us off the air, on this friday night. and on that note i wish you a great friday night. i am mehdi hassan in for stephanie ruhle. who will be back on monday. remember, you can watch the mehdi hasan shows, sunday's 8 pm eastern on msnbc. from all our colleagues across the networks of msnbc news. thank you for staying up late. see this weekend! >> what goes on behind closed doors of a marriage is not always apparent to the outside. >> my wife, she fell asleep. i just came up here and she was laying a face down in the bathtub. >> something was right. she was just unconscious. >> a beautiful bride, a haunting death. >> she was telling me he could never ever love another woman as much as he loved her. >> what had happened? >> did you have an aneurysm? did she have a seizure? >> police were baffled. >> they expected something to be wet. they are expected there to be water on the floor. >> things we're adding up. >> something screen to me, something is wrong.

>> could this murder had been deliberately. >> she was murdered. >> i loved sarah. i would never have hurt her. >> sarah crying because i felt so bad for her. >> there is just no chance that he had anything to do with it. >> three trials, three juries. >> we are scared that the truth may not come out. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> sometimes the shades are drawn early in a marriage. even for a young couple so in love like newlyweds sarah and ryan. everything in life was still fresh. even at home on your average monday night. after his workday as a sports writer, ryan said he plop down on the sofa on an august night to chill with the bengals preseason opener against green bay. sarah, he says, went upstairs to draw a bat in the bathroom. she liked her calling baths. the young dental hygienists had been tormented with more of her headaches that afternoon. the young couple in the

suburban state in that the home that evening had been married for just under four months. 114 days to be exact. they vowed till death do us part. that moment was only minutes away from arriving. they began with a blind day at a pub they worked out. sarah stewart have been set up by her friend dana. she had it dana had an inkling that sarah would really hit it off with her husband's former roommate, ryan widmer. >> i've said i think their personalities would really get along. i said let them go to dinner and see what happens. >> what happened over dinner was chemistry. laidback ryan and college dog baseball player, super organizer who needed everything just so talked about getting together again. >> she said, will let me check my book. so she gets out her little black book and she's looking through it.

he speaking over, looking. he said later and calls us and tells us, there was nothing written in her about black. book [laughs] >> it was a fast-track of courtship and before very long, ryan was bringing his new girlfriend home to meet his mom, jill. >> i liked her a lot. the one thing that struck me the most was how beyond her years and mature she was. sarah didn't have a problem telling anyone anything. so if you made sarah mad, you knew you made her mad. >> as for ryan, he never seem to listen. he doesn't get upset, he doesn't get mad. >> he so laid back and so easygoing, go with the flow. she so on it, organize. this is what it has to be. and he just says, okay. >> jill widmer enjoyed her days with ryan and his new girlfriend, sarah. >> our family tends to do a lot of barbecues, picnics, things like that. we would spend some time down at the lake in kentucky. they would come down there.

>> replay she was becoming a serious part of his life? >> i was very pleased, yes. >> the insufferable couple bought a nice four bedroom house together in a good neighborhood. and ryan surprised sarah with an engagement ring. >> he put a ring and around the dogs color. she was very excited. he was very excited. >> and soon the wedding invitations were in the mail. the bridesmaids knew they better snap to. >> she's a planner. so she had everything ready to go. she wanted to make sure all of the girls were the same makeup, same eye shadow. we all of the same. >> how is ryan doing? >> he's just as happy as i've ever seen. >> it costs sarah a big screen tv to seal the deal. but she got brian to take ballroom dance lessons for the wedding. >> i was amazed. >> your son, at dance lessons? >> yes, she could get him to do more things than any woman he had ever dated. >> the wedding, in april 2008, was a formal affair. the bride was beautiful. ryan's dance came off without a

hitch. and the happy bridesmaid all matched, just a sara one to. >> very beautiful. every detail was planned obviously to a tee, because it was sarah. she was gorgeous. >> it was awesome. >> probably one of the most fun weddings we've ever been to. ever. >> the newlyweds went to costa rica for their honeymoon and had a great time. then it was back to cincinnati, to begin their journey together as mr. and mrs., ryan widmer. >> they worked really hard. they built a beautiful deck on the back of their house. they took a trip to flank cancun. they had everything to live for. >> so august 11th should've been just another day for on the calendar, for a young marriage? >> august 11th, monday night. ryan remembers being downstairs watching monday night football. sarah had gone upstairs to her bat. she was in trouble. >> 9-1-1. what's your emergency?

>> my wife she, fell asleep in the bathtub. i was downstairs. i just came up and she was laying face down in the bathtub. >> i got a call, it was ryan. something has happened to sarah. >> the emts were rushing sarah to the hospital. by then they had worked on her for 45 minutes but hadn't gotten a response. minutes later, jill widmer was with her son, waiting anxiously together in a room off emergency. >> finally a woman came in and we said is she gone? and she said yes. he just dropped down to his knees and was balling and sobbing. >> sara widmer, 24 years old. a bright of less than four months was dead. her husband ryan told the emergency services people he thought he had fallen asleep in the bathtub and drowned. but those emts doing cpr, trying everything to save her, didn't understand one crucial observation that they made that night. something here doesn't look right. coming up. a drowning in a dry bathtub. >> i expected something to be wet.

there's a towel on the floor. there's a bathmat on the floor. everything is completely dry. >> the questions deepen. when dateline continues. enough was enough. i talked to an asthma specialist and found out my severe asthma is driven by eosinophils, a type of asthma nucala can help control. now, fewer asthma attacks and less oral steroids that's my nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. talk to your asthma specialist to see if once-monthly nucala may be right for you. and learn about savings at nucala.com

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cincinnati bengals were looking more than decent against green bay. fans a car hostile like jeff braley, wondered if this could be a miracle season for the hapless local franchise of the nfl. but braley didn't get see all of the game. he was a cop, a detective. and you don't get to pick your downtime. >> i'm at home watching the bengals game. i get a call from my sergeant. lieutenant, we're working to drowning. something is not right here. >> as he wrote to the house that night, he knew some of what to expect. when you're a cop for more than a decade, you become familiar with the signs of a drowning. like the froth about the

victims nose and mouth. >> your mind starts running immediately about possibilities. they initially tell me i've got a 24-year-old drowning victim that died in the tub. i'm thinking we're going to find evidence of something. we're going to find some drugs. or evidence of an overdose. or something. >> as he pulled up, the victim was already loaded in the back of the ambulance. the arriving police officer was still inside the house. he gave the detective a fill on what he found when he was led to the master bedroom. 24 year old woman laid on the carpet of the bat. >> he felt for a pulse. he assisted with cpr on what he described as a completely dry body with the here being down. >> wet head, dry body? >> correct. >> for someone who drowned in the bathtub? >> it's strange. >> go ahead, get out her out of the bat to get on a flat surface. >> the 9-1-1 dispatch or had been quite clear about it. he had instructed the husband to get his wife out of the bathtub and put her on the floor. >> i'm dropping, the phone. >> the husband went away and

came back on the line to say that he just moved his wife from the tub to the bedroom. >> okay. go ahead and get back to cpr. go and try cpr. they'll be there in a little bit. okay? >> okay. >> detective braley wondered along with the emts and arriving officers why a woman who drowned in a bathtub would be mostly dry. he needed to see the scene. what story would it tell? >> i start mentally prepare myself based on what they've told me. what do i want to see what versus what do i see. >> he headed for the master bathroom. >> i expected something to be wet. i expected her there to be water on the floor. towels or whatever it might be. it simply was. not there. >> dry, dry? >> there is a very small bit of water, what you might call droplets, around the tub right around the drain. other than that, there is. nothing. >> for there is a toll on the floor. there's a math on the floor. but everything is perfectly dry. >> now you have not only a drowning victim who didn't appear to be wet. someone who supposedly fell

asleep in the tub and pitched face down in the water. but a bathroom itself that was both dry and undisturbed. even though presumably the husband had to wrangle her lip body out of the tub as he moved her to the bedroom. >> whether it's lotions, soap, other things on the side, they were knocked off. if you're pulling somebody very quickly out of the tub, that still together. that bothered me. >> the detective, maintain mental. >> that's something screamed to me something really bad has happened here. and more so than just a tragic accident where she drowned. >> the forensic techs arrived and were taking photos. cutting out sections of the bedroom carpet where the mixture of blood and fluid common in drownings had steamed. what they wondered is, was there another explanation for the states? >> we wanted to get those things to our lab right away to start checking out some things. >> even though it was early hours and so much would depend on the findings of an autopsy, the detective knew that this was not a case that was going to be closed down that night.

>> when i left the house at 2 am, i knew i had a suspicious death. >> still there were questions. how long had sarah been out of the tub? and had she been out of the tub long enough for her body to air dry? >> it was impossible. if you're pulling somebody directly out of the water, the body has to be wet. there is no other way around it. unless a substantial amount of time has passed. or we are not being told an accurate story of what actually transpired. >> question, was it possible for ryan to lift has sarah out of this cub without knocking over their bottles that the detective noted were undisturbed? was it possible for water not to be slashed around as she was moved to the bedroom? and that overriding question, what had happened to the young wife in her master bedroom? >> we knew that she had drowned just from the scene itself. it was the manner in which she had drowned that raised questions. >> but detective braley would have the most questions for the seemingly met happily married husband. was it possible there was

stress in the marriage that no one knew about? >> i had to rely on the fact in the back of my mind that nobody knows what goes on the enclosed doors. >> coming up. was there something bad behind this mystery? >> she was complaining with headaches. i told her how long has it been since you've been to the doctor. >> when dateline continues. once-daily pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis for the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding that outfit psoriasis tried to hide from you. or finding your swimsuit is ready for primetime. [dad] once-daily sotyktu is proven to get more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family.

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drowning in her home and her

body would be examined by the county coroner. there is nothing for ryan, her husband for months, to do at leave the hospital and head home. his mother, jill, took him back to the house in the wee hours. >> ryan said to me mom, i can't go back in their. can you go in and grab some clothes shop for me. so, i went upstairs and when i got upstairs to her bedroom, they were a couple pieces of carpet cut out of their carpeting. which i thought was odd. >> it hadn't occurred to mother or son that the authorities were already looking at sarah's death as anything but a tragic, explainable incident of some sort. >> there were 1 million questions in our mine. did you have an aneurysm? did something medically happen to her? did she have a seizure? >> daylight, and word was spreading that sarah was gone. dana and chris, the couple's who had fix the newlyweds up, could not believe what they were hearing. >> we had just gotten back from a trip and i told her that i would call her as soon as i got back so we could get together

for dinner. and i didn't even get a chance to do that. >> shocking news, to say the least. shocking news. >> dana, a nurse, try to make some sense out of what had happened to her dear friend. she thought back to her last conversations with sarah. she was complaining of headaches. she would call and say, what do you think from a medical background? i said, maybe you should get your blood pressure check. i said basically you need a checkup. how long has it been since you've been to the doctor? >> and then there was that funny -- that sarah had that people used to kid her. about the way she would fall asleep at the drop of a hack. well, maybe that wasn't so funny. maybe that was part of an underlying condition that help explain her sudden death. her mother in law noticed it when she first got to know sarah. >> it was christmas 2007. jill was taking home videos. >> all of a sudden i panned over and there is >> there is sarah spending time at the family. christmas sarah was sound asleep in a chair in my family room. we were 15, 20 people in the room. laughing, talking, kids running

around. and she was just a. sleep >> sarah asleep at the dinner table. snoozing in the car. friends kidded her about it. >> she would always fall asleep at the beginning of the movies. so he would always be nudging her the whole time. sarah, i sarah wake up and watch the movie. >> was it so noticeable that you guys joked about it? >> every time we went somewhere, even at the dinner table. we would be like sarah don't fully. >> i told her she had narcolepsy. she would say i do not i'm just tired all alone all the time. >> had she fallen asleep and drone? is that even possible to do? >> ryan seem to think so. she said as much of the 9-1-1 dispatcher. >> my wife i'll asleep in the bathtub and i think she's dead. but all the observations about sleepy sarah, sara with her headaches, was just anecdotal information on the not the stuff of real medical investigation. the medical examiner would have the first real results about sarah's death. what was he finding? no evidence of stroke. no evidence of heart attack. >> but the medical examiner had discovered something else. bruising to sarah's head and neck.

what had causes injuries? the investigators checked off what they had so far. a young man supposedly drown in the bathtub with a damp head of here and a dry body. it didn't figure. >> if you're pulling somebody directly out of the top of water in the body has to be wet. there is no other way around it. >> a victim with unexplained bruises. and he has been whose stories they didn't believe. about a boring monday night watching football then finding his wife dead in the bath. >> ryan's story, it didn't fit. it doesn't fit at all. we determined we had a homicide. >> sarah widmer murdered, and that has authorities believe her husband ryan did it. how shocking was that to you? they charge ryan with murder. >> i mean, you've got to be kidding me. why would they think -- why? i can't even tell you what that was like. so on top of losing this beautiful member of our family. he didn't even get a chance to grieve because now we are scared to death and, he is

scared to death that he's going to be charged with murder. >> and that is exactly what would happen. just two days after his new bright's death, a warrant was issued for ryan widmer's arrests. >> by ryan's own admission, he was the only one in the house. so, ryan murdered sarah and he's or he's covering for somebody that. >> it didn't seem possible at first glance. a clean cut young couple. him without a criminal record of any kind. them with no clear cut klete history of arguments. no problems in their marriage. where was the motive for murder on a monday night? >> any boyfriend girlfriend issues here? there is no evidence whatsoever. >> money trouble? >> not like we could find. >> we are really not getting a negative picture of this couple? >> no, we're not. >> as unlikely as it may have seen, police said there was no other explanation for sarah's death. ryan widmer was charged with his wife's murder.

>> this is the state of ohio versus ryan widmer. >> his family and friends were devastated. >> ryan and i were both so brokenhearted. i could not have ever conceived, nor could ryan, that they would have had any idea that he would have been the person to her. and that it was in just a tragic accident. >> it just broke my heart. just knowing that he was feeling that grief and fear for his own life, to. >> is there any moment when you think, i don't know the guy. maybe -- >> never. >> this instant of something awful happen? >> never, i never saw anything where he was remotely like that. >> even sarah's family was behind ryan. so much so that the two families decided to delay service funeral funeral until ryan was out on bond. >> his family were very livid about the fact that he wasn't guilty and that we were going to fall forward with the service until ryan could be there.

>> the families are both on the same page here. >> yes. >> that you are fully behind ryan. >> you are even going to grieve together formerly until he's there. >> mike stewart asked for ryan to be able to attend the funeral. >> we in our hearts of hearts we don't believe ryan did this. >> but eight days would pass before the judge lowered ryan spawn from emily in dollars to 400,000. but by then it was too late. the funeral had already been held so out of town relatives could return home. >> it was a nice ceremony. my brother got up and said a few nice words. and i know that ryan would have read a letter that was read during the service. the minister of that did the wedding did their funeral. >> chris and dana greed for sara. and also try to comfort a shattered with ryan. and i remember him telling me dana, i love her so much. >> ryan was so distraught he felt he could couldn't go back to the home he had bought with sarah.

so, while he waited for his trial date. he moved in with his. >> it was great to have him staying with me -- >> but there's only one topic in the household. >> well there's two. one was continuing to talk about how much we miss sarah. trying to grieve for her. but at the same time, this young man who lost the love of his life, is trying to grief a 's wife, he's got a murder charge hanging over his head. and he might be present for the rest of his life. >> ryan widmer wondered why can everyone just see that he left his wife. and that she died of death that perhaps even the medical examiner could never satisfactorily explain. but that it was a murder. coming up. that case goes to court and outcomes the evidence. >> it would be virtually possible for somebody you fall asleep and not wake up. >> when dateline continues. the lower the temp, the lower your bill. tide cleans great in cold and saves money? i am so in. save $150 when you turn to cold with tide. there's an invisible threat in your backyard

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your brother has landed in the dark lands. they're under bowser's control. or ne[ screaming ]rders. hang on, luigi. [ ominous music playing ] [ screaming ] yes! fire! [ chuckling ] >> i'm jessica layton. reporting in new york. here is what is happening. donald trump is holding his

first official rally for the 2024 campaign in waco texas today. on the 40th anniversary of the standoff between a religious cult in the u.s. government. the event comes as a ruled that top aides to the president must -- in the special counsel investigation. and manhattan district attorney could make a decision on trump's possible indictment as early as monday. alvin bragg's office has received thousands of threats, as -- to an adult film star. and now back to dateline! >> sarah was wonderful. the most loving person. she was just a great person. >> sarah widmer had been a daughter, a wife, a loyal friend in her brief life. but in death, to those who would never know her, she had become simply the victim. and the case can be summarized as reasonably as the title of a true crime paperback, the bathtub murder. on top radio in the greater

cincinnati area, host bill cunningham could feel the court of public opinion responding to the story. the bathtub murder case had the phones ringing. >> the idea that at such a young man could be watching a bengals game, and within a few seconds turn from a bengals fan, long suffering, to a murderer was a little bit shocking. >> for months, listeners debated whether the husband could have done it. >> i had a large number of callers who said to me, he didn't do it. he doesn't fit the profile. there's no history. and i said to them, wait a minute. wait till the trial takes place. i farm led to believe there is going to be clear and convincing evidence. >> seven months after sarah's death, the only jury that mattered was sworn in to hear the case against 28 year old ryan widmer. a charge of aggravated murder. a couple's friends were sticking by him. >> basically his life hangs in the balance for those jurors. >> it's a scary thought. >> it's a scary thought. >> there is a chance that he could go to jail. >> in the courtroom, sarah's family sat cross room from ryan

's. much as they had a previous year, during the couples fairytale wedding. but now, sarah's family support for him have eroded. for ryan's mom that was just another unexpected twist in the situation that seem to get stranger by the minute. her son, on trial for murder. >> to see my scared baby we. he was scared to death. >> but the prosecution's message for the jury was blunt. there had been a violent confrontation in the widmer house that night. >> ryan widmer purposely killed sarah stewart widmer and murdered her by drowning. >> the prosecutors began with the first moments of the case. ryan's call tonight one one. >> my wife, she fell asleep in the bathtub. i think i was downstairs. i just came up and she was lying face down in the bathtub. >> on the stand, the emergency dispatcher testified that the voice on the phone that night was giving more details than normal. >> it seemed that the color was rather calm. usually when i can't get anything out of them. >> she's in the bathtub? >> yes, she's in water it's draining now.

i was downstairs watching tv. she falls asleep in the tub all the time. >> to prosecutors john arnold and travis vieux, the husband was trying to place himself as far away as possible from the bathroom were sarah had died. >> he really gives very little information about her condition. it's really more for him to say, i was out there. i really do anything to do with this. >> i could sarah even be dead face town in the bathtub? couldn't body control that way? >> that seems opposition for somebody who has fallen asleep, to be faced down when with your face near the faucet. >> in terms of the possibilities of how the king kong space of the bathtub is shorter than she is long. >> we're not talking about a month mansion, whirlpool tub here? >> right.

>> and so much more of the prosecution case was bill upon the observation of the first arriving officers and emergency responders. they noted not only was ryan not wet, this man who had lifted his wife somebody out of the tub just minutes before they arrived, sarah was also mostly dry. >> we noticed that her body was dry. her hair was damp. >> and others on the scene corroborated this observation. >> damp head, dry body. >> things were not adding up. it seemed to me the body would've been wet. the floor would have been wet. the carpet would have been wet. >> you're talking about, from the time he says i'm taking out of the bathtub, to the time that other people are there. her here is described as simply damp. not even. wet carpet is not wet. there is not water dripping off of her here on the rest of her body. the floor is not wet. >> and the officer noticed something else. the victims fingers and toes. we all know what happens to them when they've been soaking in a bathtub.

>> it was my understanding she had been in the water for 20 to 30 minutes. and i would've thought that her fingers would have been pruned up. her toes would have been pruned up. >> did you see any indication of that? >> no. >> from simple observations of in the murder case bedroom. the jury was being told that ryan widmer's story didn't drive with what officers had seen. like the bathtub and surrounding tells that should have been soaking wet but weren't. and that implicitly raised the question for the jury. is it possible that this young woman who drowned had never been in the top in the first place? >> bottom line is, there would have been water everywhere. if there wasn't, it was cleaned up. and if there was a cleanup, then there is something to hide. and there was a murder. >> and the expert witness for the prosecution spoke to the issue of whether a person can actually fall asleep and drowned in the bathtub. her testimony was no. it can't happen. >> it would be virtually impossible for somebody, without the influence of drugs

or alcohol, or something external, to fall asleep and not wake up. so, first, the sensation of water on your face would wake you up. to, it would be the gag reflex. water entering your air with a weaker and choking. and three, for some reason if that didn't, the drop in oxygen would actually cause you to stimulate and we can. >> but maybe sarah haven't fallen asleep. perhaps she had suffered a catastrophic but perfectly natural event. something to her heart, her brain. the coroner didn't find anything. >> any evidence apart of drug problems? >> no. >> any evidence of brain injury or seizure? >> no. >> one of the amazing things about sarah widmer is that she had regular medical care for a person her age. she went twice in two years for just a regular physical. this is not a person who didn't have the opportunity to interact with her medical professional. >> and to the coroner the bruising he saw on sarah's neck and scalp will perform in the autopsy were ominous.

the wounds, to significant. and not in the right spot to have been caused by emts lifesaving efforts. >> the things that were the most disconcerting were the three bruises seen on the right side of the scalp. she had another bruised on her forehead. she's got a significant degree of neck hemorrhage. she's undergone significant cpr. however, there was no hemorrhage anywhere in the area of the chess. so, it is difficult to try to rationalize that the hammer judge in her neck can be the result of cpr. >> as the corridor saw it, the significant bruising on sarah's neck was caused by ryan's forceful drowning of her. >> do you have an opinion as to the manner of sarah's death? >> yes, in the manner of death was homicide. >> and that took prosecutors into the realm of speculation. what had happened in the bedroom that night if sarah has been drawn by herself in the bathtub?

this forensic pathologists had one scenario explaining the damp head but dry body. >> her head was pushed over the edge of either the bathtub or the sink, or the toilet, either forwards or backwards. either in a pool of water or under running water. that is how she died. >> an expert also noted the strange prince, invisible to the naked eye. he couldn't say when they were left on the tub. or even that they came from sarah. but feel confident the prince will most likely made by a -- small person. if ryan had force sarah over the side of the tub, had she tried to brace herself as she was pushed into the water? >> from experience, those are prints that are going down with force. >> how do you fight back? >> do you try to keep your head out of the water? do you put your hands against the back of the tub? or do you put your hands on the bottom of the top and try to lift out of the water? or do you grasp at somebody and lose your hold on life? >> a stark image. the husband pushing his wife's head underwater and holding her

there until she drowned. >> this was a drowning. she had been subjected to forcibly holding her throat over some object and drowning. >> but the jury had to wonder what the motivation could be for such an awful crime. sarah's mother who, had initially supported ryan, was now testifying for the prosecution. she said that when she was out shopping with sarah, her daughter seemed to feel that she needed to check everything with ryan, who could see her purchases on her his computer. >> she'd buy something and ryan would call her so she bought it sometimes. telling him did you really need it. he thought he was spending too much money. >> he was very concerned about her shopping? >> that's correct. there was still stresses, things they were going on in their family. >> but even the prosecutors had to acknowledge that this didn't necessarily add up to a clear motive for murder. but they believe there were things happening in the little house that no one but sarah or ryan knew about. >> anybody who's been married or in a relationship knows that what goes on behind closed

doors of a marriage is not apparent apparent to the outside. >> but was the prosecution's case too thin? too much observation like but without enough persuasive hard evidence? the defense would argue passionately that it was. and that ryan had nothing to do with his wife sudden death. coming up. ryan's side of the story. sarah friends's take the scent. >> i know that she had fallen asleep in the bathtub before. >> when dateline continues. before all this happens. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now oh, hello! hi! do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as $300? really? and your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. downy protects fibers, doing more than detergent alone. see? this one looks brand new. saves me money? i'm starting to like downy. downy saves loads. >> what was the toughest thing

you had to surmount? >> you had a lovely 24 year old woman who was dead and no one could explain why. >> the defense wasn't going to be able to tell the jury what caused sarah widmer to drown that night. but they were going to show that ryan widmer had no reason to hurt his wife. and as far as damp here dry body, they would explain. that bottom lane for the defense, -- >> we know one thing ryan widmer had nothing to do with his wife dead. >> ryan with men's defense attorney argued that his client -- why his unhappy towards of words on that 9-1-1 call. >> is she still a bathtub? >> yes, she falls asleep in the tub all the time. >> saying she falls asleep in the top all the time. >> exactly.

>> in other words, had ryan told the 9-1-1 dispatch are only that his wife was unconscious it wouldn't have been so suspicious. >> the only thing ryan knows is she, fell asleep in the tub. but they jump on that as say he's a liar. >> the defense attorney argued the coroner had been all too quick to rule the death of homicide. >> he had no idea if she had unusual sleep habits. he had no idea that she was suffering from a headache that day. >> remember, an expert witness for the prosecution had said it would have been impossible for sarah to fall asleep and die in the tub. but those who knew her sleep abbott said it may have been a sign of an undiagnosed, underlying medical condition. sarah's boss, the dentist, testified that her quirky sleep patterns were well known around the office. >> she would normally grab a quick lunch and go out to her car and take a nap for 30 to 45 minutes. because people don't generally do that. >> and the dentist recollected that sarah hadn't been feeling well on that last day of her

life. >> she had a sore throat. her stomach had been bothering her during the day. >> she was still feeling crummy later that evening when she spoke to a friend. >> she had a headache and the back of her neck was hurting. she sounded tired and she did it sound like she felt very good. >> sarah turning off the day a retreating to her bathtub. that sounded just like the sarah they knew. >> she would always leave our house and say she had to get home because she had to take her bat. >> and sarah dozing off in the tub was a -- as a friend from childhood days was very familiar days. >> she had fallen asleep in the back to before. we had talked about that because i had fallen asleep in the bathtub before, to. >> the sleeping habits. the headaches. the defense claim they could very well have been the symptoms of an underlying and potentially fatal condition that went undetected. something and otherwise healthy young woman wouldn't take all that serious. and even with all their

scientific argument, sometimes pathologists simply cannot see why it person dies. the doctor who specializes in emergency medicine testified and unexplained deaths occur far more often that many of us would guess. >> nationwide, there are approximately 300,000 episodes of sudden death per year. and of those episodes of sudden death, one to 2% occur in young people. but one third of those in young people that die have normal autopsies. >> in other words, people sometimes just die. their autopsies may never reveal the cause. but the issue that might decide the case was the observation by the arriving officers and emts of dam here, and dry body. what looks suspicious was easily explainable said the defense. here simply stays wet longer. >> if they get out of the swimming food or bathtub, your skin dries before. >> yes. >> the defense told a court you have to look at the elapsed time of the incident. the defense claim that sarah's body dried off in the time between ryan for speaking to the 9-1-1 dispatcher and when

the police officer arrived. and will about the fingers and toes that should have been pruned up but weren't? well, no one knows what time sarah got into the top. >> we don't know if she was prepping in front of the mirror. we don't know any of this stuff. >> and by the way, suggested the defense, you can't have it both ways with the dry bathroom theory. if ryan had killed sarah in the small bathroom, there's also should have been water splashed everywhere. >> there was a violent struggle there would be water on the floor, the counter, the walls, everywhere. her and if they want to claim that there was a stage scene where he cleaned up the water, then where is the wet towel? >> and investigators looked for wet towels. in the drier, even in the garage. nothing. and say for arguments say there had been a struggle. do you think ryan would've scrap stopped a series of fought her life.

but ryan didn't have a mark on him. >> how would sarah have reacted if she was being attacked? >> sarah it was a very spunky person. she was small in stature. probably five foot one eye. think she weighed around 140 pounds. she was at frail by any stretch of the imagination. she was a strong girl. >> so she would have gone for attacker? >> i whole heartedly believe. yes. >> and sarah's french manicure was in pristine condition when the emts found her. no sound sign a. fighting >> there was no damage to the nails. >> she had beautiful french manicure nails. none of them were damaged at all. she didn't have skin from ryan underneath her. >> and the very notion of ryan attacking sarah is preposterous, say their friends. >> ryan is a lot like my husband chris and. the aspect of when there is an argument chris just says, okay what can we do to fix it, and let's move. on and that's kind of how ryan was. >> and as far as accounting for their bruise noted to her neck and scalp, the defense said they were certainly caused by the emts working on sarah. >> you have about 45 minutes of resuscitation. not five, not ten, 45 minutes.

>> it looked perfectly consistent to this urgency room doctor an, expert for the defense. >> i was not surprised at the on the injuries at all based on the prolonged cpr and the number of resuscitation attempts. >> at all up. injuries results of lifesaving efforts. skin that may well have died before the authority show up. and you are left with the defense argued, with an unexplained death. something that expert tells you happens. and jurors, the reason you didn't hear about love affairs are out of control finances, is because none of those things existed. >> motive. they don't have a motive. it didn't add up that this man of 27 years of age, never even showed anger in his entire life. when all the sudden kill his wife. it made no sense. i hope you agree that ryan widmer is not guilty of any

wrongdoing. >> but the prosecution would tell the jury in his closing argument that while they may never know why ryan killed his wife, that he nonetheless did it. and that the clock was ticking as he staged to the scene before he called 9-1-1. that they said, explains the damp here, dry body mystery. >> sara widmer was even there out of that bathtub for a longer period of time. had been dead for a longer period of time. or, her body was never fully in the bathtub. >> and they claim that ryan spent so much time cleaning up the scene before he called for emts, that sarah's dead body was showing signs of rigor mortise when they arrived. >> she was already dead by the time they got there. they had difficulty intubated her because her chin kept wanting to fall. rigor mortise setting in.

>> now it was up to the jury to decide if ryan widmer had killed his wife. coming up. >> we are scared that the truth may not come out. >> the verdict and the controversy. when dateline continues. send your kids a text. it may be the last time that you do. [announcer] you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit now. nexgard is the flea and tick protection that's #1 with vets. your vet trusts it for her patients... ...and her own dog. plus, its delicious beef flavor is #1 with dogs. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. ask your vet about nexgard. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on... ♪ [coughing] ♪ ...by, you know how i feel. ♪ if you're tired of staring down your copd,... ♪ it's a new dawn, ♪ ♪ it's a new day... ♪ ...stop settling. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good. ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power

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case that was indisputable was that sarah widmer high drown. but was a it a natural death in her bathtub? what about the suggestion of neurological event? something with a heart? had the medical examiner could not find. >> for medical history is completely devoid of anything that even would suggest these things. >> or had sarah died at the hands of her husband, ryan? >> they had failed to prove their case. they had failed. >> inside the ward county courthouse, the jury was out all day. the couple's friends waited. >> we're scared that the truth may not come out. we know without a doubt that

ryan did not do this. and we pray to god that everyone else sees that. >> to billy cunningham, i'm a great american. >> ryan widmer might have wished that the listeners to bill cunningham's -- radio show. >> the call split 90 to 10 in favor of ryan widmer, because during the trial there was no smoking gun. >> ryan's mother agreed. she was cautiously optimistic. >> i never let myself get cocky. i just felt that having sat there listened that there were a lot of holes and not a lot of evidence. i never felt like it was a slammed up. but i felt like there was a lot of reasonable doubt. >> they're jurors were -- they asked for the tub were sarah had been found dead to be just brought them in the jury room. by the second day, ryan's defense attorney was getting anxious. >> when you're at more than 20 hours, it's clear that somebody saying that this is a street for it as it seems.

>> correct. >> but the prosecutors were worried by the long jury deliberation. >> we knew it was going to be a hard time for them to wait a lot of evidence. >> they had two counts to decide. count one, aggravated murder. did ryan premeditate the murder of his wife, sarah? and count to, non-premeditated murder, did it happen suddenly? without power thought? >> finally after 23 hours, the jurors had reached a verdict. the lawyers were summoned. >> it's a very traumatic moment. your heart is racing. it's in your throat. and you're anxious to hear what the jury says. it's a profound moment. >> as jill hurried back to the court, outside a storm hit with biblical fury. she saw that as an ominous sign. >> the skies just opened up. there were tornado warnings and it all just culminated when the verdict was about to be red. >> ryan widmer took his place at the defense table. the >> defender will present please rise.

the verdict on count ron aggravated murder, we the jury find the defendant, ryan widmer, is not guilty of aggravated murder. >> it was a moment of relief for ryan widmer. the jury did not believe that he killed his wife with premeditation. but he still faced the second count. >> the verdict reached we the jury in this case find the defendant ryan widmer is guilty of the lesser included offense of murder -- >> guilty. the jury had decided that ryan widmer did indeed murder his wife, sarah. >> mr. whitmer is there anything you wish to say? >> they accused, and now the convicted, kiss his wedding ring and then address the court for the first time. he hadn't taken the stand as was his right. >> i love my wife. i did not hurt her. i was never given a chance. the day after she passes away, they charged me with murder. if i had an answer, i would give the answer to what happened to her. i can't. i was not in the bathroom with her. >> he was very upset.

he doubled over. wouldn't address the court. that surprised that he was outspoken as he was. but he indicated to the judge and everybody that he loved sarah. he would never have hurt her. >> i love my wife and i did not hurt her. >> coming up. something amiss in the jury. she said that to her three of the female jurors had done home experiments where they had showered and then air-dried. >> when dateline continues. ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪ ♪...you know how i feel.♪ you don't have to take... [coughing] ...copd sitting down. ♪it's a new dawn,...♪ ♪...it's a new day,♪ it's time to make a stand. ♪and i'm feelin' good.♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd... ...medicine has the power to treat copd... ...in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler,... ...trelegy makes breathing easier for a full 24 hours,

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i screwed up. mhm. to hard-working muscles and joints, i got us t-mobile home internet. now cell phone users have priority over us. and your marriage survived that? you can almost feel the drag when people walk by with their phones. oh i can't hear you... you're froze-- ladies, please! you put it on airplane mode when you pass our house. i was trying to work. we're workin' it too. yeah! work it girl! woo! i want to hear you say it out loud. well, i could switch us to xfinity. those smiles. that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck.

as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network, with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to 75% a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. ryan widmer had been convicted comcast business. powering possibilities™. of murdering his wife sarah and given the mandatory sentence, 15 years to life in prison. he was cuffed and moved to a

holding cell. >> he stopped next to me and said can i say goodbye to my mom and they said no just keep moving. >> i had difficulty without. >> beyond difficult. >> -- who had set up her friend sarah with ryan, her friends called for him, it was devastated. >> one of my best friends. >> so there is no doubt that your best friend megan killed by -- a course as you were to her? >> i do. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> my impression was that the community was stunned by the verdict. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the verdict was so unpopular in the court of public opinion that candlelight vigils were staged to protest the jury vote. >> there has never been a case where hundreds of americans come out of their homes carrying candlelight to listen to prayers about a condemned,

convicted killer. it has never happened before. >> talk radio host bill cunningham, a lawyer by training, regards and the self as a hanging high conservative. but even he felt that this was a case of justice tonight. >> judging this case against 100 other murder trials, this is one of the flimsiest and weakest i've ever seen. >> my name is mike -- i'm the creator of the website -- >> someone out there following the crowd was mike. and some newlywed and self and i wet page designer. even though he never met ryan, he believed in his witnesses so that he launched a free ryan widmer website. >> the goal is to get a new trial, if it does not give a new trial, i think it's got outrage a lot of people. >> angry citizens, taxpayers, voters. even though the real trial is over, the prosecutor had not entirely called it quits. in their post verdict victory lap, they spoke of the things that the judge had not allowed the jury to hear. the weekend before his wife

died, when she had been away visiting relatives, they say that ryan had frequented a website called adult friend find her, an organization that bills itself as the world's largest sight for swingers. >> we found evidence that he had been on the side, but no evidence that he followed through. if there is such a happy couple, why is somebody on the computer surfing for a hookup spot? that makes no sense to me. that would come back to the idea of a happy couple. >> -- to be -- there is no way to know that sarah even knew about ryan's internet trolling. still, was it a sign that their marriage was not as happy as friends and family believe? >> my understanding of some of these sites, supposedly that he visited, ended up being pop-ups on a computer. i'm not the most computer literate person, but i do not think the full story was told there either. and i do not understand, if

they got the verdict they wanted, why they have to continue to attack my son and family. >> brian's mother said that if the couple had fought over anything, the family would have known. sara always outspoken, was not the type to suffer in silence. >> sarah told everybody, she is a tragic person. she's been with her family for an entire weekend without ryan being there. if there were any problems, believe me, they all would've known it and i probably would've known it because sarah probably would've called and yelled at me about something that my son was doing that was not nice to her. >> none of that mattered now. the jury had spoken and defense lawyer -- could not get over the guilty verdict. >> it was awful, it was on my shoulders, it's my duty to my client to get a proper verdict and i failed. >> ryan had become more than a client to him. >> i absolutely believe him, i had him into my home and around my wife and kids. there is no question to my mind

that he was innocent. >> -- good lawyers often do after losing a. casey wrote a motion to have the judge let ryan go free, or order a new trial. a long shot. ryan was in prison and would likely stay there. >> it is been a rollercoaster ride and i just cannot let myself get my hopes up. >> he may be in prison for 15 years. >> he may be, and this appeals process, i mean it can take forever. >> in fact as ryan widmer got processed in the ohio system system,'s case was far from over. the day after the defensive tierney filed the motion, his fax machine spit out some shocking information. >> as we speak it's not the end of things? >> that's correct. >> the facts was a letter for a juror. >> he was having problem living with himself, saying that it was a moral dilemma for him to just go without bringing it up to somebody's attention. >> the jury claimed that there had been forbidden monkey business a from deliberation.

monkey business over nothing less than the biggest issue of the trial. damp head, dry body. >> he said that through three is the female jurors had done experiments where they had showered and then air-dried. >> they were testing of this theory of how quickly a body drives coming out of the trouble shower? >> yes. >> at home? >> at home. >> if the facts-ing your was correct, the panel had directly violated the judges instruction to consider only what they heard in court. the allegation was jury misconduct, a serious matter. >> attorney mark -- runcie ohio innocence project. he saw the juror letter as a way to persuade the judge to grant writing a new trial. >> it's unusual for a jury to come forward and reveal that they had violated a rule, performed experiments, and brought that into consideration. >> they began reviewing affidavit about what went on in deliberations. more those foreign statements, the jury set of those taboo

home experiments, that the time to air dry influenced my decision. >> jurors are not supposed to go home and do experiments. >> in the end, the judge agreed. four months after ryan widmer conviction, evil that the husband would get another trial. the not guilty verdict on the aggravated murder count would remain, so the prosecution could only retry him on the second count of unpremeditated murder. his mother sprang together enough cash to post the 400,000 dollar bond for him. ryan was released from prison, but by then he had already spent five months behind bars. >> the quest for judge justice can deplete both bank accounts and emotions. how far are you prepared to go in this? >> i'm prepared to go until the day i die, if i have to live on the street in a cardboard box at the end of this, i'm going to do whatever i can to get my son out of this. >> had ryan and his family would end up not at the very brink of financial bankruptcy, but also at the edge of emotional collapse. >> he said he cannot sleep,

when he closes his eyes. >> everything in ryan's life was spiralling downwards. he lost his job as a sports planner after the guilty verdict, and was left to do odd jobs for supporters. the house that he and suribachi together went into foreclosure. and now another jury would be asked to appear inside the mystery of a marriage and decide what exactly happened behind those closed doors on -- the prosecutors would have to convince another jury that ryan widmer had killed his wife. >> it's gotta be hugely frustrating. you've got a guilty verdict, and then you have to do it. again >> on the other hand, by that point, when you have the jury would react to our evidence. on the other side of the coin it is tough and who has seen your case. >> it certainly has, they can now counterpunch and we cannot change very much. >> ryan widmer trial take to. coming up. >> ryan is 62 and sara is 51 or five to. imagine them actually interacting. >> a new jury makes a dramatic

return to the scene of the crime. and later, ryan widmer tells his own story. >> did you kill your wife? >> no, i did not. i could not her hurt ceremony loan physically. >> you're saying that you're wrongly convicted? >> i'm 100% wrongly convicted and i'm going to fight this until it is made right. >> when dateline continues.

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the jury had found ryan widmer guilty of murder, only to have the verdict thrown out, it would start all over again. this time, a new defense team would take over ryan's case. defense lawyers jake clark and lindsey gutierrez worried that even though they were starting a trial with a clean slate of jurors, the verdict from the first trial would still hang over the accused. >> he's still innocent until proven guilty, everyone thanks, and everyone knows that he was proven guilty. >> across the courtroom, from the prosecution team was the same and it would hammer home the argument that the healthy, 24-year-old woman just does not die alone in a bathroom.

>> did you see any evidence that sarah suffered a seizure to cause her death by drowning? >> no. >> zero's body, drive to the touch as officers and emts testified. the bathroom where her husband lifted her soaking wet body out of the top, it was also not what. >> the child magazine to paid to be dry. >> the jury would then hear the 9-1-1 call that the prosecution hears, appeared odd. >> i came up here and shoes lying face down in the bathtub. >> the message was my wife is dead and i was not around when it happened. >> but unlike the first trial, the defense lawyers asked the to take the jurors to the hole where ryan inserted had lift to inspect the very bathroom where she had died. the lawyers made a pretrial visit. >> the first thing we said was, this is small. >> they wanted the jurors to see for themselves that this was a crime to space and a moderate modest builder home. >> imagine's ryan at 62 and

sarah at 5152. imagine interacting in. here >> it was such a small bathroom that a defense expert argue that if there had been a violent struggle, both husband and wife would have shown more obvious bruises and scratches. >> i would have expected to see more injury if a violent struggle had occurred. >> but the prosecutors argued that in an explosion of anger could've overtaken his wife so quickly that she would've had no time to fight back. and in their closing arguments they told jurors that ryan widmer not only killed his wife, but also delayed calling 9-1-1 to buy time to cover up his crime. >> they looked so nice, because ryan widmer had the opportunity to reset the scene. he had time to put things back into place. >> but ryan's defense lawyers were hopeful that this jury would see the case that they did, an innocent man on trial for a murder that he did not commit. >> i absolutely believe him. no doubt in my mind.

>> the case was given to jury number two, and it seemed as though everyone in cincinnati was on the edge of their seat waiting. but, three days into deliberations, nothing. the jurors asked to see the judge. >> there was an impasse. >> he sent them back to deliberate more. >> it is desirable that the case be decided. >> it was turning out to be the longest deliberation in warren county history. as the jurors left for a long holiday weekend, the specter of a mistrial hung in the air. dana and chris once again waited with ryan. >> we have to make sure that he knows that we are here, that's what we do is friends is to support him and the hopeful and have the faith that this is going to turn out the way that it was meant to turn out. >> the jury returned to work on tuesday morning, but at 5 pm on that fourth day of deliberations, they asked it to see the judge again. >> we have decided that we cannot agree, and that further deliberations will not serve a

useful purpose. >> a hung jury. no verdict. by this count they were deadlocked seven guilty, one undecided, for not guilty. at a press conference, ryan's parents vowed to stand by their son. they had already spent more than a half million dollars on the defense, tapping out bank accounts and retirement plans. >> we know that he is going to do whatever it takes. >> ryan's dad, gary, it was firmly behind his son. but in another odd twist, it had taken ryan's arrest to reunite the pair. he had been out of his son's life for 13 years, the consequence of a bitter divorce. he had not even known there was a serra until he learned is the son had been charged with her murder. father was reintroduced design while ryan was in jail. >> the first meeting that you've had with your boy in a long, long time. >> he's on the other side of the glass and you're talking through one of those phones. it is kind of a hard thing to

take, right there. >> it was, it was hard, but it was sweet. >> a poignant reunion, father and son. and, a father who completely believed in his son's innocence and will do anything to help him. >> if there's any evidence to take, you have to take it. it's my son, you have to take it. >> you sounded undo it? >> sara widmer died for reasons unknown. >> give yourselves a round of laws. >> beyond ryan's family and close friends behind them, it was a case that had galvanized a virtual army. there were three ryan widmer t-shirts and waistbands. >> -- contribute $60,000. a stranger. >> yeah. >> even the prosecutors were a bit worried. so much taxpayer money would be spent on the third trial. so many ryan widmer beating very loud lot drums. a plea deal was floated. >> we felt that it was a subject worth bringing up. >> but they said that there was

no way that ryan was taking a. deal >> they offered him a plea, which they hadn't done at the trial. >> and he turned it down? >> of course he turned it down. he said because i'm innocent, there's no the way that i would ever take a plea. why would i admit to something that i would never have, down that i did not do. >> ryan widmer was gambling that the next jury which acquit him. but the role of the dice was taking it, told not just on, him but on his family as well. ryan's mom made headlines when she was stopped for drunk driving. she had pleaded not guilty to the driving under the influence charge, but please say that they found to open bottles of vodka enrich our. >> she broke down, was hospitalized. a terrible toll on her. i lived with that many times, all three of us are together, and you just feel her going deeper and deeper. >> but it seems that for every person who came out to support ryan widmer there were those who believed just as strongly on the other side, that he had deliberately drowned his wife.

one of those people would soon change everything. ten days after the jury deadlock, a phone rang in the prosecutors office. it was a woman with a hand grenade of a story. someone who came forward and said this guy confessed to me, we want to find out more about what she has to say and how she knows. it >> the prosecutors investigated and came away convinced that they had the long missing pieces to the puzzle. both a confession, and a motive. and, jay clark as a defense attorney, would now have to work overtime about the state's new bombshell of witness. >> did you know? >> literally no. >> because the new witness feared for her life, saying that ryan widmer had threatened her, her identity would not be disclosed to the defense team until the beginning of the trial. and trial three would begin with virtually everyone holding their breath. who was this person and what did she know? >> coming up. >> she pulls and wearing a suit, with decently done hair. normal makeup. >> the mystery witness takes

the stand and what a story she has to tow. >> she found out that she had cheated on her -- they were in the living room and they were arguing about pornography. >> but why this story? now >> -- [crying] i'm a mom and i couldn't do that to them anymore. . >> when dateline continues. maybe try switching your car insurance to progressive. you could save hundreds. that's a great idea, tv dad. but i said the exact same thing. some day when you're a father, you'll understand. i'm his father. it's not a competition. listen to your tv dad. drivers who switch and save with progressive save nearly $700 on average.

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close relationship between russia and china. now back to dateline. is there anything that you wish to say? >> the first trial ended in a mistrial. the second with a hung jury. with this next jury reach a verdict? these three jurors from the last trial said that the prosecutors had failed to convince them that ryan widmer had killed his wife. >> there is nothing to prove to me that he had anything to do with her death. >> and that the next group of jurors would also not be able to reach a unanimous decision. >> with jury deliberations for 35 hours and the likelihood of a 12 jurors coming to the same conclusion was a very unlikely. we really did not think that another injury would not be deadlocked. >> they would soon find out. ryan widmer extraordinary third

trial for the murder of his wife was about to start all over again. the prosecutors felt it was their duty to argue their case for sara. >> we are committed to seeing that justice is done for the victim of this case, and that is what we've got to think about. >> it promised to be a judicial groundhog day, repeat testimony from the emts and arriving officers from the widmer home. the odyssey of a bathtub drowning victim with a damp edge and dry body. a 9-1-1 call that something volunteered too much. and injuries to the wives neck and head that spoke to the prosecutors of homicide and not resuscitation. >> the facts which came out in this case gave rise to that idea that there had been an assault that occurred which progressed into an incident of domestic violence. >> at this time so his own mother described the couple's relationship as more tense than in the previous trials, telling the court that ryan's and serves arguments made her very uncomfortable. >> they would just call each other names and get hateful

with each other. i even told them that they need to stop, i cannot take. it what >> was really new and stunning was the thing that had been haunting the defense and say first learned about it since -- the prosecution's mystery witness that would testify that ryan had confessed to the crime. it was a woman named jennifer -- from iowa. it was the first time that the defense would get a good look at this person who ryan had allegedly confessed to and they were horry >> she pulled in wearing a suit, decently done hair, normal makeup. >> how did this woman living 500 miles away living from ryan widmer that came to be starring in the prosecution? roll it turned out that she watched our coverage on dateline of the first trial. that dateline segment aired on september 18th, 2009. after watching the show, she said that ryan an email through the free ryan widmer website, telling him how bad she felt about his plight. >> i felt sorry for ryan. i asked him what i could do to

help them. >> before, along the two were infrequent touch. >> we struck up an email text, and then ultimately a phone relationship. >> correct. >> as the relationship continued, ryan send her photos of his dogs, and asked her to send him a picture of herself. initially we she sent this one of a friend. she said that -- there is even top of jennifer visiting ryan inovio for a three way. >> the reason that jennifer was on the stand was to testify about one phone conversation in particular, one very different than their usual banter. it was october 26th, 2009. jennifer said that she had been asleep when ryan called. it sounded to her as though he had been drinking. >> he was crying and he was saying i did it, i did it, i killed sara, i did it. i thought, what he meant was that he did not do enough to save her life that night.

he said no jen, listen to me, i did it. >> he said that ryan told her that she started with a fight between through them. >> -- he found out that she had cheated on him. he said there in the living room and they were arguing about his pornography. >> what happened when she came upstairs? >> she's getting ready for the bat. brian said that the argument continued, that she kept saying that she cannot do this anymore, and sarah told him that the marriage was over. >> ryan, she testified, then told sara -- >> nobody leave me. nobody ever leave me, and i leave nobody. >> that is when jennifer says that ryan hit his wife. >> she fell backwards and hit your head, and he said that i blacked out. i blacked out. >> why this story now? >> jennifer crew waited almost two weeks after the second jury had deadlocked before coming forward, even though ryan had allegedly confessed to her eight months earlier. she says she promised ryan that

she would not reveal his secret. she says that she was unnerved when he gave her a veiled threat. >> i promised him that i would never tell anybody. he said, i hope not because i would not want you to be worth arose out. >> she also said that she thought the jury, like i, one would have convicted brian. when they did not, she contacted the authorities after seeing pictures of sarah's mother. >> -- and the pain in the hurt in her mom's face, and i'm a mom, and i could not do that to them anymore. they needed to know the truth. >> coming up, she had a past. stealing, that's not something that i don't this person. does >> your convicted of theft? >> you are also convicted of fraudulent practices? >> that is what my record says. >> when dateline continues. [announcer] you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit now. it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous.

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jennifer crew had just taken the stand and her story it was a lot to observe. ryan confessing, fighting with a wife who is leaving him, blacking out in the bathroom. with the jurors believe any or all of it? the defense had to make certain they did, but they were worried that they might. >> i think she had invented the story and started to live it and really wanted to believe it. >> you're convicted -- >> so the aimed of the jugular. could this win be trusted? >> she had to jaded past. conviction, stealing, that is not something that an honest person does. >> a one-time bartender at a strip club who -- jennifer crew admitted to misdemeanor brushes with the law. >> you are convicted of theft? >> yes sir. >> you're also convicted fraudulent practices, correct? >> i believe that's what my record. says >> she was also new methadone treatment program for addiction to painkillers. >> you are using oxycontin for about five years.

>> about five years, yes. >> you have used false names to get drugs. >> yes i did. >> the of defense indicated that cause of her addiction to drugs, her memory was not to be trusted. >> when detectives talked to you, you told him that your memory is not very good. >> i do not recall saying. that >> do you member telling them, i do not remember exactly, verbatim, the conversation between you and ryan? >> i do not remember the conversation verbatim. >> the defense would -- on what came through, even what day it was played. >> when investigators met with, you you told them that the call was in the middle of the night. >> i was asleep and i thought the sleep -- the call came in later when. did >> everything critical in terms of time, duration, any memory but the call was a whole different once she got to testify, and only after she saw her phone records. >> after jennifer crew stepped down, the prosecution called the woman's fiancée to try to undo any damage to her testimony caused by the defense. he confirmed that she related to the alleged confessional phone called to him immediately

after hanging up that night. >> she came downstairs crying and she is, like he did it. she was scared, actually. she was upset. >> if the jury believed that jennifer cruz story, ryan widmer was some. so the defense called a witness to refute the iowa women story about an emotional call from ryan. and it was another woman who became interested in ryan after seeing our first light dateline report. melissa walker from seattle like jennifer crew from iowa, struck up a phone and email relationship with brian the fall 2009. she said that she was drawn to his case after the death of her sister in law. -- >> how often you think you guys talk? >> three times a week. sometimes more, sometimes less. it was on a frequent basis. we talked about several lot, he was having a really, really hard time accepting everything. >> melissa's husband supported her friendship with ryan. >> yeah, but really comfortable

with her and our relationship, and without a shadow of the doubt -- >> i did feel strongly about supporting him. i just know that he did everything do with it. >> the importance of the seattle woman's story for the defense was that, she too, had had a lengthy phone call with ryan that finished just six minutes before he called jennifer crew in iowa. the call, in which he allegedly confessed to killing his wife. melissa waller said that ryan was perfectly composed when she spoke to him for almost two hours that night. >> how do you know that he was not drunk, he was not upset? >> every phone conversation that i have had, he is never been intoxicated or emotionally distraught. i knew that all the time that i talked to him, he was never drunk or upset. >> melissa waller was convinced that jennifer crew had made up the whole story about the confession. >> i was shocked that somebody would go under oath, on the stand, and lie. >> but still, at the defense paid a price by putting yet another woman on the stand.

>> is there a larger issue here? is there a risk for these women getting involved with ryan widmer? , >> it's easy to get sucked into that but i think you have to understand what ryan was going through. he was never been able to mourn properly for her because you cannot do that when you are on charge for murder. they contacted him, and it was companionship. >> it was time to wrap up trial number three. the prosecutor saying that it was a sudden violent murder. >> everybody who's been in a relationship knows that sometimes things go off, they snap. for no good reason. i think something like that happened, at some point brian saw that the perfect marriage was falling apart and that is what happened here. >> the defense arguing a medically undetermined death by natural causes. >> it's probably gonna bother me for the rest of my life. what happened with sara. we will never know. >> sara had drowned, but how? a third jury retired for deliberation. coming up.

>> he was telling me how much he loved sarah and he had never loved another woman as much as he loved her. i think i started crying because i felt so bad for him. >> another stunner. a new sarah enters brian's life. >> i love him, yes. >> just two is she? later, ryan tells all. >> she is also, so loving, caring. there are similarities that i see with her my wife. >> you guys kept a secret in? you >> yes, because i knew that they would try to make it into something. >> when dateline continues. enough was enough. i talked to an asthma specialist and found out my severe asthma is driven by eosinophils, a type of asthma nucala can help control. now, fewer asthma attacks and less oral steroids that's my nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur.

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day. again, it seemed that everyone in cincinnati was waiting for a verdict. while widmer has a number of ardent supporters, trial watchers say that things time things are changing in the court of public opinion. >> you have a candlelight vigil now -- >> one strong voice that i turned against brian widmer was talk radio shows bill

cunningham. he was disgusted, for one thing, with how widmer had exploited the free orion widmer website. he used that website to pick up checks. instead of using it to find his innocence, he was bringing in hot babes from washington and iowa. to me, by the third trial, the evidence did not change. the facts didn't change, but the wallpaper of the case changed. >> day two and the jury in the courthouse was going around and round. >> my stomach was cramped and my shoulders hurt and i just thought of all. >> i was not sure, so i didn't solve that way for 20 years. >> the jurors were working their way through the evidence. they heard the 9-1-1 call. -- >> i think she's dead. >> the more you listen to what the more it starts to sound like it was staged. >> and then there was sara's body, officers had testified that it was too dry. >> 20 minutes later after being removed from that to, but you would expect the body to be. what >> the alleged confession

as recounted by jennifer crew. >> i just don't believe anything she. said >> the prince of the job. >> in normal circumstances you cannot leave those kinds of fingerprints on the side of the top it trailing down. >> the bruising to sara. >> i think that both of the defense and the prosecution put up good arguments about that, that is teetering on a razor's edge for me. >> at the end of the second day, they took their one and only look, they had a verdict. a blast of calls went out. they grabbed a stunt ryan. >> we immediately jumped in the car and ryan said, i can't believe they're back this soon, it is too quick, i'm worried. >> when everyone was gathered in the courtroom, the judge asked for the jury ballot. >> anxious. >> very. >> yeah. >> ryan widmer stood with his lawyers. his life hanging in the balance. >> i could actually hear ryan shaking. i could hear it, and he sat nervous. >> the verdict. >> we the jury of this case

find the defendant, ryan kay widmer guilty of murder. >> guilty. ryan dropped his head to the table. >> he was hysterical, he was crying, he was a mess. >> it was a bad, bad, bad dream. >> ryan composed himself enough to proclaim to the court his innocence. >> i did not do this. i do not know why, this has to keep going on. my wife has been ruined. i loved sarah. i would never have hurt or, never. >> outside the court, ryan's father gary slumped to the ground. the sound that he was recently reunited with after years apart, taken from him again. >> it was horrifying, it was a horrifying moment. and i think it just totally caught up with me at that point. the whole total shock, i just went week. >> ryan widmer for the second time was given the mandatory sentence, 15 years to life. >> as quote officers handcuffed him and let him away, two people were aware with of a young woman on his side the

benches crying. this is also a sarah, sarah manners. and she is still another twist in the story that has so many. >> do you love them? >> i love him. yeah. >> sarah warren engagement ring and is the mother of ryan's son born in the summer after trial number two. >> what do you mean the baby? >> his name is ryan. >> do you see ryan's face in the baby? >> yes. >> sarah, a canadian via new york, like jennifer from iowa and melissa from seattle, also became aware of ryan after our first dateline program on the case arid back in 2009. >> i thought that he was railroaded, i really did. >> she sent an email to ryan saying house or if she felt for him, and he sent one back. assume they were talking on the phone. a little more than a month later, sarah came to cincinnati to visit bryan she stayed with him at his mother's house. >> i thought it was a little awkward, because we have talked so much on the phone, but we hadn't met, and he was telling

me how much he loved to sara and he could never love and other woman as much as he loved her. i think i started crying because i felt so bad for. him >> there one back to new york in the three weeks later returned back to cincinnati, as ryan's guest at his mother's thanksgiving dinner. that was the weekend that they became intimate. >> the first time that we were together, i got pregnant. >> how did ryan take the news? >> he was shocked. obviously very bad timing. >> they kept the pregnancy a secret as ryan's second trial would take place the following way. >> i decided that i was going to have the baby and he was okay without. but it was just difficult because here i am, pregnant, and you are facing another trial and my child could potentially grow up without a father. [crying] now he's in jail.

>> with ryan sentenced to 15 years to life, sarah is raising their son. >> i am still in shock. i cannot believe it is happening to him. >> if in your own mind you could not get to beyond reasonable doubt, there was a sliver of doubt that maybe had done this, would you stay? >> never, i would never have stayed with him. there is no way that he could have done this, ever. >> but howdy? in the course of three trials, laid out before three juries, ryan widmer guilt or innocence has been passionately debated. he is now telling his story. widmer speak from present when we return. >> did you kill your wife, sarah? >> coming up. >> you think they fabricated? this >> i know they did. >> why would they have it in for you? why would a lie? emts and police officers never -- >> this young husband is about to make a startling claim. when dateline continues.

this is ryan widmer story as he tells it. he remembers a loving relationship with his wife, sarah, that was right from the first date. >> we hated off perfect. >> was there any friction? >> none whatsoever. >> everything was cool? >> perfect. >> he only had one worry about sarah. >> my biggest problem with her was from sleep. she would work oregano day and that you need to go to bed early, or should be taking a nap. i just thought, something was not healthy about to. your 24-year-old. >> but still he says they fell into their everyday lives. their jobs, walking the dogs, building a deck on their house. all routine, he says, until that august night. sarah had come home from work, he says, with a headache. they had dinner, watched tv. >> she's on the couch? >> lying on the couch. >> because you didn't feels? what >> she said her neck was killing her, she's gonna get in the bathroom and go to. bed >> ryan said he stayed

downstairs watching the game until he too is ready for bed. upstairs, to the master bedroom, and back. >> tell me what you see, just like a videotape recording. >> i walk into the room, i walk over to the night stand, and i put some things down turn on the tv. then i walk into the bathroom. that's when i saw some, or i knew something was not right. she was just unconscious. >> how did you see here? >> her head was underneath the water. >> what she faced out of the tub? when you called 9-1-1? >> yes, all members finding her. i knew it wasn't good. she is laying in the water. i don't know what else to say other than it wasn't right. the only thing that i remember certain things because of what i heard on the 9-1-1 tape. >> it was such a shocking image, you think you'd remember. >> i was not thinking that i'm gonna have to remember what did i see, what do i do. >> head wise, nose, mouth below the water? >> what did you do? >> i'm gonna get any sort of reaction of her and got nothing. >> that is when he says that he

called 9-1-1. >> my wife is in the bathtub and i think she is dead. >> when you chose that word, i think she fell asleep. >> isn't about choosing where, it is about what i said. i guess it was her sleeping issue or whatever. >> they would say that 9-1-1 call a suspicious because, this guy is giving us too much information. he is telling us he's downstairs. he's away from all the stuff that's going on. she's upstairs. do you know why you told? >> because as watching the football game, i don't know what else they want me to tell them. >> maybe a need and ambulances soon as possible, get your quick. >> i don't know. i called and that's why said, i don't know. >> prosecutors say that the first arriving officer was at the house no more than six minutes after the 9-1-1 call was answered. in less than three minutes after ryan lifted sara's body as the tub. >> the observations of the arriving officer, what we have here. what why is this woman's hair damp and her body dry? >> it doesn't make sense brian. >> i understand that.

>> how do you explain? it >> i do i explain it? i love the house and -- by themselves and then they came up with a story that they wanted to come up with. >> you think the fabricate this? >> i know they. did >> you think they want to make a case here? >> i know they did. >> why would they arrest me a day after they didn't want to make a case? >> why would they have it in for you? why would they lie? emts and police officers don't even work for the same agency. >> they clearly do when they get up there to testify, because they are clearly coasting with what to say. >> and what about the story of the woman who says that ryan confessed to her that she killed sarah? >> listen to me, i did it. >> here is jennifer on the stand saying that he called me one night and he was sobbing and he confessed to me. jennifer, i did it. i'm telling you i did it. did that conversation happen? >> no, it never happened. >> so jennifer cruz story is made up? >> one hunted percent made up. >> the same goes, ryan told, as for his mother's testimony

about hearing hateful arguments about the couple. >> we will just call each other names. >> she's a liar. >> there is moms liar? >> she's making the stuff up? >> we are never mean to each other, never. >> a one-time mother in law from a earlier life who he says is a militia the reality of his marriage. now, ryan widmer as a baby with a new sarah. >> she is awesome. so loving and caring. there are similarities that i see with sarah my wife that i see with sara now. >> you kept a secret didn't you? >> because i knew that they would make it into something negative. >> and in that court of public opinion, the women from faraway places, i was, seattle, new york, who became involved in this case did not go down well with everyone. a character issue. >> accused of using the free ryan widmer dating website. >> that's not true, i don't know who does that, but that's not true. >> investigators wondered how good the marriage really was, based on what they say they found on widmer computer.

>> did you have an unhealthy addiction to porn? >> no. >> you looked a point? >> yeah. >> but ryan says that doesn't mean anything, and it certainly doesn't make him a murderer. >> did you kill your wife sarah? >> i did not. >> i could not hurts or a mostly, let alone physically. >> she did not get interface until you that she was leaving? >> it didn't happen? >> did not happen. >> you're watching the ball game, went upstairs, and found out about situation. >> yeah. and that's it. >> you don't know why she died? >> no. >> but you didn't put her head underwater? >> absolutely not. >> you're saying wrongly convicted? >> i'm 100% wrongly convicted. it's 30 jurors or more -- >> found guilty after they heard the story. >> yes. >> they are not getting it? >> they're not getting it at all. >> these jurors from the third trial are confident they got it right. they say that, among other things, it came down to what they saw as service to dry bodies, oddities in the 9-1-1 call, prince on the tub, and the unlikeliness of an out of

the blue medical event striking sarah in the basque. >> i went into believing that he was innocent, but everything that was put together with the evidence came down with four or five facts that we could not deny. we believe that he intentionally ground her. >> and the guilt of ryan widmer will also never be touted by the prosecutors. >> do you believe that he actually do this thing? >> absolutely. she was murdered and he killed her. he was the only one who could've done it. >> brian widmer has petitioned the u.s. district court to overturn his conviction, after the u.s. supreme court declined to hear his case. >> i'm not letting the stand. i'm going to fight this until it is made right. >> the passage of time has not made the events inside the little house on -- how court even clear. and time bring changes. sarah manherz are no longer a couple. but she told us that he she still believes in his innocence. and more change. his mother to passed away.

nothing, it seems, stays quite the same except for the central mystery itself, and that will likely be argued for years still to come. hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is dateline. >> i think it was just in shock to find out that she is gone and that the cause of the gunshot wound. you just wonder how this could happen. it seems very surreal >> a quiet night at home shattered by a gunshot. >> she came out of the shower and i heard a pop. and there's blood.