Ryan Widmer: 911 Call Analysis

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First published February 2011 Ryan Widmer, 30, stood trial three times for the murder of his wife, Sarah, 24. On August 11, 2008, his wife was found unresponsive in their bathtub in Ohio.  The first time Ryan was convicted, but that conviction was overturned. The second time, the jury was hung and now the third time, Widmer was convicted this month again, and he was sentenced to 15 years to life.

I  have been asked to take a look at the 911 call.

Read moreWhen you listen to the 911 call, its interesting. Ryan says, “My wife, ah, fell asleep in the bathtub and I think she’s dead.”

How would he know that she fell asleep? Notice he doesn’t speculate when he says it? I find that interesting. Second, he thinks she is dead? He didn’t check–he doesn’t know for sure? Last, notice his lack of interest to get an ambulance immediately to try to save her? That’s a huge red flag.

A few seconds later, Ryan says, “Yeah, she fell asleep in the bathtub, I think. I was downstairs and I just came up here and found her and she was laying face down in the bathtub.”

Notice the afterthought of the words, “I think”?

When people fall asleep in the tub, do they end up face down? That sounds weird to me. Furthermore, I would think if you fall asleep and breath in water, it would make you wake up and cough, as your body struggles to get oxygen. It would be an automatic response.

They way Ryan says, “24”, is notable to me. There is no signs of fear, sadness, or distress in voice.

The dispatcher says, “She in the water right now?” Ryan says, “Yes, the water’s draining right now…I tried to do it…everything.”  

The dispatcher continues, “Have you taken her out of the water now?” and Ryan says, “Yeah, the water’s completely drained and she’s just laying here unconscious.”

The dispatcher asks again, “She’s still in the bathtub?” Ryan says, “Yeah”.

WHAT? He didn’t take her out of the tub the instant he found her? That’s what a loving husband would do unless she was so large that he couldn’t lift her, but I would expect him to say that, and beg for help if that was the case, but he doesn’t do that either.

Also, the second time he says she is “unconscious”. I thought he thought she was dead.  Why would he jump to the conclusion she is dead immediately??  Most people hold out hope they can revive a loved one and don’t give up so quickly, but Ryan seems to have given up when he called 911.  That’s very notable.

Ryan is intently listening. You can just feel it.

The dispatcher asks, “Have you tried CPR?” Ryan says, “As much as I could…what little bit I know.” How do you do CPR on a victim who is in a bathtub, supposedly face down? You either know CPR or you don’t…

The dispatcher says, “There is no way you can get her out of the tub.” Ryan says, “I’ll try, but I have to put the phone down.” Why wouldn’t he have done this earlier?

“I’ll try?”…Caring husband, isn’t he?

Notice Ryan was able to get his wife out of the tub without much effort. Why didn’t he do this instinctively? 

The dispatcher tells Ryan to give Sarah CPR, and Ryan doesn’t ask for directions. You would think if he wants to save her life, he’d ask, “How do I do it?! I need help.” Afterall, he already admitted to not knowing much about CPR. He doesn’t.  There is also no urgency when it comes to Ryan’s actions at all.  That is flat out inconsistent, if you ask me.

Listen to how Ryan says in the calmest of calm voices, “Okay, they are unlocked now” and then “we’re upstairs”. People who are truly distraught don’t shift emotions so quickly.

Listen to the breaths Ryan makes into the phone. It doesn’t sound like it is going into his wife’s chest, does it? If you’ve done CPR, even if only on a dummy, it doesn’t sounds like this! Hello! 

The dispatcher doesn’t pick up on the fact Ryan was doing CPR just there with those breaths and says, “Ryan I need you to put down the phone for me and do CPR, okay?” Ryan responds, “Yes, I am.”

Doing CPR and holding the phone are not very compatible.  Ryan thought he was doing CPR…maybe to the phone he was, but not to his wife.

We then hear Ryan in the background going “Come on, man…come on…” and then the call ends. He must think CPR is two breaths and that’s it.  He couldn’t be more against saving his wife than he displayed in this call.  Something is very wrong.

I think the jury got it right. There are way too many red flags in this 911 call for me!!

ABC Cruise Confidential

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Did you see ABC’s 20/20 report this past weekend about cruise ships?  In light of the Costa Concordia that hit rocks in Italy, ABC decided to look a little closer at cruising, and what they revealed is eye-opening.

Passengers who discovered their loved ones went over board on a cruise reported that the ship continues full steam ahead regardless of their missing family member.  Sound horrifying?

Former employees dish on what its really like to work on a ship, and its not what you’d expect. Plus, a former ship officer tells the lies she was told to tell passengers! 

While I am not surprised by the lies employees were told to say to passengers, I think many people will be.

ABC 20/20 Debra Roberts reported that “…passengers were kept deliberately in the dark about anything negative.”

Former ship officer, Shari Cecil said to Debra Roberts, “We don’t tell them anything. If there is a mechanical breakdown, ah, we do not tell them. If there is an illness outbreak, we do not tell them. We are told to lie to them.”

I believe Cecil. 

What do you think of this?

Newt and Marianne Gingrich

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Marianne Gingrich has come out and said that Newt wanted her to be accepting of his affair with Callista, his now third wife, when they were married.  Several of you have asked me if I believe Marianne.  I do.

Marianne’s emotions and responses when she tells this story are aligned.  This is a highly emotional subject for both Marianne and Newt.

Please do not make this about politics. This is a discussion about truth and deception, and understanding human behavior.

Better Business Bureau

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As many of you know I’ve had a bad customer experience, and I’m reaching out to organizations for help.  Many of you have suggested that I contact the Better Business Bureau.  I have done so in the past, and found that they were out to help the businesses — not the customers,  so when I saw this on ABC’s 20/20 last year, I wasn’t surprised. It fit with my experiences.

Have you seen this report?

Needless to say, I still will contact every organization that is out there that offers to help customers who have experienced bad business practices, but I do realize things are not always what they seem.

The Better Business Bureau seems to be related to Yelp, doesn’t it?  Look at this article:  Lawsuits Target Yelp for Unfair Business Practices Hmmm….

It’s not easy seeing lies, is it?

Do you think Yelp is honest? Look at this…

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There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a company mislead people, and that is exactly what I have seen Yelp do.

I had a bad experience with a company who did work for me this month, and hence I went to Yelp and gave this company a 1 star review. I did it professionally by sticking to the facts. I even uploaded 4 photos and gave a link to show people photos of my complaint so they could see for themselves what issues I had with the company.

I expected Yelp to be fair about things.  I was the first customer to write anything about the company I complained about.  Hence, on the side of the Yelp page where I complained about the business, I was listed as the first reviewer.

Once the business I complained about saw my complaint on Yelp, all of the sudden there were numerous people coming out of the woodwork writing about this company and giving them 5 stars.  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess that the owner called all his colleagues and they all vouched for him. Prior to my complaint, no one had anything to say about this company — suddenly I write, and everyone comes out ot the woodwork.

Within a week, all the comments were filtered.  It still showed that there were 19 comments (yes, they all came after my review) and showed the average score of our reviews. I was a bit annoyed, but if we are all filtered, so be it.  But what I saw next outraged me.  I find it to be deceptive and misleading.

Yesterday, a new reviewer came (without question sent by the company owner again) and suddenly the company profile no longer showed me as the first reviewer!!!  The person who commented yesterday became the first reviewer!

How can Yelp do this?  I was the first reviewer and to say differently is flat out deceptive.

Furthermore, if you look at the reviews today, it shows only 2 reviews with a perfect 5 star rating!!!  This is a lie.

I can’t believe what I am seeing.  See an edited screenshot below to see for yourself from yesterday.

If you are new to Yelp, and don’t know how it works, you have no idea that there is a little gray link way down at the bottom of the page that says “XX filtered”.  This is filtered reviews and apparently they don’t count for anything.  That is where my legitimate and honest complain is at. This is outrageous!

My complaint is now 2 pages out, and you can only find it if you know to look for filtered comments, click on it, fill in a CAPTCHA and go then to the second page link at the very bottom and scroll down!! Otherwise it looks like this business is rated perfectly.

This should not be allowed.

I also uploaded photos of the shoddy work as Yelp allows you to do — and guess what?  They were all deleted today.   Yelp is sure doing something to help this business look good, aren’t they?

Boycott Yelp.  This is unacceptable.

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I have removed the company name, but this is a screenshot from yesterday showing how the reviews look right now after I gave my 1 star review. I am not the first reviewer “V”, either, though I was the first reviewer.