Jury tours Widmer home, opening Statements Begin

LEBANON, Ohio - Opening statements began Wednesday in the retrial of Ryan Widmer after jurors toured the home in which Widmer allegedly killed his wife.

A jury of seven women and five men were selected Tuesday to hear the retrial. It took two days of questioning to pick the jury for Ryan Widmer's second trial.

Jurors toured the Widmer home Wednesday morning to see the bathroom where Widmer says he found his wife Sarah dead in the bathtub. He told the 911 operator she fell asleep in the bathtub.

Jurors in the first trial did not visit the home.

He was convicted in April 2009 but Judge Neal Bronson threw out the verdict when jurors in the initial trial admitted they had staged home experiments related to the case and discussed what they found during jury deliberations.

Widmer's house was foreclosed on last year after Widmer had allegedly stopped making payments on the house in March 2007.

The house was auctioned off in January when U.S. Bank bought it for $110,000, more than $90,000 less than the Widmers bought it for. The bank still owns the home.

Widmer has been living at his mother's house while he has been free on a $1 million bond.

After being inside the home for around 30 minutes Wednesday, jurors went back to the courthouse to hear opening statements.

Prosecutors told the jury during opening statements that the case is one of circumstantial evidence and it is going to require a lot of work by the jury. Prosecutors outlined why Sarah's death was ruled a homicide.

Warren County 911 coordinator Don Sebastianeli is the first witness called to the stand Wednesday.