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The Depraved Heart Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem

January 17, 2025 / 01:01:02

This episode covers the case of Sarah Harris, who died from a drug overdose linked to her boyfriend, Dr. James Ryan. Key topics include depraved heart murder, Sarah's struggles with mental health, and the investigation led by Detective Ian Iavello.

Sarah Harris was a bright young woman with aspirations of becoming an anesthesiologist. In 2020, she began a relationship with Dr. James Ryan after he performed oral surgery on her. Their relationship quickly escalated, and Ryan became her boyfriend and employer.

On January 26, 2022, Sarah was found unresponsive in their home. Ryan called 911, claiming she had overdosed. Initially, authorities believed it was an accidental overdose, but Sarah's mother, Tina Harris, suspected foul play and pushed for further investigation.

Detective Ian Iavello took on the case and discovered a trove of text messages between Sarah and Ryan that indicated a pattern of drug use and manipulation. This evidence led to Ryan's arrest for depraved heart murder, which does not require proving intent to kill but rather a reckless disregard for human life.

In August 2023, Ryan was found guilty of depraved heart murder and other charges, receiving a 45-year sentence. The episode highlights the impact of Sarah's death on her family and the legal implications of the case.

TLDR

Dr. James Ryan was convicted of depraved heart murder in the overdose death of his girlfriend, Sarah Harris, revealing a tragic relationship marked by manipulation and drug abuse.

Episode

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[Music] [Music] I hate seeing people get away with stuff and I like figuring stuff out my
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name is Ian iello and I was the lead detective in the Sarah Harris case Sarah Harris she
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was incredibly bright um one should always pursue knowledge no matter the topic very energetic very fun did Sarah
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have any idea how beautiful she was honestly I don't think she did Sarah Jane Harris Sarah hopes to become an
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anesthesiologist she was shocked that she won the Miss Marilyn petique pageant she had thought from a very young age
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that she would want to be a doctor she wanted to help people in 2020 Sarah needed wisdom teeth pulled
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she initially met James Ryan as a patient at his oral surgery practice I'm James Ryan I mean it's not just that we
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say that we care but we really do we take pride Dr James Ryan was a well-respected oral surgeon a lot of
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people knew him and thought very highly of him so she gets the teeth done she starts getting all these text messages
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and they're from Dr Ryan and he says by the way I'm looking to hire someone as a
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surgical assistant do you know anyone she says something like well what about me Mom and he offered her the
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job she then became an employee and then his girlfriend and his living girlfriend Sarah's life appeared
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glamorous on the outside but behind closed doors I mean that wasn't necessarily the case
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I would have never ever thought that her life would end the way it did Montgomery count
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911 my girlfriend I think overdosed I'm trying to resuscitate her right now and what is your first and last name j Ryan
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I'm doing so compression and is responsive is she breathing she's not breathing when the two responding
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officers um got to the house they saw Sarah she's laying on the floor what did authorities think had happened
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to Sarah that day she overdosed and we don't know if it's an accident if it's suicide or if it's a homicide the
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decision was made to charge him with depraved heart murder I think most of our audience will have never heard of
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depraved heart murder I have never seen it before you have to show an extreme indifference to human life James Ryan
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provided those drugs that caused her death that doesn't mean he's guilty of murder another way of presenting this
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case would be you never intended to hurt her I knew this was not just some simple
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accidental overdose this was much more [Music] [Music] was she sleeping on the couch last night
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yeah she would do that sometimes it's the morning of January 26th 2022 Sarah Harris lies unresponsive on
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the floor of the room in disarray her boyfriend Dr James Ryan tearfully talks with police at the scene the
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conversation is recorded on a body camera as they ask him about the night before we're watching TV know that she
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said you should probably go to bed because you're tired and you have to work tomorrow so I did uhhuh what time
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did you go to bed probably about 10 or 11 Ryan has already told authorities he's a doctor and that he thinks it's an
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overdose and he says it's happened before and I did CPR and brought her back this time Sarah doesn't
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survive Dr Ryan has suggested where she got at least one of her drugs of choice a powerful anesthetic
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she used to take probol too she used to steal that from my office how they got into her body I've caught her before
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with um like injecting herself with things and why she was bipolar also so she would could be really angry or could
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be really happy Ryan had called Sarah's family with the awful news that morning but her
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mother Tina just didn't believe anything he said she immediately suspected James
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Ryan was responsible for Sarah's death she arrived at the scene about 20 minutes
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later I started kicking and hitting him and screaming up the mail let the mail let the mail what did he say
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happened he said he went to bed and left her alone and came down and she was unresponsive in the morning authorities
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say they found wrappers from syringes tourniquets and saline bags next to the kitchen sink and Drug vials in Sarah's
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purse Tina thinks Ryan arranged it that way he wanted to look like it was a suicide Tina had long held suspicions
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about Dr Ryan he had encountered Sarah harrris more than a year earlier not as a girlfriend but as a patient to get her
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wisdom teeth out Dr Ryan is somebody who's practiced for over 20 years he has incredible credentials Mary fulan is a
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former prosecutor and defense attorney and a CBS News consultant we asked her to use her Decades of courtroom
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experience to help analyze this case he's esteemed and regarded in his community as one of the best at what he
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does Tina haris says the first time her daughter met Dr Ryan for her teeth in the summer of 2020 the doctor was
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professional but she does remember at the time feeling it was curious when his interest in Sarah seemed to change she
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starts getting all these text messages he asks her how are you doing and she says I'm fine and he starts sending
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little emojis what are you thinking as her mom I thought it was a little bizarre that he added a little happy
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face and I thought well maybe he just likes using emojis she says that's when Ryan had mentioned
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he was looking to hire someone as a surgical assistant I thought well you know maybe he just thinks that she'd
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really be a good addition Dr Ryan hardly seemed like a threat he was divorced with three grown children and was
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involved with a woman with whom he already had a baby at 47 he was more than twice Sarah's age he say no I don't
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need your resume just come on in for a working interview I said well I'm proud of you honey that's
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pretty incredible he's going to teach you all this stuff at the beginning Sarah seemed to
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love the job but Tina says as the holidays approached an extravagant gift retriggered her suspicion that Dr Ryan's
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interest in Sarah was more than professional what was it a diamond necklace that's quite a gift I said okay
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he's after you I said you got to put your foot down instead in early 2021 she says Sarah and announced she had agreed
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to go out for a meal with Ryan who was ending his other relationship he seemed to win over Sarah and Tina admits in
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their early days as a couple even she found him impressive as a mother was a part of you excited she was dating a
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doctor well I was excited I was excited because he had a wonderful reputation and she says Ryan was generous he would
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Le Sarah a new car and take her and her family on trips all expenses paid Tina says in a way he spent time courting her
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too you know he would say I would love to have you as my mom Sarah's so blessed to have you Tina says she and Sarah
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always had a special bond we were very very close she says Sarah was close to her
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three siblings too especially older sister Rachel Rachel took it upon herself that she was going to be the
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protector but there had been a rough period during Sarah's youth in Suburban Maryland like many young people she
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experimented with drugs and had problems moderating her mood she suffered from anxiety when did she first struggle with
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depression I noticed depression coming about when she was about 14 15 years old she would start feeling down but Tina
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says Sarah is still excelled in high school craving knowledge and the skills that came with it um it's currently
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hanging in the in Paris she learned German Spanish Russian and sign language to she put a lot of pressure on herself
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especially with her grades before long Sarah got her social bearings she fell into a great group of
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kids they would sit out in the living room play the guitar play the piano sing she was at a music festival in
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2018 when 21 one-year-old Sarah caught the eye of Henry Peterson 7 years older I feel like it was like stars colliding
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and uh meeting someone like you're supposed to meet they lived 7 hours apart but he says they quickly became
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emotionally Inseparable we talked about everything you could think of in terms of a future um marriage and children and
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family he says the distance eventually made them drift Peterson broke it off though he says he still imagined they
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would end up together she and I never stopped talking the love was always there by her mid 20s Sarah had gotten
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into modeling and competing in beauty pageants and in 2020 she'd won that Miss Marilyn petite pageant the next year is
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when she started quietly seeing Dr Ryan and by that summer they had decided to live together and that's when everything
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goes downhill [Music] [Applause] by the end of the summer of 2021 Tina Harris says James Ryan was dominating
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Sarah's life boss boyfriend even letting her live rentree in his house but instead of flourishing Sarah seemed
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anxious and depressed she saw a psychiatrist who gave her that bipolar diagnosis her complexion starts to
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change she starts to lose weight on a family trip to Key West that September Tina says Sarah had been
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asleep when a drunk Dr Ryan revealed something unsettling he had first noticed Sarah in
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the park when she was just 14 I used to see Sarah walking the neighborhood and playing at the park with her
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friends and he says then I found out she worked in the toy store so I would take
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my kids there so I could see her and I remember when she dressed up as Elsa from Frozen and she looked just like
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Elsa and then he said yeah and then I found out she worked at one of these restaurants and so I would go in there
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for dinner so I could get her as my server it sounds like Dr Ryan was obsessed with he was he was very much
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so by their next trip to Florida a month later she says Sarah was acting strangely she wore a bulky longsleeve
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sweatshirt despite the Heat and it seemed like she and Ryan were always fighting and she goes I hate him I don't
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want to be here I want to go home and when they returned to Maryland Tina saw the full horrifying picture of what
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Sarah's life had become she says she called Sarah on October 28th 2021 phone rang rang rang she finally
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picked up she could barely talk her words were extremely slurred so I said Sarah what's going on what's wrong with
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you she goes oh I'm just really tired mom you knew something was wrong yeah well I knew she was slurring Tina says
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she and Rachel left for Sarah's house minutes later and we walked into hell what did you see well Sarah
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answers the door she smells it looks like she hadn't bathed in a week or more she looked horrible she'd weighed 120
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when she'd had oral surgery with Ryan Tina says but Sarah was Skin and Bones now and Tina says there was more The Ivy
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bags needles laying all over the floor syringes tourniquets bloody Footprints bloody paper towels and there were drugs
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but bottles and vials everywhere Rachel gathered them up and photographed them I
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never looked at the drugs and I wish I had I do think some people watching would think how did you
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not look at what the drugs were of course I just wanted to get her out she says Sarah had offered an innocent if
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unconvincing explanation she goes I've just been dehydrated mom he's just hydrating me I said I'm turning him in
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and Sarah starts crying mom you can't do that please don't do that she's begging
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me I grabbed her arms and I pulled her sleeves up and she had needle marks from here to here all over her arms bruises I
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became hysterical against her better judgment Tina agreed to hold off on calling authorities but she says she
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insisted Sarah move back home just Days Later Tina says Ryan convinced Sarah to come back to
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him in the following weeks Tina says Sarah seemed to be getting better she started cooking eating even going to
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church but on December 3rd 20121 Tina says her daughter answered the phone slurring again Rachel Harris jumped into
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action Rael said I'm going to go and check on her when Rachel got there it was worse
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than the first time poking around the ground floor Rachel once again pulled out her camera
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finding drug bottles and vials as well as a saline bag an IV pole Ivy needles and bloody footprints on a
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kitchen mat she was so distraught she left without talking to her sister a few days later Tina confronted
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Dr James Ryan she was in no mood for another explanation I just reached across and smack the living crap out of
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him you hit him yeah oh I hit him and I said what are you doing are you trying to kill my daughter
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Tina says Ryan still insisted he'd only been hydrating her and you still believed it I believed he was giving her
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something I didn't know what it was I did not look at the vases all I could see was my daughter and what kind of
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trouble she was in but the next day she says Ryan admitted he'd been doing more than hydrating her he'd been giving
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Sarah drugs though only to keep her from them someplace else so I told him I said
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look you can break it off with my daughter or I'm calling the police and he said well I'll break it off with her
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but days turned into weeks and Dr Ryan never did after months of tension Tina says she couldn't keep arguing with her
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daughter anymore what was I going to do lock her up you probably wanted to I threatened it and she said if you do
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that Mom when I get out you'll never hear from me again and that scared me to [Music]
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death within weeks there was a new tragedy for the Harris family Sarah's brother Christopher just 38 died after a
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heart attack in Montana I had to sign the papers to take him off life support which um
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no mother should have to do his death was devastating to the whole family Sarah posted this tribute
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message to her brother never goodbye I'll see you soon big bro and only 18 days after Christopher's
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death at about 8:30 a.m. on January 26 2022 Tina says she and Rachel were together when Rachel got James Ryan's
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call Rachel started screaming she's holding the phone and James has it on FaceTime and he's got the camera pointed
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at my [Music] baby that's there on the ground saying she's gone she's [Music] gone at the time of her death Sarah
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Harris weighed just 83 lbs authorities would list her manner of death as undetermined Dr Ryan was not arrested
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they seemed to accept his story that Sarah struggling with mental health issues had
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overdosed but there would be help from a most UN likely investigator Rachel started trying to
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get into Sarah's [Music] eyecloud I just hope that you're happy that I'm with someone who truly truly
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loves me 3 months before before she died Sarah left a voicemail for her ex-boyfriend Henry Peterson I've
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never trusted anybody as much as I've trusted the man that I'm with right now professionally
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emotionally you never let me in that way they' stayed in touch after breaking up so when she didn't answer her phone
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after January of 2022 Peterson says he had a strange feeling and decided to go online I Googled her
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name and uh uh there's an obituary yeah he says when Tina gave him details he joined her in the belief that James
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Ryan the man Sarah said she had trusted more than anybody else was responsible for her
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death but First Responders didn't think so they didn't shut it down as a crime scene police seized some drug violence
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but left the house unguarded Tina says that's because they believed what Dr Ryan had told them about where she'd
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gotten the drugs and how she'd taken them it was an overdose but she says she knew there was
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more to it than that though she didn't know how to prove it turns out there was someone very close to her who
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did Rachel told me she would find the evidence Rachel Harris decided to ex examin Sarah's laptop to see if it might
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contain Clues authorities hadn't seen she didn't know the password but she knew her sister well it took her
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about a couple of days to figure out Sarah's password coming through Sarah's computer and iCloud Rachel hit Pay Dirt
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a trove of texts between her sister and James Ryan the messages were full of references to drugs including a
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tranquilizer named Di Pam and two fast acting surgical anesthetics the type Rachel had seen in the home Dr Ryan and
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Sarah shared propop fall and ketamine which is sometimes also used for depression Rachel created a binder
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adding the photos she'd taken there Rachel compiled 200 pages of evidence the medical examiner would release
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Sarah's autopsy report which showed those same three drugs in Sarah's system research suggests they can all be habit
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forming and they can suppress breathing taking them in combination can be lethal
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all the while Rachel's building a case yes yes in February 2022 Rachel gave her binder to monomer County Police it
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eventually landed on the desk of detective Ian iello an expert in pharmaceutical investigations after more
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than 33 years as a cop iello was nearing retirement he decided to come and alone
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on a Sunday it was my birthday and nothing was going on you don't get parties when you're this age I'm like
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I'm just going to go in the office and look through this binder and just see what I cavello Saul in Rachel's
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binder suggested cops at the scene had been wrong about Sarah's death he says reading the text between Sarah and James
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Ryan was like watching a murder in slow motion you could see Sarah die Sarah is suffering within the first month of
00:23:28
their relationship she had anxiety she was having trouble sleeping Ryan offers a
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quick fix I can give you an injection the anxiety will be completely gone in 6 seconds he writes it will work let's try
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it he had already made the decision I cavello says the text suggests that over the months Sarah
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developed a drug habit and a habit of asking her boyfriend the doctor to feed it in October 2021 do we have ketamine
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here in November we need syringes I feel like in December I just really need sleep she writes can you bring
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propol she's actively asking for drugs at no point does he say no iavo says the text suggests Dr Ryan
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often brought Sarah the dangerous drugs and that he actually administered at least one about a month before her death
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it was December 20th 2021 if you wake up I just went to change after I gave you ketamine just
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now he writes he's injecting her while she's asleep no monitoring no anything an
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iello points to this exchange from the day before Sarah died is it possible to bring home ketamine when you come she
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asks yes I will bring some home I love you Baby Ryan replies the text tell a story they do
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so do Rachel's photos from Sarah's house says I cavello though his colleagues lacking experience in pharmaceutical
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investigations might not have understood that they had no idea what they were really looking at he says Patrol cops
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and paramedics often deal with overdoses of street drugs like heroin and Fentanyl
00:25:19
but the deadly drugs in Sarah Harris's house were masquerading as something else there's a difference
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between drugs and medication iello says to the untrained eye the drugs at Sarah look like
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medication the paraphernalia around the house might have been confusing too usually what we see is burnt spoons tin
00:25:43
foil uh some hypodermic needles maybe a shoelace or some other string that kind of drug paraphernalia but to I cavello
00:25:52
the syringes and the saline the professional tourniquets and the plastic wrappers at Sarah made it resem an
00:25:58
operating room that's what a lot of it looked like whatever questions responding authorities may have had he
00:26:06
says Dr Ryan offered answers and you've got James saying she did all of this without any other information okay
00:26:17
well we're just kind of going to go with what he says he's a doctor he's a doctor
00:26:22
but I cavello says after reading through the family's binder any credibility Dr Ryan may have had at that day
00:26:29
vanished and on March 22nd 2022 nearly 2 months after Sarah's death James Ryan was arrested for the
00:26:39
murder of Sarah Harris but prosecutors would have to make the case to a jury sometimes it's hard to convince
00:26:47
them maybe especially so in this case because James Ryan's defense is suggesting he was only trying to save
00:26:54
Sarah's life and that she had other ideas [Music] what do you make of those text messages
00:27:05
between Sarah and Dr Ryan chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X [Music]
00:27:20
[Music] I knew the case was solid detective Ian I cavello was sure Dr James Ryan was responsible for Sarah
00:27:38
Harris's death and he had no problem convincing prosecutors on Montgomery County's overdose task force Jennifer
00:27:46
Harrison it's his fault James Dietrich he was the one who was providing those drugs and Kimberly sisle he knew how
00:27:55
dangerous these drugs were was a doctor after all but as certain as prosecutors were that he knew he was
00:28:03
risking Sarah's life they had no conclusive evidence he intended to kill her we never suggested that you can
00:28:11
accept that James Ryan loved Sarah Harris but it does not excuse all the other actions that he took that led to
00:28:20
Sarah's Sarah's death so they charge Ryan with a subcategory of second deegree murder unfamiliar to many people
00:28:27
it's known as has depraved heart murder prosecutors say the charge doesn't require proving the killer actually
00:28:33
wanted anyone dead only that they knew their actions would likely kill someone and didn't care we have to prove that he
00:28:41
did it with Reckless disregard for the value of her life diet gave us an example forance if I take a gun and just
00:28:48
randomly shoot it into a crowd I may not necessarily want or care that anybody dies but that is such a grossly Reckless
00:28:57
Act that someone's likely to die prosecutors also charge Ryan with a slightly lesser charge involuntary
00:29:04
manslaughter plus two counts of drug distribution and one count of possession with intent to
00:29:12
distribute ladies and gentlemen meet Dr jamesan opening statements begin on August 16th
00:29:22
20123 there are no cameras in court but there is an audio recording but behind door he was conducting a deadly medical
00:29:32
experiment on his 25-year-old patient turned employees turned living brok the prosecution
00:29:41
portrays Ryan as a controlling older man who got his glamorous young girlfriend hooked on drugs he was stealing
00:29:51
dangerous sedation drugs from his business and administering them to his girlfriend sah
00:29:59
her prosecutors say the proof of Ryan's guilt is largely in those text messages Ryan offering to get rid of Sarah's
00:30:08
anxiety in six seconds telling her he gave her ketamine while she was sleeping and on the night before her body was
00:30:16
found apparently agreeing to bring ketamine home to her can you tell us not fa I don't know where to start I was the
00:30:30
first to testify she was my baby Tina Harris is emotional as she relives Sarah's downward spiral just months
00:30:40
before dying I asked to see her arms and she said no Mama but I grabbed her arms and I pulled up the sleeves and
00:30:51
her little arms were covered in Needle marks and bruises and the medical examiner tells
00:30:59
the jury about the Dangerous Drug cocktail that brought her life to a tragic end when people use all three
00:31:08
together those just cause profound strong sedation the drugs can be so dangerous in fact the prosecution tells
00:31:17
jurors that doctors who use these drugs have equipment and protocols in place to
00:31:22
revive patients if needed even though Dr Ryan would follow all of those safety protocol calls in his own office he
00:31:29
would never follow those at home she was chemically dependent on she was chemically dependent on him prosecutors
00:31:36
also call social worker Janice Miller who says that kind of power imbalance is a Hallmark of abusive relationships the
00:31:45
drugs were the way that he controlled her and really ensured that she wouldn't leave the relationship he's created an
00:31:51
addict Dr Ryan and his attorneys did not agree to be interviewed by 48 hours but
00:31:56
at trial they argue Sarah Harris may have played an important role in her own demise suggesting that after wrestling
00:32:04
with mental illness she was now losing her battle with anxiety depression and drugs their focus on Sarah Harris is
00:32:12
obviously her mental illness the defense suggests Sarah may have begun stealing the drugs herself they want the jury to
00:32:18
know about her Facebook post about seeing her deceased brother soon but the judge won't allow
00:32:25
it but they are allowed to tell jurors about a text Sarah sent Ryan months before her
00:32:33
death she said I've lost my will to live I've lost my will to live do you think there's any chance
00:32:45
Sarah was suicidal absolutely not absolutely not where's the indication of a suicide on the scene there is none
00:32:55
detective iello says the drug bottles found found in Sarah's purse were too far from her body for her to have given
00:33:02
them to herself these drugs are fast acting she's going to be out in seconds how she put all the medication in her
00:33:09
purse then went and laid down not possible she wouldn't have cleaned up somebody else had to have done
00:33:20
it but according to CBS News consultant Mary fanti the defense argues that detectives mishandled the seene that
00:33:28
there's no way to know exactly what happened including who administered the Fatal dose they didn't test to see if
00:33:37
his DNA or fingerprints were on those syringes Dr Ryan chooses not to testify the defense argues he was a loving
00:33:44
partner who was just trying to help Sarah this is a case about caring for somebody and possibly loving them to
00:33:50
death his lawyers call a friend who saw Sarah using drugs before she began dating Ryan and relative who saw them as
00:33:59
a happy couple in closings prosecutors remind the jury that to convict Ryan of depraved heart murder it doesn't matter
00:34:08
whether or not he actually put the drugs in Sarah's body or even whether or not he wanted her to Die the act of giving
00:34:16
her the drugs is him handing her a loaded gun but with the jury agree if you were a juror in this case
00:34:27
what would be your your verdict and why learn more about the case at 48 [Music] hours.com I try to believe the best in
00:34:49
people and my for as long as Kyle Stevens can remember his friend Dr James Ryan has done right by people he was
00:34:57
pretty straight lace clean cut guy when he talked about Sarah how did he sound in the beginning he seemed enthusiastic
00:35:04
and excited but Steven says at a certain point Ryan did reach out with a concern
00:35:11
he had asked about how to best be helpful and supportive to someone in that place of depression and possibly
00:35:21
addiction did it make you wonder if he was actually asking about Sarah yeah but I didn't press so Steven says he had no
00:35:29
idea what was really going on between the two then he discovered his friend was arrested and headed to trial when
00:35:37
you heard the verdict what did you think I was taken back after a nearly 2 we trial it takes
00:35:46
jurors Less Than 3 hours to reach their decision as to count one murder in second degree guil
00:35:57
on August 25th 2023 they find James Ryan guilty of the second deegree depraved heart murder of Sarah
00:36:06
Harris relief yeah relief they also convict Ryan on the manslaughter and drug charges my heart
00:36:19
just felt satisfied Sarah's voice was heard through this Tina and Rachel speak at a press conference after the verdict
00:36:28
she was this beautiful beauty queen and she wasted away at the hands of Dr James
00:36:33
Ryan and again at sentencing months later he is a predator he is a wolf and she's
00:36:41
floating FL put bar until his life is been but James Ryan's lawyers had submitted supportive letters from his
00:36:57
friends and a legal filing which detailed that James Ryan had his own struggles with drugs and mental health
00:37:04
Ryan addresses the court and insists he didn't administer the lethal dose but takes responsibility for not preventing
00:37:11
Sarah's access to the drugs that killed her the words do not exist to convey and
00:37:20
express the level of remorse I feel though the guidelines suggest a sentence of 15 to 25 years for this case of
00:37:28
depraved heart murder the judge has something else in mind it is the sentence of this court that you be
00:37:35
committed to the Maryland Division of Corrections for a period of 40 years with more time for the other
00:37:42
counts it's a total of 45 years in prison a 45e sentence puts James Ryan in a category with some violent murderers
00:37:51
you know 45 years for James Ryan is basically life patients rely on doctors and their expertise in their advice and
00:38:01
I think she's sending a very loud message to the medical community and State's Attorney John
00:38:07
McCarthy wants to send a message to lawmakers the depraved heart murder charge may have worked in this trial but
00:38:14
it's a difficult crime to prove in other overdose cases we need tougher laws as early as 2015 McCarthy began pushing to
00:38:24
streamline Maryland law so state prosecut leaders can more easily convict dealers and Distributors who Supply the
00:38:32
drugs that lead to overdose deaths but it hasn't been easy we're not at a place in Maryland right now that the
00:38:39
legislature seems very interested in creating new crimes and new penalties Ian I cavello who read murder
00:38:49
between the lines of this case and retired after the trial says he still thinks of Sarah often I did everything I
00:38:57
could um for her so does her ex-boyfriend Henry Peterson who looks back at their breakup
00:39:05
with regret I guess I always thought she was going to be there a regret Sarah seemed
00:39:12
to share he showed us a letter she wrote him years earlier when their relationship ended you made me feel
00:39:20
alive now that you're gone I feel so many pieces and parts have died with you as if to preserve his connection to
00:39:28
Sarah Peterson still practices a kerto he played at her [Music] grave where today a mother who faced
00:39:41
great loss with even greater courage struggles to face the future without Sarah and her brother so close in life
00:39:49
and death that she actually buried their ashes in the same casket I hear Sarah tell me
00:40:00
Mama it's okay what do you want your daughter's legacy to be I want people to remember my Sarah
00:40:12
as a light a brilliant young woman who cared about others and loved life loved it
00:40:34
[Music] as a kid growing up in Chicago there was one horror movie I was too scared to
00:40:43
watch it was called Candyman but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly
00:40:48
inspired by an actual murder listen to Candyman the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder wherever you get
00:40:54
your podcasts I'm Erin morard of 40 8 hours and of all the cases I've covered this is the one that troubles me most
00:41:03
listen to murder in the Orange Grove the trouble case against Crosley green wherever you get your
00:41:10
[Music] podcast welcome back to 48 Hours postmortem I'm your host an marie green
00:41:30
and this week we are discussing the Doctor Who was charged with depraved heart murder in connection with the
00:41:38
death of his girlfriend Sarah Harris now this is a charge that's new to me and perhaps to many listeners as well so to
00:41:44
explain it all I am joined by 48 Hours producer Josh gager Josh thank you so much it's pleasure nice to be here when
00:41:54
Sarah Harris overdose from a lethal drug cocktail 2022 Dr James Ryan was later charged with depraved heart murder this
00:42:02
is a subcategory of second deegree murder that I really had not heard of before um so I'm going to ask you Josh
00:42:09
just sort of explain it to us what is it have you reported on any other cases like this look I've been doing this job
00:42:17
nearly 30 years and when you've been doing it that long you you tend to feel like you've seen seen it all when it
00:42:24
comes to murder cases but this is something that I never seen and and members of the team said the same and in
00:42:30
order to prove this prosecutors don't have to prove intent in other words they don't have to prove you planned or
00:42:37
wanted to do this but what they've got to prove is that you acted with extreme disregard for human
00:42:46
life so how does that apply in this case the argument was in court that Dr James
00:42:51
Ryan knew as a physician and as a surgeon he knew about these particular drugs he knew how dangerous they could
00:42:59
be and he provided Sarah Harris with access anyway but Josh how difficult are depraved heart murder charges to prove a
00:43:09
trial they are not easy to prove and prosecutors told us there are a couple of real challenges they face one of
00:43:16
these challenges has to do with the definitions that attach to some of these crimes we asked about the similarities
00:43:24
and differences between depraved heart murder and manslaughter and the prosecution said
00:43:30
that the words in those definitions are similar in in in a number of instances words like Reckless disregard for human
00:43:40
life versus extreme disregard for human life and for two crimes that have such similar and and
00:43:49
comparatively uh vague definitions the punishments are incredibly different the sentences for manslaughter the
00:43:56
sentencing range the sentencing range for second deegree murder are very different so when you're comparing a
00:44:02
crime that may involve words like Reckless versus a crime that may involve words like extreme how is a jury
00:44:10
supposed to really compute what those two words mean and how they're different yet in making the decision between those
00:44:17
two crimes there may be Decades of difference in prison time between those two verdicts and I should point out that
00:44:23
that wasn't the only charge that he was facing right uh we should note that in addition to depraved heart murder a
00:44:29
prosecutors also charged Ryan with involuntary manslaughter plus two counts of drug distribution and then one count
00:44:36
of possession with intent to distribute right um I want to talk about you know a
00:44:42
scene that really kind of struck me Sarah's mom Tina uh she she's definitely a force she's the force behind the
00:44:50
continued push to find out more there is dramatic body cam footage of her screaming at Ryan when she finds out
00:44:59
that her daughter is dead and she runs into the house and she is hitting him um my heart went out to her I mean what you
00:45:09
spoke to her what was she like I think this is an extraordinary woman in our jobs we meet victims and
00:45:17
surviving family members of victims of of these horrific crimes all the time but I I must admit that this particular
00:45:24
person made a made an impression on me that's going to let asked for some time and part of that has to do with her
00:45:29
larger story you learn in talking to her that months before Sarah's Death Around
00:45:37
a year before her another daughter of hers Rachel Harris suffered an imense tragedy
00:45:43
Rachel's fiance took his own life in front of her and that was something that um hit very hard across the entire
00:45:52
Harris family then as if that's not enough just I think it's 18 days before Sarah Harris dies Tina's son Christopher
00:46:02
who's in his 30s died after a heart attack in Montana so on the eve of Sarah Harris's death if
00:46:12
you will Tina is already dealing with two appalling losses in her immediate circle of of relatives and soon to be
00:46:22
relatives um her strength in talking about it was was incredible and when you see
00:46:29
the body cam footage um it's hard to even process what she might she might be going through at that
00:46:37
moment so when I saw it I thought just about any reaction you could think of would be understandable because the
00:46:43
situation is so inconceivable so some people are going to wonder why Tina when she can see that
00:46:50
something is really off with this relationship and that her daughter is diminishing
00:46:57
why she didn't just call the police I think there are a number of of reasons I mean first she does try to
00:47:06
convince them to break up she's not a fan of the relationship big picture um but there are a number of reasons why I
00:47:14
think she does what she does and she doesn't do what she doesn't do the first is that Tina said Ryan on
00:47:20
paper looked like a pretty eligible guy for her daughter to be dating he was pretty impressive he was highly educated
00:47:27
he had a thriving practice he seemed to treat her daughter pretty well and so you can imagine a situation where you
00:47:34
have this highly trained educated person who claims to love your daughter and gives you his opinion on what's going
00:47:40
wrong and how he's trying to help you don't necessarily think you're being lied to the second is that as um Tina
00:47:50
discovers that there's something really wrong with Sarah in Sarah 's house that there's activity going on there that
00:48:00
looks suspicious um Sarah and James Ryan plead with her not to go to the authorities finally uh later on in the
00:48:13
second um instance where Tina threatens to blow the whistle her daughter says if you do that
00:48:21
I will never talk to you again look that puts a mother in in an excruciating situation I can't imagine
00:48:29
being in that situation and Tina says she feared for losing the relationship with her daughter the tragedy is that in
00:48:36
the end she did Tina also revealed something very unsettling that she says Ryan told her when they were on a trip
00:48:44
with Sarah Tina told you guys that Ryan said that he actually first noticed Sarah around town as a teenager a pretty
00:48:54
young teenager let's just listen to that clip from Tina and he says then I found out she
00:49:00
worked in the toy store so I would take my kids there so I could see her and I remember when she dressed up as Elsa
00:49:06
from Frozen and she looked just like Elsa and then he said yeah and then I found out she worked at one of these
00:49:15
restaurants and so I would go in there for dinner so I could get her as my server it sounds like Dr Ryan was
00:49:23
obsessed with Sarah he was he was very much [Music] so this is a conversation we could not
00:49:31
independently corroborate having said that we had no specific reason to doubt what Tina told us so what we learned
00:49:40
from Tina about this that Dr Ryan noticed Sarah when Sarah was in the park with friends at the age of 14 after that
00:49:48
Tina said Dr Ryan discovers that Sarah is working in a toy store and she says the Tina I remember going into the toy
00:49:56
store seeing Sarah dressed as Elsa he also goes on to detail um a situation where Sarah is working at a at a local
00:50:06
restaurant as a waitress and says that he went into that restaurant in order to have Sarah as a server and while we
00:50:12
don't know those the the exact timing of those second two types of encounter the
00:50:18
toy store and the restaurant it still tends to indicate that Dr Ryan has a rather unusual interest and Sarah and
00:50:27
James Ryan is 23 years older than Sarah so if you take Sarah in her mid- teens that puts him in his late
00:50:34
30s that's unusual and it paints things in a very particular light Sarah's sister Rachel is the real
00:50:52
hero in many ways here she broke into Sarah's laptop she guesss the password and she finds those damning text
00:50:59
messages between Sarah and Ryan how important was this evidence I think it was critically important the texts
00:51:08
really show three things first she complains of sleeplessness and anxiety and there's a text in which he's
00:51:16
saying I'm paraphrasing I can give you an injection that will take care of your anxiety in
00:51:21
seconds after that we see texts in which Sarah begins asking for these drugs drugs she's imploring him to bring home
00:51:31
drugs like ketamine propol which are dangerous and in combination with each other especially dangerous um and he is
00:51:39
bringing them home that's what the text suggest and finally on at least one occasion there's a text that shows Dr
00:51:47
Ryan actually administering a drug to Sarah and it's a text in which he says if you wake up
00:51:57
uh I've just given you ketamine something to that effect and now I'm changing according to authorities this
00:52:03
shows he's actually administering the drug to her in her sleep I thought that that text message was the most damning
00:52:12
because you obviously can't give permission when you're unconscious and I have to admit while I was listening to
00:52:17
the hour like I said earlier I kept on thinking but she's a willing participant in this until that text message so
00:52:26
Sarah's sister Rachel she took photos of the surgical drugs in Sarah's house both
00:52:32
times that she visited in 2021 sure and I'll just say the photos were critically
00:52:37
important Rachel takes photos around the house on two occasions in 2021 where they discover medical
00:52:45
paraphernalia and then there are photographs taken at the so-called crime scene where Sarah is discovered First
00:52:52
Responders misinterpret the scene of Sarah's death authorities said they are used to drug
00:52:59
overdose cases involving things like heroin where you find tin foil you find burnt spoons you find shoelaces as
00:53:08
tourniquet that's not what they found around Sarah Harris she was surrounded by gear that looked like it was from a
00:53:17
medical setting it was medical grade equipment with plastic wrappers syringes and vials of surgical anesthesia First
00:53:27
Responders aren't typically trained to look for that kind of stuff that's what we learned and it took a very particular
00:53:33
kind of cop a cop with expertise in um in pharmaceutical investigations to look at these photos to see this case in an
00:53:43
entirely different way he looked at those photos he sort of read between the pixels if you will of these photos and
00:53:50
what he saw was a different kind of drug overdose and and that um went a long way
00:53:58
both in making his case with prosecutors and in trying it in front of a jury so you were talking about detective Ian
00:54:05
iello who is the expert in pharmaceutical investigations if he had not been assigned to this case could
00:54:12
Ryan have gotten away with murder I think he certainly could have the investigation I think we could say
00:54:19
was dormant after First Responders talked to Dr Ryan who was on the scene Who provided an account of his
00:54:30
girlfriend Sarah Harris's life which included struggles with mental health struggles with
00:54:36
substances and in fact even included according to Dr Ryan a previous uh overdose in which Dr Ryan
00:54:45
said he brought Sarah back was able to resuscitate her so what he was doing with authorities was essentially
00:54:50
establishing an ongoing pattern of certain emotional mental psychological struggles Sarah had problems with
00:55:00
substance abuse and when you have a doctor on the scene of a death telling you in Fairly medical terms what he
00:55:05
thinks happened you don't have any glaring evidence at least not yet to the contrary police said you tend to take
00:55:15
his word for it so in 2023 Ryan is found guilty of depraved heart murder as well
00:55:21
as involuntary manslaughter and drug charges then months later in 2024 a judge is sentenced him and this is I
00:55:28
actually gasped because I was thinking how many years can he really get for this a judge sentenced him to 45 years
00:55:36
well above the sentencing guidelines for this combination of crimes I I wondered was this about
00:55:42
sending a message precisely because he was a doctor and he should have known better yes I think so first let's unpack
00:55:49
the charges he got uh a total of 45 years about five of those years had to do with the drug charges so he's left
00:55:58
with 40 for depraved heart murder so this man has a very very stiff sentence that's handed to him that seemed to us
00:56:05
and to experts we talk to clearly to be a sort of a message that the judge is trying to send to the medical community
00:56:14
you cannot go Rogue and sort of give or sell drugs that your patients shouldn't be
00:56:21
taking to them and if they wind up getting into trouble and die you are on the on the hook in a big way and you
00:56:27
don't have to look far um around the United States to see this kind of thing happening uh in the headlines very
00:56:35
recently you saw doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry's death and in fact though many of the specifics
00:56:41
are not analogous um one of the drugs was ketamine one of the same drugs that Sarah Harris had in her system I think
00:56:51
increasingly we're seeing you know the justice system say no wait a minute there are differences between you know
00:56:59
conducting surgery and it goes bad or you know um prescribing a drug that someone has a bad reaction to that is
00:57:06
clearly an error versus something a little more malicious yeah it brings up an interesting legal question as well
00:57:14
and that is how well tailored is the law to situations where someone supplies drugs which wind up being used by
00:57:21
someone who dies and in fact in Maryland where this crime occurred State's Attorney's office told us that they have
00:57:28
been supporting for some time and trying to get new legislation passed to streamline the
00:57:35
laws um allowing for particular charges in cases where suppliers of drugs that wind up being used in fatal overdoses uh
00:57:47
can be charged more easily so that authorities are not in a position of having to try to take the facts of the
00:57:54
case square peg fitted into a charge that pre-existing charge round hole yeah I mean I can see
00:58:02
in this case it it seems sort of incredibly creative but it worked the the jury believed the
00:58:09
argument um the footage at the end of the episode of Tina at the grave site of both her son Christopher and her
00:58:16
daughter Sarah it's heartbreaking the fact that she buried their ashes together shows just how
00:58:22
close these siblings were as you mentioned earlier Christopher D just 18 days before Sarah um how did this
00:58:30
tight-knit family cope with this tremendous series of losses yeah it was heartbreaking to be
00:58:39
there and um it was clear in talking to her that these these two children she lost were not only close on the calendar
00:58:47
but they were close emotionally and I think she told us that that's why she decided to bury them in the same casket
00:58:55
she visits often and it's it's just every bit as brutal as you might expect it to be I think as perhaps we've heard
00:59:04
in other cases what the Harris family does what Tina does is she tries to look for something constructive in all of
00:59:12
this and pin her emotional well-being to that she said when she looks back at Sarah's downward spiral and her death
00:59:24
there are regrets that she has at the way she handled certain things and she said instead of sort of
00:59:33
closing in around those regrets and just suffering increased pain she wants to use those regrets and
00:59:41
actually highlight them for people in a way that allows people at least potentially who might find themselves in
00:59:48
a similar situation to avoid making the same mistakes and to me that's the definition of strength
00:59:56
I absolutely agree with you uh over and over in many of these episodes we see how powerful the love and the strength
01:00:05
of a mother can be uh that they often Drive the investigation they often demand Justice for their children and
01:00:13
she was definitely a perfect example of that but not just her the family as well Rachel was just
01:00:20
absolutely key to this having suffered her own tragedy she showed the same kind of strength remarkable
01:00:27
remarkable indeed um Josh thank you so much for joining us today it's been my pleasure thanks so if you like this
01:00:33
series postmortem rate and review 48 Hours on Apple podcast and follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast you
01:00:41
can also listen add free on Amazon music wry plus and in the wry app or with a 48
01:00:47
Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcast and thank you again for listening

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Most intense
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 80
    Best overall

Episode Highlights

  • The Tragic Life of Sarah Harris
    Sarah Harris, a bright young woman, faced struggles that led to her untimely death.
    “I would have never ever thought that her life would end the way it did.”
    @ 02m 00s
    January 17, 2025
  • A Mother's Suspicion
    Tina Harris suspects Dr. Ryan's involvement in her daughter's death after finding alarming evidence.
    “I started kicking and hitting him and screaming.”
    @ 05m 56s
    January 17, 2025
  • A Disturbing Discovery
    Rachel Harris uncovers a trove of texts revealing the dark side of Sarah's relationship with Dr. Ryan.
    “Reading the text between Sarah and James Ryan was like watching a murder in slow motion.”
    @ 23m 19s
    January 17, 2025
  • James Ryan Found Guilty
    After a nearly two-week trial, jurors find James Ryan guilty of depraved heart murder.
    “Relief! My heart just felt satisfied.”
    @ 36m 19s
    January 17, 2025
  • Tina Harris's Emotional Testimony
    Tina Harris shares her heartbreaking memories of Sarah's struggles with addiction.
    “I hear Sarah tell me, 'Mama, it's okay.'”
    @ 40m 00s
    January 17, 2025
  • The Legacy of Sarah Harris
    Tina Harris wants her daughter remembered as a brilliant young woman who cared about others.
    “I want people to remember my Sarah as a light.”
    @ 40m 12s
    January 17, 2025
  • Rachel's Heroism
    Rachel broke into Sarah's laptop and found damning texts that revealed the truth.
    “She broke into Sarah's laptop and found those damning texts.”
    @ 50m 52s
    January 17, 2025
  • A Damning Text
    A text revealed that Dr. Ryan administered drugs to Sarah while she was unconscious.
    “You obviously can't give permission when you're unconscious.”
    @ 52m 13s
    January 17, 2025
  • A Stiff Sentence
    Dr. Ryan was sentenced to 45 years for depraved heart murder and drug charges.
    “I gasped because I was thinking how many years can he really get for this?”
    @ 55m 28s
    January 17, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • I would have never ever thought that her life would end the way it did.
    The Depraved Heart Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem
  • Never goodbye, I'll see you soon big bro.
    The Depraved Heart Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem
  • I just hope that you're happy that I'm with someone who truly truly loves me.
    The Depraved Heart Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem
  • The words do not exist to convey the level of remorse I feel.
    The Depraved Heart Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem
  • I want people to remember my Sarah as a light.
    The Depraved Heart Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem
  • I thought that text message was the most damning.
    The Depraved Heart Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem

Key Moments

  • Detective's Frustration00:13
  • Uncovering Evidence21:25
  • Emotional Testimony30:35
  • Trial Verdict35:53
  • Rachel's Discovery50:52
  • Unconscious Consent52:13
  • Justice Served55:28
  • Heartbreaking Loss58:22

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown