Maryland oral surgeon convicted of murder in death of girlfriend who overdosed on anesthetic drugs
An oral surgeon was convicted on Friday of a murder charge in the death of his girlfriend who overdosed on anesthetic drugs that he administered at his Maryland home.
Jurors heard testimony that James Ryan, 50, set up an intravenous stand to administer the addictive drugs to his 25-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Harris, who was found dead at his Montgomery County home in January 2022.
The jury deliberated for three hours before returning a guilty verdict on all counts, CBS affiliate WUSA-TV reported. Ryan faces a maximum of 55 years in prison when he is sentenced at a date to be determined.
An autopsy found that Harris died of intoxication from ketamine, propofol and diazepam.
James Michael Ryan faces 55 years in prison for murdering 25-year-old Sarah Harris, who was a former patient of Ryan's, before becoming his employee and girlfriend. https://t.co/j4Mv0HbEK5
— WUSA9 (@wusa9) August 29, 2023
Prosecutors argued that Ryan showed "an extreme indifference" to Harris' life by continuously supplying her with drugs as her addiction and health worsened. She weighed 83 pounds at the time of her death.
Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Harrison said Ryan was a skilled oral surgeon who knew how risky the drugs could be.
"And despite his vast knowledge and training in the field, he continuously provided these dangerous, deadly anesthetic drugs to Sarah Harris over a period of time even as he watched her deteriorate before his eyes," the prosecutor told jurors.
"Every time he gave her those drugs — whether he administered them or whether he instructed her on how to administer them to herself — a little bit of Sarah died," Harrison said, The Washington Post reported. "Until he gave them to her one too many times. And he killed her; he killed Sarah Harris. He created this risk."
Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said some of the drugs used would "have no so-called medical use in the world of oral surgery," WUSA-TV reported.
Ryan did not testify at his trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court. His lawyers argued that Harris died of either suicide or an accidental overdose that she administered to herself. Defense attorney Thomas DeGonia told jurors that Harris had asked Ryan for ketamine for "relief from her depression" months before her death.
DeGonia also noted that Harris's brother had recently died, the Post reported.
"On January 25th [2022], the day before she is found [dead], Sarah Harris spends the day with her mother visiting cemeteries and burial plots where she was going to bury her brother," DeGonia said, according to the newspaper.
Harris began working for Ryan and dating him after she was a patient at his office in Germantown, Maryland.
Police say the two of them lived together in Ryan's home, CBS Baltimore reported. Their relationship continued until Harris died, authorities said.