Prosecutor says Ohio doctor killed wife with cyanide in ‘evil’ plot to end loveless marriage

Prosecutor: Ohio doctor killed wife with cyanide

CLEVELAND — A prosecutor in Cleveland tells a jury that a doctor on trial in the cyanide-poisoning death of his wife killed her to get out of a loveless marriage.

Assistant Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Prosecutor Steve Dever said in his opening statement Monday that the 2005 plot by Dr. Yazeed Essa (EE’-suh) was “evil at work.”

Dever says the doctor, now 41, fled to Lebanon after police seized calcium tablets that were laced with cyanide. Authorities say 38-year-old Rosemarie Essa crashed her vehicle into oncoming traffic after taking one of the capsules.

Essa has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder. The defense makes its opening statement to the jury later Monday.

Essa gave up a long extradition fight and was returned to from Cyprus to Ohio last year.