Witness Partly Backs Roth's Story -- Surfboarder Saw Raft Near Far Shore

A surfboarder says less than an hour before Cynthia Baumgartner Roth drowned last summer, he saw her with husband Randy Roth on the far edge of Lake Sammamish from Idylwood Park.

The testimony, given by John Mann of Redmond yesterday during Randy Roth's first-degree murder trial, appears to directly conflict that given by a key prosecution witness who claimed she watched the raft proceed directly from the park's beach to the site of the drowning about a quarter-mile out.

Two weeks ago, Kristina Baker said she watched the raft drift from shore to deep water last July 23. She said she was concerned about the raft being in an area from which police boats had just cleared out, so she watched it almost without interruption.

Roth, 37, of Woodinville, is accused of drowning his wife of less than a year to gain $385,000 in insurance money. She was his fourth wife and the second to die by apparent accident. He is being tried in King County Superior Court.

WITNESS SAW ROTH ON FAR SIDE

Roth has maintained that after swimming for a while, he and his wife were trying to get back into the raft when a wake from a passing speedboat swamped her and tipped over the craft. By the time he could right it, he told police, his wife was unconscious and face down in the water.

Baker testified that the raft never tipped over.

Mann yesterday said he took notice of the raft because very few ever made it to the east side of the lake, and he saw two people - one whom he identified as Randy Roth - simply standing or wading chest-deep in the water.

"The situation caused curiosity," said Mann. "I don't see a lot of people in this area, and it was kind of a lame-type craft, a raft. They were just there in the water looking west. They showed no animation."

Mann passed the raft a second time and saw only Roth.

Defense attorneys also called a witness who said the water near the beach that day, a Tuesday, was riddled with boats and wake activity that rivaled some of the busiest weekend days.

On cross-examination, Jeff Daub of Redmond said most boats were moving slowly because of congestion on the water and did not cause large wakes.

The defense was planning to present to the jury today a videotaped re-enactment an expert conducted on the lake during the weekend. Attorneys say it will refute re-enactments conducted by police and the prosecution's expert that showed the raft was virtually impossible to tip over in the way Roth described.

DEFENDANT WAS `OUR SUPER DAD'

Defense attorneys also called several witnesses who testified to Roth's interest and helpfulness in Little League activities and his fast-developing relationship with a woman he met through league activities, Cynthia Baumgartner, who supervised a concession stand.

One of the baseball coaches called Roth "our Super Dad," while others described how he and Cynthia seemed to fall in love overnight.