WARREN COUNTY, Ohio — The Warren County man serving a 15-year-to-life sentence after he was convicted of drowning his wife in their bathtub has been denied parole.
County Prosecutor David Fornshell said Ryan Widmer was denied parole during Wednesday's hearing, with his next parole board consideration scheduled for July 2030.
Widmer was initially found guilty of drowning his 24-year-old wife, Sarah, in 2009. However, the conviction was overturned after the state learned jurors were conducting their own experiments into how long it takes a body to dry after a bath and sharing it with other jurors. A second trial ended in a hung jury before a third trial in 2011 ended with a conviction.
A U.S. District Court judge rejected Widmer's appeal for a fourth trial, saying it would be "frivolous" to proceed with the case again.
WATCH: The WCPO 9 I-Team looked at Widmer's conviction and pursuit of a fourth trial here
Widmer's case garnered national attention, with books, shows and podcasts highlighting Sarah Widmer's death and questioning the validity of his story.
"Ten years after the fact I still have people stop me at Kroger and say, 'Hey, what’s going on in the Widmer case?'" former Hamilton County prosecutor Mike Allen told us back in 2018. "It’s just something that sticks in the public's imagination."
Now, a parole board has decided Widmer will remain in prison for at least another five years before revisiting parole.
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