Crew said an inebriated Widmer confessed to her during a phone call that he killed his wife, Sarah Widmer.
Widmer’s attorneys began their defense today of the accused killer, following eight days of testimony from the prosecution’s 24 witnesses.
The defense started its case by having the previous testimony from Dr. Werner Spitz, a world-renowned forensic pathologist who performed a second autopsy on Sarah Widmer, read to the jury.
Common Pleas Judge Neal Bronson issued an order Friday declaring Spitz unavailable for the trial because of a health condition caused by him swallowing a chicken bone on Christmas Eve. Warren County Clerk of Courts Jim Spaeth read the testimony today from Spitz’s appearance at the second trial.
Spitz testified that Sarah Widmer died from drowning, but does not agree with the prosecution’s premise that Ryan Widmer caused her death.
Widmer, 30, is accused of killing his wife in their Warren County home in August 2008. This is the third trial for Widmer on the murder charge. Two others ended in mistrials.
Spitz said the livid bruises Warren County Coroner Dr. Russell Uptegrove found on her head and neck were caused by aggressive efforts to revive her, using intubation, IV sticks in her jugular and both arms and constant chest compressions.
The drowning process itself exacerbated the bruising because the water diluted her blood and increased volume and pressure, Spitz said.
Jurors heard first today about Spitz’s extensive background, certification and writings. Spitz was involved in O.J. Simpson’s civil trial and the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne after then U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge. He also testified before Congress in the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Spitz was paid $400 per hour and received $10,000 for his court appearance the last time.
Assistant Prosecutor Travis Vieux’s time at the podium this morning was considerably shorter because all the objections and arguments were redacted from the testimony. At the last trial, he sparred with the doctor using Spitz’s own textbook to challenge some of his testimony.
A crucial component of Spitz’s testimony was that besides the bruising he found on Sarah Widmer’s neck and head, he also discovered bruising on her inner arms where medics poked the IV needle in twice in one arm and once in the other. He cut the skin to reveal a four inch hemorrhage on the right arm and a seven inch bruise under the skin on the left arm.
“The bruising is extremely excessive because she drowned,” Spaeth read from the transcript. “It is due to hemodilution and increased volume and blood pressure.”
Prosecutors objected to allowing Spitz’s testimony in the trial because the defense “abandoned” its attempt to get the court to cover Spitz’s fee of $15,000. “When he abandoned his request for public funds regarding Dr. Spitz, the defendant abandoned his argument that Dr. Spitz was crucial to the defense...,” the prosecution’s Feb. 3 motion reads.
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