Testimony ends in third trial over tub drowning

Associated Press

LEBANON, Ohio

Testimony ended Friday in the third trial of a southwest Ohio man accused of drowning his wife in their bathtub, and closing statements are expected Monday.

The defense rested its case Friday afternoon in the trial of Ryan Widmer, 30. He is charged with murder in the 2008 drowning of 24-year-old Sarah Widmer at their home in Warren County’s Hamilton Township.

Widmer did not testify in any of his trials.

Prosecutors have argued that bruises on his wife’s neck indicate Widmer grabbed her and forced her head underwater. Defense attorneys attributed bruising to resuscitation attempts and said Sarah Widmer may have suffered a medical problem before drowning.

Prosecution witness Jennifer Crew, 36, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, testified last week that Widmer confessed in a phone call to her Oct. 26, 2009, that he had killed his wife after she threatened to leave him. Crew said Widmer was crying and so upset he could barely talk.

Defense witness Melissa Waller, 29, who lives near Seattle, testified Friday that she talked to Widmer three times the night of Oct. 26 and that he did not seem drunk or so emotionally upset that he could hardly talk.