Opening statements to begin in Cleveland for trial of doctor accused in wife’s cyanide death

Trial set for Ohio doctor in wife’s cyanide death

CLEVELAND — Opening statements are set to begin in the trial of an Ohio doctor charged in the 2005 cyanide death of his wife, a case delayed for years while authorities tried to extradite the fugitive defendant from Cyprus.

The trial of 41-year-old Yazeed Essa starts Monday in Cleveland and could last seven weeks.

Essa is accused of giving his wife a capsule containing cyanide that she believed was a calcium pill. Her sport utility vehicle crashed into an oncoming car on Feb. 24, 2005.

Essa left the country after his wife’s death and was arrested in 2006 in Cyprus. He gave up a long extradition fight and was returned to Ohio last year.

Essa has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 20 years.