A Maryland dentist has been found guilty of murdering his 25-year-old girlfriend with anesthetics administered through an IV station he’d set up in their home.`
Dr. James Ryan, 50, was convicted of second-degree depraved heart murder, involuntary manslaughter, distribution of ketamine and diazepam and possession with the intent to distribute midazolam in the death of his former patient, employee and girlfriend Sarah Harris, WUSA9 reported.
Harris allegedly became romantically involved with Ryan after she began working as his surgical technician in October 2020. After the couple moved in together in the summer of 2021, Harris’ family reportedly told police they began noticing changes in her physical appearance.
‘He watched her deteriorate before his eyes’: Dentist convicted of killing girlfriend who overdosed on anesthetics
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Text messages later obtained by police reportedly showed Harris requesting drugs from Ryan, some of which had “no so-called medical use in the world of oral surgery,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said, according to WUSA9. The messages also allegedly showed Ryan offering advice to Harris on how to make the drugs more potent, with assurances that he would bring medical supplies to the home to “aid in the administration of drugs or the recovery from the effects,” police said. (RELATED: Colorado Judge Sentences Wealthy Dentist To Life In Prison For Killing His Wife On African Safari Vacation)
Harris was found dead from an overdose in the couple’s Clarksburg, Maryland, home on Jan. 26, 2022, according to WUSA9.
At the conclusion of Ryan’s two-week trial, jurors deliberated for three hours before agreeing on a guilty verdict on all counts. Ryan could face up to 55 years in prison, although a date for his sentencing has not yet been set.