The Mystery in the Master Bedroom

Dennis Murphy Correspondent • Profile

Sometimes the shades are drawn early in a marriage, even for young couples 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 planner for the county, Ryan said he plopped down on the sofa on an August night to chill with the Bengals' pre-season opener against Green Bay.

Sarah went upstairs to draw a bath in the master. She liked her calming baths. The young dental hygienist had been tormented with more of her headaches that afternoon. The young couple in the suburban Cincinnati home that evening had been married for just 114 days. They'd vowed “till death do we part,” and that moment was only minutes away from arriving.

They'd begun, the two of them, with a blind date at a pub that worked out.

Sarah--Sarah Steward--had been fixed up by her friend Dana Kist. Dana had an inkling that Sarah would really hit it off with her husband Chris' former college roommate, Ryan Widmer.

Dana Kist: I came home and I said, "Sarah is amazing," said, "I think this-- their personalities would really get along."  He said, "Well, let's let 'em go to dinner and see what happens."

What happened over drinks and nibbles was chemistry. Laid-back Ryan, the college jock, a baseball player and super-organized Sarah, who needed everything just-so, talked about getting together again.

Dana Kist: He said, "Well-- well, let's get together again, you know, and do another date. And she said, "Well, let me check my book." So she gets out her little black book.  And-- you know, sh-- she's lookin' through.  And he's peekin' over lookin. Later he calls us and tells us, "You know, there was nothing written in her black book!" (laughter)

It was a fast-track courtship and before very long Ryan was bringing his new girlfriend home to meet his mom, Jill.

Jill Widmer: I liked her a lot, probably number one thing that struck me the most, was how-- beyond her years in maturity she was, you know. Sarah didn't have a problem telling anyone anything.  So, if you made Sarah mad, you knew you made Sarah mad.

As for Ryan, he never got mad.

Chris Kist: I don’t think I have ever seen him upset. He doesn’t-- he doesn’t get mad, you know.

Dana Kist: He’s so laid back and kind of easy going, go with the flow.  And she's on it, organized, this is where we have to be.  And he just says, "Okay." (laugh).

Jill Widmer enjoyed her days with Ryan and his new girlfriend Sarah.

Jill Widmer: Our family tends to do a lot of barbeques and picnics and things like that. We would spend some time down on the lake in Kentucky.  They would come down there. 

Dennis Murphy, Dateline NBC Correspondent: Were you-- were you pleased she was becoming a serious part of the family?

Jill Widmer: I was very pleased, yes.

In early 2008, the inseparable Sarah and Ryan bought a nice four-bedroom house together in a good neighborhood. And soon wedding invitations were in the mail.

The bridesmaids knew they'd better snap to.

Dana Kist: She's a planner. So she had everything ready to go. She wanted to make sure all the girls wore the same makeup, same eye shadow, same-- bought us our little makeup kits for the wedding so we all looked the same.

Dennis Murphy: Chris, how's he doin'?

Chris Kist: He was just as happy, happier than I'd ever seen him with her.

Congenial guy that he was, Ryan even agreed to work on getting his first dance together for the wedding reception. He took some ballroom lessons.

Jill Widmer: And I was amazed.  I mean, never in a million years, would I think--

Dennis Murphy: Your son at dance lessons?

Jill Widmer: Yeah. I think that she could get him to do more things-- than any woman he had ever dated before.

The wedding that April was a formal affair. The bride was beautiful. Ryan's dance came off without a hitch. And the happy bridesmaids all matched just as their friend Sara wanted.

Dana Kist: Very beautiful.  I mean, every detail was planned, obviously, to a tee, because it was Sarah.  But-- and she was gorgeous.

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.

Jill Widmer: They worked really hard. They built a beautiful deck on the back of their house. They were gonna adopt a puppy and were really excited about that. They had a trip planned to Cancun. They had everything to live for.

Dennis Murphy: So, August 11 should've been just another day on the calendar?

Jill Widmer: It should've been.

August 11th. Monday night. Ryan downstairs watching the game. Sarah upstairs and in trouble.

911 call:

Dispatcher: 911, what's your emergency?

Ryan Widmer:  my wife...she fell asleep in the bathtub, I think. I was downstairs, I just came up here and she was laying face down in the bathtub.

Jill Widmer: I got a call-- was Ryan. And he said, "Somethin's happened to Sarah."

The EMTs were rushing Sarah to the hospital. By then, they'd worked on her for 45 minutes but hadn’t gotten a response.

Minutes later Jill Widmer was with her son, waiting anxiously now in a room off Emergency.

Jill Widmer: Finally, a woman came in. We said, "Is she gone?" And she said, "Yes."  He just dropped to his knees and was just bawling and sobbing, you know, into the chair.

Sarah Widmer--24-years old--the bride of less than 4-months--was dead.

Her husband Ryan told the emergency services people he was pretty sure she'd fallen asleep in the bathtub and drowned.

But those EMT's intubating her, pounding her chest, didn't understand one crucial observation they made at the home that night, that thing that caused them to tell the arriving police officer: There's something that doesn't look right here.

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