perjury and a cover-up.

Widmer’s lawyer, Michele Berry, filed a motion today asking a Warren County judge to set aside Widmer’s February murder conviction in the 2008 bathtub drowning of his wife, Sarah.

• Read the motion

Berry also wants the judge to grant a hearing based on “newly discovered evidence of false statements, lack of competence and training and outright fraud by the lead detective in this case, former Lieutenant Detective Jeff Braley.”

Further, Berry says Widmer’s former lawyers also made a greivous mistake when they failed to get Sarah Widmer’s DNA tested for Long QT Syndrome, a genetic condition that could have contributed to her drowning.

The lead detective in the Ryan Widmer murder case, Lt. Jeff Braley, who came under scrutiny because of alleged resume fraud, has resigned from his position with the Hamilton Township police department, Warren Ritchie, township law director, said in a news release.

Braley’s resignation, submitted Friday, takes effect Sept. 1. He cited personal reasons for his resignation.

“The Township has accepted his resignation and has placed Lt. Braley on an unpaid leave of absence until the effective date,” Ritchie said. “Although technically a member of the Township’s Police Department until the effective date, Lt. Braley has surrendered his badge and no longer has police authority under the auspices of the Township’s Police Department.”

Prosecution Witnesses

Officer Quillen Short - Hamilton Twp. Police

• He helped Det. Braley collect the carpet samples. They made sure they collected the whole stain.
• In the second trial the defense discovered that the whole stain was NOT collected because Braley had not cut the carpet correctly.
• Short took a photo of the bathroom vanity displaying a clock that said 11:43. According to testimony from the 1st trial, Ryan gave permission to Doyle Burke at the hospital at 12:36 am to search the house. Photos were being taken 45 minutes to an hour before permission was given
• He said, he, Braley and Bishop are trained evidence technicians. Braley testified he is not a trained evidence technician
• He testified investigators never found any evidence of problems between Ryan and Sarah

Officer Steve Bishop - Deputy with Hamilton Twp. Police Dept.

• The first officer to arrive at the house.
• He and Ryan moved Sarah so medics would have room to work.
• In the first trial, when asked if he and Ryan moved Sarah, he replied that he might have, but couldn't remember.
• In the second trial, he said he couldn't remember if he helped move her.
• In the third trial he said, "No, absolutely not."
• In the first two trials, he testified he dumped the trash can in the bathroom, looking for drugs.
• In the third trial he testified that he didn't remember doing it, but he's been blamed for it, changing his testimony so it would agree with Jennifer Crew's testimony.
• He didn't see any water in the tub, but didn't see the bottles knocked into the tub?

Jeff Teague – EMT

• When he entered the bedroom he saw a deputy kneeling next to Sarah doing something but he couldn't remember what. How can you forget chest compressions?
• He said nothing felt wet, the carpet or Sarah's body, but he had gloves on.
• He signed run reports that were incomplete or had mistakes.

Lisa Elliott - Police Officer

• She saw no pruning on Sarah's fingertips but didn't notice the condition of the fingernails?
• She testified she wasn’t aware if evidence was collected or when, but she helped carry evidence bags to Braley’s car

Russell Uptegrove - Warren County Coroner

• He holds down 1 full time and 2 part time jobs as county coroner.
• He hasn't been certified in CPR since the early 1990s
• He did one intubation in medical school in the early 1990s
• He's never done the Sellick maneuver or seen it done
• He's not board certified by the state of Ohio
• He doesn't keep up with new research in pathology.
• He's not aware of studies that show intubation injuries mimic strangulation injuries.
• He ruled Sarah's death a homicide in 2 hours.
• He didn't read the ER or EMT reports until after the autopsy was finished
• He had already ruled her death a homicide before he received the toxicology reports
• He had already ruled her death a homicide BEFORE he talked to family members
• He took sections of her brain before it was properly fixed.
• He didn't note which sections the brain tissue was from
• He didn't test the part of the brain responsible for seizures
• He didn't know the hypothalamus gland controls narcolepsy
• He didn't test the hypothalamus for narcolepsy
• He didn't note which sections of the heart he took tissue samples from
• Didn't note in the autopsy report that Det. Braley and Doyle Burke were present during the autopsy
• Click here to read about his 3 jobs

Dr. Charles Lee - Friend of Russell Uptegrove, he corroborated Uptegrove's homicide ruling

• He's been a friend of Russell Uptegrove's since medical school
• He did one intubation when he was in medical school--never done one since
• He's never done the Sellick maneuver
• He's been a friend of Russell Uptegrove's since medical school
• He did one intubation when he was in medical school--never done one since
• He's never done the Sellick maneuver
• He isn't certified in CPR
• He never saw Sarah's body--only photographs
• He didn't read or analyze the reports until January 2009--5 months after Sarah die
• He's not board certified by the American Board of Pathology
• He would never NOT order a test because it cost too much

'Lt.' Jeff Braley - Lead Detective Hamilton Township

• In Dec. 2003 he graduated from the Police Academy and was hired as a police officer for Hamilton Twp.
• In July 2004 he was promoted to Lt.
• He went from Police Officer to Lt. in 7 months?
• Doesn't have any training for crime scene processing, evidence collection or death scene investigation.
• He's under investigation for submitting false references on his job application.
• He claimed he had two degrees from universities that he never attended
• He claimed he was a postal inspector for the post office, which he never was
• He filed for an arrest warrant 2 days after Sarah died, before he talked to any witnesses or Sarah's family.
• He's the defendant in a Federal Lawsuit for faking a domestic disturbance call to have an excuse to raid a family home.

John Arnold – Prosecutor

• He bullied, yelled, intimidated and insulted defense expert witnesses
• Displayed a hostile attitude to the defense attorneys and their witnesses
• Lied in Judge Bronson’s Chambers about what the reporters were blogging about, later admitted it.

Travis Vieux – Prosecutor

• He lied in his closing arguments contradicting his own witnesses.

Annette Davis - Forensic Scientist

• She said when the carpet samples were packaged they must have been wet because the bag had a large diluted water stain on it.
• She said she received the entire stain but in the second trial said when the carpet was cut, it didn't include the entire stain
• She received water from the tub drain to test, but it was in a metal can which rusted
• She receive the evidence in August 2008 but didn't test it until October and November 2008

John Becker - The dentist that Sarah worked for

Danny Harness - Fingerprint examiner

• He didn't know if the finger streaks on the back wall of the tub were going up or down
• He didn't know who they belonged to or when they were put there
• His conclusion in his report was that he found no latent prints of value

Dr. David Marcus - ER doctor the night Sarah was brought in

• He wrote in his report that Sarah was found face down
• He understood that 1 or 2 attempts at intubation had been done
• She had no obvious signs of trauma when he saw her

William Hillard -- Senior Criminalist for Cincinnati

• He didn't know what conditions the tub was stored in; temperature, humidity
• He didn't know how long the fingerprints had been on the tub
• He filled out his report in November 2008

Jennifer Crew - Drug Addict

• She claimed Ryan called her and confessed
• She said her memory wasn't very good sometimes
• She has a rap sheet back to 1993
• She's been convicted of theft several times, fraud and driving while barred
• She took Tylenol 3 and Oxycontin for 5/6 years for pain.
• She's used several names to get drugs from doctors.
• She's used several social security numbers
• She was diagnosed as bi-polar in 1999
• She's been in a clinic run methadone program for several years
• She couldn't remember the name of her counselor at the clinic
• The counselor didn't have anything in Crew's file about Ryan's alleged confession
• She said the counselor told her to stop lying, stop embellishing and stop interjecting herself into other people's lives
• She testified about additional events that she didn't tell investigators about when they interviewed her
• There was nothing oncell phone records showing a phone call at the time she said Ryan confessed
• She knew the phone call was from Ryan because it was his special ring tone, even though he called from a different number
• She claimed Ryan told her he forgot to clean up the turned over trash can in the bathroom.
• She told investigators she was a very honest person

Amy Costello - Charting nurse in the ER the night Sarah was brought in.

• She said she didn't notice any wetness on Sarah or Ryan.
• Sarah had a sheet over her, Ryan had clothes on. If she's charting, why would she notice whether Ryan or Sarah was wet or not?
• She referred to Ryan as "Bryan" in the "Name of Family Contact" field on the chart
• She said accurate record keeping is important but parts of her report showed incorrect times and dates
• She claimed Ryan said he found Sarah face up, but she didn't write it in the chart until 9 minutes later--from memory
• She only reports important information in the chart but didn't record the drugs Sarah was given or how many times she was intubated

Defense Witnesses

Dr. Spitz - World renowned Doctor and Forensic Pathologist

• He did the second autopsy on Sarah
• He found that Uptegrove had nicked the liver during the first autopsy but didn't document it
• Uptegrove left the brain and heart in such poor condition, Spitz couldn't test it
• He said the extended bruises were caused by the blood being thinned with water
• He said there was no documentation of rigor mortis in any of Sarah's reports
• The Sellick Maneuver can cause bruising on the front of the throat
• The large bruise on her neck that extended to her shoulder blade was all one bruise, caused by hemodilution
• He said Sarah's odd sleeping habits were a possible indication of some kind of sleep disorder and may have contributed to her death
• Her cause of death was drowning--her manner of death was "Undetermined"

Kim Liles - Worked with Ryan's mother and was a close friend of the family

• She spent a lot of time with Ryan and Sarah at the Widmer home
• She never saw Ryan get angry or have a temper
• Ryan and Sarah were always a happy and loving couple
• She thought it was odd that Sarah could fall asleep within a few feet of people laughing and talking

Monica Peppard - She and her husband provided pre-marital counseling to Ryan and Sarah

• Ryan and Sarah were always very loving and agreeable during their time together
• She never saw any disturbing behavior between them

Amanda Antonczak - She and her husband lived next door to Ryan and Sarah

• She never heard any yelling or arguing from the Widmer home
• They spent a lot of time with Ryan and Sarah cooking out, playing cornhole
• Ryan and her husband played golf together
• She never saw any arguing or hateful behavior between the two of them

Dr. David Smile - Emergency Medical Physician

• He's performed thousands of intubations and also teaches the procedure
• He said the Sellick Maneuver requires the cricoid cartilage to be squeezed fairly hard.
• Squeeze the bridge of your nose as hard as you can till it hurts--that's the amount of pressure that's used for the Sellick Maneuver
• Each time an intubation attempt fails, EMTs can become more frantic in their attempts, causing injuries
• He said the amount of time the chest compressions were done--48 minutes--was exceptionally long
• He said six intubation attempts was unusually high

Max Smith - Paramedic and firefighter, drove the ambulance with Sarah in back and Ryan in the front seat

• He saw Ryan in the house very upset and crying
• He said Ryan was sobbing and crying during the entire drive to the hospital
• At the hospital, Hamilton Twp. Police told him to save the medical waste that was suctioned out of Sarah's mouth and airway
• He was the only medic who had the courage to state that Sarah's body was "not overly wet"

Zachary Zoz - friend of Ryan's for the last 10-11 years

• They have season tickets to Bengals games and always tailgate together
• He thought Sarah's sleeping habits were odd because she fell asleep while tailgating and fell asleep in a pub when a group went out to dinner
• He said Ryan doesn't have any temper or anger issues
• He was always loving to Sarah
• Ryan was the most laid back guy he knew

Carol Monnin - Works at the Warren County Visitor's Bureau

• She's known Ryan since 2004
• He was a model employee and was promoted quickly
• He and Sarah were always happy together when attending company functions
• She went to their wedding and they were the "perfect couple"
• He was never out of control or drunk
• She never saw Ryan lose his temper and never had complaints about him from co-workers or clients

Shirley Bonekemper - Executive Director for WC Visitor's Bureau, now retired

• She said Ryan has lost 40 lbs. because of all the stress he's been through
• Ryan had great potential, was always eager to learn, worked long hours sometimes
• She interacted with him and Sarah at company events--they were always happy and loving together
• Ryan took a lot of teasing because he was learning to dance for his and Sarah's wedding
• She went to their wedding and saw them do their dance; they were very cute
• He had a life insurance policy for $20,000 with Sarah as the beneficiary--this was before they were married

Amy Karabaic - She was a close friend of Sarah's, they met in dental school

• She met Ryan while Sarah was dating him
• Sarah never complained to her about anything that Ryan did
• She was the last person to talk to Sarah the night she died.
• Sarah told her she wasn't feeling well--she had a terrible headache and her neck hurt

Dr. Benjamin Messmer - Associate dentist who worked with Sarah

• He hired Sarah in 2006
• She was a good worker, very bubbly, she fit in well with other staff
• He met Ryan a few times and observed that Ryan and Sarah were always happy together
• He said Sarah took naps in her car during lunch
• She complained about headaches and stomach problems sometimes
• He knew she had a bad headache and stomach problems the day she died
• Investigators interviewed him three times but never asked about Sarah's medical problems

Dana Parker-Kist - Sarah was her closest friend

• She worked for Dr. Becker and helped Sarah get her job there
• Sarah told her about her headaches and other medical problems
• Her husband was Ryan's roommate in college for two years
• They have known Ryan for about 10 years and they introduced Ryan to Sarah
• She was a bridesmaid at their wedding
• They were always very happy and loving towards each other
• When she came to work in the morning she would find Sarah sleeping in her car
• She said Sarah also slept during lunch quite a bit
• She talked to investigators at Dr. Becker's office and they never asked about Sarah's sleeping issues or medical problems
• She told police Ryan never had any anger issues or drinking issues

Patty Kroger - She's a dental assistant at Dr. Becker's office

• Sarah was always bubbly and happy
• She complained a lot about headaches with vision problems and stomach issues
• She couldn't see her hands in front of her face during her bad headaches
• Ryan and Sarah were always happy together when she saw them at office get-togethers
• She never saw Ryan drunk or out of control

Christopher Kist - He was Ryan's roommate in college for 2 years

• He and Ryan spent a lot of time together during and after college and are still close friends
• Ryan is always very laid back--never had a temper
• He never saw Ryan get angry or lose control
• Ryan and Sarah were a perfect match--they clicked from the first time they met
• He saw Ryan drink at social events but he was never drunk or out of control
• They had season tickets to the Bengals games and tailgated together
• He saw Sarah fall asleep while tailgating
• Ryan never listened to Motley Crue--they both like rock'n' roll

Dr. Balko - Medical Director and Pathologist

• He was troubled by the lack of thoroughness in the examination of Sarah's heart and brain
• He testified that Dr. Uptegrove:
  - Should have taken at least 14 tissue samples of the brain
  - Should have taken samples from the area of the brain that causes seizures
  - Should have allowed the brain to "fix" before taking tissue samples
  - Should have tested for narcolepsy or epilepsy
  - Should have taken more than four tissue samples from the heart
  - Should have designated what part of the heart the tissue came from on his report
• Dr. Balko believes Sarah may have suffered from Long QT syndrome --or-- Long QT7 Andersen Tawil Syndrome
• Dr. Balko said the minimum number of heart samples that should be taken are eight

Melissa Waller - She lives in Washington state but became friends with Ryan after the first Dateline program

• Her sister-in-law died unexpectedly shortly after marrying her brother and she felt a connection
• She made a tribute video of the love that Ryan and Sarah shared and posted it on youtube
• He talked about how much he missed Sarah during phone calls
• She said the song that reminds him of Sarah is "Here Without you" by 3 Doors Down
• She came to Cincinnati for one of the fundraisers
• She knows that Ryan has supporter from all over the country--men and women of all ages
• They are still friends
• She never heard him drunk or upset on the phone
• She is happily married and her husband fully supports Ryan as well.
• She believes in speaking for those who can't speak for themselves; she also donates to and volunteers for various animal causes.

Dr. Chandler Phillips - A biomedical engineer at Wright State University; also holds a medical degree

• He uses medical and social factors to analyze humans in their environment
• He saw the Widmer bathroom and took measurments of everything in it.
• Using an anthropometric diagram of Sarah and Ryan and spatial calculations, he said
• Ryan Widmer did not forcibly drown Sarah Widmer
• As an MD, he said Ryan and Sarah would have had marks on their bodies as evidence of a physical altercation