Ryan and Sarah Widmer, what the Prosecution doesn't want you to know.

Direct Exam: Jay Clark

He's worked with Dr. Becker, Sarah's employer, for seven years and is an associate dentist in the Fort Thomas office. He hired Sarah as a dental hygienist in 2006. He never received any complaints from patients that Sarah had trouble holding dental tools;   "They do require some skill", he said.

At the time Sarah began working for them, they had five employees, including Dana Parker-Kist who worked in insurance and billing. Sarah was a good worker who fit in well. She was bubbly and energetic and she and Dana struck up a friendship. They worked together two days a week and socialized after work or on weekends. He and Sarah's working relationship was very good. She was passionate about her work, and fit in well with the office atmosphere. He also spent time with her outside the office on

two occasions.

When Sarah's father was ill and died, her personality changed a little and she seemed depressed, but by August 2008 she seemed to have worked through her grief.

He met Ryan for the first time when she and Ryan came to the restaurant in Ft. Thomas where his band was playing. He talked to Ryan several times that night and saw Sarah and Ryan interact with each other.   He never saw anything that looked like a fight or argument or that Ryan was upset or angry. They looked like a happily married couple. Ryan had a few drinks that night but he didn't see him get out of control or act inappropriately.

The next time he saw Ryan was at their office Christmas Party. The employees and spouses all went out for dinner and then to Dr. Becker's house to exchange gifts and "hang out". Ryan had a few drinks but he wasn't drunk or out of control. They talked about the local sports teams as well as the college and professional teams. They were at the Becker's home for about an hour and a half and Ryan never showed any signs of hostility or anger.

Sarah was required to wear a coat, safety glasses, mask and gloves while working with a patient but there was no dress code when they weren't with patients so she sometimes wore sleeveless tops in the summer. In the two years they worked together he saw her several times each day and never saw any bruises or marks on her arms, face or neck. They sometimes talked about sports and NFL football because she liked the Bengals. They never talked about personal issues.  Other than her father being sick, he never noticed anything else that would have caused a change in mood.

When Sarah moved to Warren County, she would drive to work fairly early and arrive 30 to 45 minutes before her first appointment. "She would nap a little while in her car before coming in to work," he said. Patients start arriving at 8:00 a.m. and when he arrived about 7:45 a.m., he saw her sleeping in her car. Twice a week she worked through her lunch hour so she could leave an hour early. On the days she ate lunch, she would eat and then go out to her car and take a nap and occasionally she would take

just take a nap during her lunch break. After she worked through her father's death, she still slept in her car before work and on lunch breaks, he said.

He recalled that she complained about headaches and stomach aches sometimes but he didn't remember her going into a dark room for her headache. Her stomach aches never affected her work. On Aug. 11, 2008, some employees told him that Sarah wasn't feeling well. She had a bad headache and stomach problems but he didn't know she had a sore throat. She never said anything directly to him about not feeling well.

All the employees had a day or two of training to learn the software. New patient records were part of the training and Sarah entered her name, address and personal information into the computer. Clark handed the doctor some documents which he identified as Sarah's medical history from the office, (she was also a patient there) and the report with the information she entered during the training session, which was generated by the software. The patient's name was listed as Sarah Steward and her address was listed as Crested Owl Court.  Messmer was present when she entered the information into the computer.

Clark put a document up on the screen and Dr. Messmer identified it as the front page of a medical record and said the handwriting was Dr. Becker's. The second page showed Dr. Becker's handwriting with notations about teeth, fillings, etc. The back page had the patient's medical history containing some hand written notes.  Sarah's record indicated she had a heart murmur as a child. Clark then showed another page from the new computer software with a section for "medical alerts" and Messmer said the new system offered more options for a patient's medical history. The page listed medical conditions with little circles designating yes or no that needed to be filled in. On this record, Sarah filled in the 'yes' circles for: bruises easily, heart murmur and sinus trouble. That information was entered in the computer and the software created a patient record.

Dr. Messmer said he attended Ryan and Sarah's wedding and reception. Asked if Sarah was stressed in the time leading up to the wedding he replied, "Not any more than a typical bride would go through." He said she was just as happy when she returned from her honeymoon as she was before she married Ryan. He never saw any indication that she was seeing someone else or that Ryan was seeing someone else, and didn’t know if Ryan was upset about Sarah going out of town to St. Louis for the weekend. She was her same energetic, bubbly self. When she returned to work on Aug. 11, 2008, after her weekend trip, she gave no indication of any problems.

Regarding her cleanliness in the office Messmer said she was a very clean person and followed the proper protocol when it came to sanitizing equipment, washing her hands, etc. Sarah and Dana remained friends even after Dana moved on to a different job.  The girls in the office put together a bridal shower for Sarah, during lunch one day and Dana attended that. She was also friends at work with Patty Kroger, a dental assistant, but didn't know if they socialized outside the office.

He said investigators came to the office three times to interview him following Sarah's death, and none of them asked about Sarah's medical problems and he never had the opportunity to share Sarah's medical records. He didn't remember the names of those who came. Nothing further.

Cross Exam: Travis Vieux

Vieux began by asking the Dr. Messmer if he had any sense that Sarah had medical problems and he replied, "No". He said Sarah didn't show her emotions much at work about her father's death, but he didn't know how she acted at home. He agreed that she was a hard worker, always showed up on time, and didn't take a lot of sick time. She didn't take long lunch breaks or come back late from lunch. He agreed she seemed active and healthy.

She never complained about numbness or tingling in her hands when using dental instruments and didn't have any trouble doing procedures. He never had complaints about her falling asleep with patients, and as far as her headaches, "It doesn't stand out in my mind as being an unusual amount of headaches," he said. If Sarah was ill a lot, it could present problems for the other staff.

Asked about the document Sarah filled out on the new software, he said it wasn't filled out as a patient record, but as a training exercise. He said he had no way of knowing if the information was accurate. There was nothing on the hand-written form that she bruised easily and he never saw bruises on her during the two years they worked together.

Looking at the form up on the screen that Sarah filled out, Vieux pointed out that there were no marks by anemia, weakness, faintness, heart condition, angina, occasional pain, or breathing problems, but there was a mark by "Bruise easily". Messmer said that's a concern if patient's are on blood thinners, but Sarah wasn't taking any blood thinners, as far as he knew. Vieux continued reading a long list of medical conditions which had no marks next to them and Messmer said he never had any concerns about those conditions in terms of his interaction with her.

He said Sarah was friends with Dana Parker-Kist and Patty Kroger. Sometimes Sarah and Dana would go to lunch together or hang out together when Dana still worked at their office, but Sarah and Patty Kroger didn't socialize together. He said Dana was closer to Sarah's age, while Patty was a little older. Sarah worked through lunch two days a week and took a lunch break the other two days she worked. Sometimes she would run errands during a lunch break too. She would usually plan the days she was going to take a nap in her car, he said.

When Sarah and Ryan came to see his band play, he didn't see Sarah fall asleep at the table. At the Christmas party his conversation with Ryan was about sports--not about their private lives, he said.

When she lived in Bellevue, Ky., she didn't drive to work early. She only started that after she moved to Warren County, so she could beat the traffic, he said.

He didn't know what time she got up in the morning or what time she went to bed at night. He said she did complain of allergies, but didn't know if her allergies kept her up at night or if any medications affected her sleeping.

He said she kept her nails trimmed short for work. She worked a complete shift the day she died. He didn't personally notice if she was ill that day. Nothing further.

Re-Direct: Jay Clark

Messmer said he's testified at both of the previous trials. He said that patients are asked to fill out the medical history form first and then the dentist will talk with them about specific things that were written. He said the 'bruises easily' option wasn't available until they got the new software, which is more detailed. Clark put on the screen the medical history questionnaire from the old form. At the time they were trained on the software, they thought they would probably be using it one day, but he had no way of knowing if Sarah filled the form out accurately. Nothing further.

Re-Cross: Travis Vieux

He quickly asked if anyone followed up with Sarah concerning her medical history, did she ever sign it, and are there any comments on the form. Messmer replied "No" to all three questions. Vieux then asked if he considered this Sarah's 'official' medical record as a patient and Messmer replied, "No". Nothing further.