MasonBuzz.com

Cathleen Schmid appears in court on Monday. The Enquirer/Kimball Perry

A woman convicted of stealing from her Mason employer has been convicted of the same crime — for the third time. 

Kimball Perry reports:

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: cathleen schmid, cathleen schmidt, convicted, crime, embezzlement, theft, west chester

Stacy Schuler is led from the courtroom after being sentenced to four years in jail.  The Enquirer/Gary Landers

Former Mason teacher Stacy Schuler will have to wait a few more days to see if a Warren County judge will grant her petition for early release from prison.

A hearing on the motion scheduled for Friday has been pushed back to 11 a.m. Tuesday in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

Schuler, 34, was convicted last October on 16 felony counts of sexual battery and three misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to minors.  The encounters occurred in 2010 at her Springboro home.

• Schuler convicted of sex crimes
  
• Photos: Stacy Schuler trial

Schuler’s attorney argued she suffered from a host of medical and psychological problems exacerbated by her use of Zoloft and copious amounts of alcohol.

Warren County Common Pleas Judge Robert Peeler said he believes Schuler suffers from mental health and substance abuse issues, but sentenced her to four years, with the possibility of early release after serving only six months.

Schuler’s six months were up April 27, but her attorney, Charlie H. Rittgers, didn’t apply for early release until May 31.

“When somebody requests early release, they have one shot at it.  If the court denies it, the person has to serve out their sentence,” he explained.

Peeler held an in-chambers pre-trial hearing on the petition in July and ordered additional psychological testing before he would consider Schuler’s request for early release.

Rittgers said his client is a model prisoner at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.

The former health and physical education teacher leads yoga and general education classes for her fellow prisoners, is undergoing mental health treatment for bipolar disorder and participates in a group for sex offenders.

Schuler and 62 other people wrote letters that Schuler’s attorney filed in support of her motion for judicial release in July.

Mark Krumbein, a Cincinnati attorney who’s been following the case, said that it’s uncommon for a judge to indicate when a person would be eligible for judicial release.

“You usually can’t count on it unless a judge gives you some indication.  It sounds like he at least has an open mind to that,” he said.  “In Stacy Schuler’s case, she’s got a lot of good mitigating circumstances in her life that would be big factors for Judge Peeler.”

However, he said that a similar case out of Warren County, that of Kings Junior High School teacher Lisa Karabinus, might set a precedent on what a judge considers sufficient penalty.

Karabinus, who was convicted in 2000 of having sexual relations with a 13-year-old student and sentenced to four years, was also eligible for release after six months.  She served two years of that sentence.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said he would continue to fight to keep Schuler locked up.

“To release her after only one year demeans the seriousness of the offenses, and would send a bad message to others who might commit similar offenses,” he said.  “Ms. Schuler was already given a break when she was sentenced to only four years.  The public interest is best served by requiring her to fully serve the sentence that was imposed.”

 Loading ...

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: charlie h. rittgers, convicted, early release, judge robert peeler, judicial release, lisa karabinus, mark krumbein, mason, mason high school, sex, sex crimes, stacy schuler, students, warren county common pleas court

Ryan Widmer’s new lawyer argues that authorities made five significant mistakes in his case – and four of the claimed errors involve Jeff Braley (pictured), a former Hamilton Township police detective lieutenant who resigned amid controversy over alleged misrepresentations of his credentials. Enquirer file photo

Janice Morse reports:

In a second appeal filed today, Ryan Widmer’s new lawyer argues that authorities made five significant mistakes in his case – and four of the claimed errors involve Jeff Braley, a former Hamilton Township police detective lieutenant who resigned amid controversy over alleged misrepresentations of his credentials.

• Photos: Ryan Widmer speaks with The Enquirer
• Photos: Ryan Widmer convicted of murder
• Read Widmer’s appeal

Attorney Michele Berry filed the second appeal with the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals, the court that heard arguments last month in Widmer’s first appeal.

It is expected to take the court several more weeks to rule on Berry’s arguments, which focused on alleged illegal seizure of the bathtub where authorities say Sarah Widmer, 24, was drowned in 2008.

Widmer, 31, was convicted after his case went to trial three times. He is serving 15 years to life in prison.

The Enquirer will update this story.

 Loading ...

Related stories:

• Widmer hearing focuses on bathtub
• Three-judge panel reviewing Widmer conviction
• Widmer lawyer vows fight after fourth trial denied
• Widmer lawyers: Bathtub seized improperly
• Ryan Widmer: “I’ll never give up”
• Ryan Widmer found guilty of murder

Posted in: Crime, News, Widmer Trial |

Tags: Tags: appeal, arguments, bathtub, convicted, dateline, fourth trial, hamilton township police, jeff braley, mason, michele berry, murder, mystery in the master bedroom, ohio 12th district court of appeals, ryan widmer, sarah widmer

Janice Morse reports:

A Warren County court has denied Ryan Widmer’s attempt to secure a fourth trial, but his lawyer vows to fight all the way to federal court if necessary.

Widmer, now 31, is serving 15 years to life in prison after a jury convicted him of murder last February in the 2008 drowning of his wife, Sarah, 24, in their Hamilton Township bathtub. It was his third trial, following two mistrials in a case that stirred intense public debate.

• Photos: Ryan Widmer speaks with The Enquirer
• Photos: Ryan Widmer convicted of murder

On Tuesday, the county Common Pleas Court denied Widmer’s motion for a new trial.

The decision comes just as a national TV program is planning a rebroadcast of an episode about “the Bathtub Mystery” – and as the lead detective in the Widmer case prepares to appear in an unrelated federal court case that raises questions about his credibility.

Details of Tuesday’s decision were not immediately available; the prosecutor’s office gave no comment in its news release. Michele Berry, Widmer’s lawyer, said she had not been informed of the outcome until a reporter contacted her seeking comment.

Berry said she doesn’t know the reasons for the ruling, but she will appeal it to the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown, where Widmer’s main appeal is already pending.

“If we don’t succeed in the state courts, we will proceed to the federal courts. We have strong claims that warrant a new trial, and we will be relentless in our efforts to get that result,” she said.

In its ruling Tuesday, the Warren county court also refused to order genetic testing on any usable DNA from Sarah Widmer. Although she was cremated, Ryan Widmer’s lawyers say there may be blood or other tissues that would allow for the testing. Ryan Widmer’s lawyers were seeking those tests because they wanted to find out whether Sarah Widmer may have suffered from a genetic condition that can cause a heart-rhythm disturbance. They argue that such an undetected medical problem may have contributed to her drowning.

Prosecutors have contended there was sufficient evidence to support Widmer’s conviction, and that the evidence included marks on her head and neck areas that were suggestive of force. Defense witnesses said the marks could be attributed to life-saving efforts.

On Sunday, the national TV program, Dateline NBC, has scheduled a rebroadcast of its segment featuring Widmer’s case, a spokeswoman for the program, Amy Lynn, confirmed Tuesday. The program will air at 7 p.m. on NBC’s local affiliate, WLWT-TV, Channel 5. “The Bathtub Mystery” episode was first broadcast nationally last May.

 Loading ...

Posted in: Crime, News, Widmer Trial |

Tags: Tags: appeal, convicted, conviction, dateline, fourth trial, mason, michele berry, motion, murder, mystery in the master bathroom, ryan widmer, sarah widmer, the bathtub mystery, trial

Jim Rohrer reports:

A young man finds his wife unresponsive in the bathtub. He gets her out and tries to revive her, only to realize she has died. Eventually, he is charged with her murder.

Cincinnatians are riveted. A crush of reporters recounts every detail. In media shorthand, the case is trumpeted as “The Bathtub Murder.”

Capt. Robert J. Connors' acquittal of murdering his wife was front-page news.

Sound familiar?

The resemblance is eerie, but this “bathtub murder” is not the case of Ryan and Sarah Widmer, which Ryan Widmer’s defense team is still contesting (Widmer, 32, who last lived in Mason, was convicted of his wife’s murder in February).

This trial happened in the war year of 1944, and the defendant was an Army captain of movie-star good looks, Robert J. Connors, 26. His wife, Lois, 25, had died while the pair spent a few days together at the Sinton Hotel, Downtown, before his overseas deployment.

No less an authority than legendary defense attorney William “Foss” Hopkins claimed in his book, “Murder is My Business,” that it was one of the most highly publicized cases he ever tried.

Capt. Robert J. Connors’ acquittal of murdering his wife was front-page news.

Hopkins called the courtroom battle “no holds barred,” mostly centering on dueling medical experts who disagreed on the cause of death.

Lois Connors’ death, earlier that year, at first had been ruled due to “natural causes.” But her parents were suspicious and asked for a second autopsy. The body was exhumed months later and a Philadelphia physician ruled she had suffered injuries to her head and throat. He ruled it a homicide, and Robert Connors was arrested.

At trial, Hopkins undressed the Philadelphia physician. He was shown to be incompetent and the wounds were then attributed to embalming procedures (the throat) and to a broken soda bottle that crashed to the floor and sent glass shards everywhere during the revival attempt (the head wound).

Robert Connors was acquitted, to a cheering courtroom.

Lois Connors’ father, Robert E. Burns, attended the trial and had some carefully chosen words before he left.

“If the people out there think he didn’t do it, it’s all right with me,” he said.

Posted in: Crime, News, Widmer Trial |

Tags: Tags: bathtub murder, capt. robert j. connors, cincinnati, convicted, guilty, history, lois connors, mason, murder is my business, ryan widmer, sarah widmer, sinton hotel, trial, william "foss" hopkins

“Dateline NBC” will air a two-hour episode on the Ryan Widmer murder case tonight.

The Dateline episode, which includes Widmer’s first public interview since the case began in 2008, will air at 9 p.m. this evening, a spokeswoman confirmed Friday. Widmer turned down several other local media requests to talk to him at Warren Correctional Institution.

“Dateline” also interviewed Sarah Manherz, who became Widmer’s girlfriend after watching a “Dateline” episode on the case in 2009 and had a child with him.

The program, called “The Bathtub Mystery,” includes interviews with seven jurors.

Widmer, 30, of Mason was convicted Feb. 15 of murder in the 2008 drowning death of his wife, Sarah Widmer. He stood trial three times – the first two trials ended in mistrial. He did not take the stand to testify in his own defense in any of the trials.

Dateline has covered all three of Widmer’s trials and previously aired an episode on the case in September 2009. That show was one of its best-watched episodes in 2009, say Dateline officials.

• Read a transcript of Dateline: The Mystery in the Master Bedroom

The national attention drawn by television show attracted responses from hundreds of people from across the nation, including two women who turned into witnesses in Widmer’s third trial earlier this year.

Widmer is serving 15 years to life in prison, the only sentence given for the crime of murder in the state of Ohio.

Posted in: Crime, News, Widmer Trial |

Tags: Tags: bathtub drowning, convicted, dateline nbc, murder, ryan widmer, sarah widmer, tv show