Man accused of killing wife fights extradition

The doctor is accused in the cyanide death of his wife near Cleveland.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A doctor fighting efforts to return him to Ohio where he is accused of killing his wife argued again Thursday that he should not be returned to the United States because he could face the death penalty.

Yazeed Essa, 38, a U.S. citizen, disappeared before he was indicted on aggravated murder charges in Cuyahoga County in the cyanide poisoning of his wife, Rosemarie Essa, 38. She collapsed in her car and died Feb. 24, 2005, about five miles from their home in Gates Mills, near Cleveland.

An emergency room doctor, Essa has been in custody on this Mediterranean island for almost a year, after his arrest as he attempted to clear customs after arriving from Lebanon.

In June, a district court approved a request to extradite Essa.

Charges against Essa carry a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years but his defense argued prosecutors could amend the charge to one that carries the death penalty. Cypriot law bans extradition of suspects who face the death penalty.

Essa appealed to the island’s Supreme Court.

The defense argues that he could be charged with murder under federal law and face the death sentence before a federal court irrespective of what the Ohio courts decide to do with him.

On a federal level “the offense for which I am accused at this moment, carries the death penalty,” Essa said in an affidavit submitted to the court.

Siblings also charged

Essa’s lawyers also argued that the indictments of Essa’s sister and brother are connected with the aggravated murder charges, and could make Essa eligible for the death penalty after extradition under state law. Essa’s brother and sisters are accused of siphoning $2.4 million from the couple’s trusts and estates.

The judge reserved his decision.

Ohio authorities believe that after his wife’s death, Essa traveled to Syria, Greece and Lebanon and possibly visited Florida.

Essa left behind the couple’s two children, 4 and 2, when he disappeared in March 2005. His wife’s brother is taking care of them.