Fugitive @ hotmail.com | Full Episode | Forensic Files

1994 right position approach 125.35 >> some people get on a plane and they skip town
>> course it's 155 >> go to the other side of the world >> it's almost a cat and mouse came in a
lot of countries a lot of miles and that's where a lot of this starts I've been working international fuses
with the FBI about 26 years. We've arrested a lot of bad guys. It pumps up your adrenaline.
This is a once in a lifetime case, and it was certainly one of the tougher ones I ever worked on.
When first responders arrived at the scene of Rosy's car accident, they found her on the brink of unconsciousness,
slumped in the driver's side seat, clutching her open cell phone. She was trying to call her husband.
>> Yazidisa was what every woman dreams of of the perfect man. >> Hello. >> Doctor, businessman,
>> piercing blue eyes, beautiful house, beautiful wife. >> She was the last person in the world
you'd ever think this would happen to. >> Rosie was rushed to the hospital. She went unconscious and died shortly after
that. Her death immediately was suspicious because she didn't suffer any physical injuries from her car accident.
>> His life crumbled. His wife's dead. Then he was gone. Boom. We got to get out of here. Poof. He's gone.
>> Bye-bye. >> He fled the country before the corner had even ruled that her death was a
homicide. >> It was much more than a car. Actually, >> he was spotted in Toronto.
Syria. >> He was in Lebanon. >> Why are you hiding? And why don't you care about the amount of pain that
you're causing to this entire family? >> He lived a double life, family man on one side, playboy on the
other. It causes you to ask yourself how well you can ever know someone else. >> There is so much spin in this case. He
fled the country. He's got to be guilty. But when you look at this very closely,
I think you see something completely different. He got scared to death. He's not a
killer. He had finances. He had people he knew overseas. More we dug into it, we knew
Isa would be a tough guy to catch. It was nice when it finally came to an end and we could actually say we have
this guy in custody. >> Now we're sitting next to him on a plane. I'm thinking at that point, uh,
you're going to court. It was a long road, but you're going to court. FBI special agent Phil Torsney remembers
the moment in January 2009 when the cell phone video was taken. The moment a three-year international manhunt came to
an end. >> That's our guy. >> That guy is Dr. Yazid Issa charged with the mysterious murder of his wife
Rosemary in Cleveland, Ohio. Her family has been waiting ever since to hear the truth about what happened to her. I
>> think we had a beautiful future together >> and her husband's odyssey in five
countries, forged documents, foreign prisons, safe houses, and secret affairs. It's a story Issa's friends say
is too bizarre to believe. If you were to watch this in a movie, you wouldn't even believe that this is possible.
>> It's also a story his lawyers Steven Bradley and Mark Marine believe. >> Are we going in
>> is too bizarre to be true. >> A cold bloodooded, calculated, intentional killing.
>> Two months before Yazid Issa goes to court, they're conducting a mock trial. >> The defendant is not guilty. Raise your
hand. >> I think it was pretty powerful. Mission accomplished. >> It's a high stakes mission in a case
that Cleveland plane dealer reporter Leila Atasi says has taken on a high profile, too.
>> You'd be hardressed to find someone in the greater Cleveland area who hasn't heard of this case. Um, just the mere
mention of the last name Issa will dredge up, you know, at least details, shadowy details of of what happened.
>> There you go. What happened to Rosie tore a hole in her tight-knit family. Parents Rocco and Gigi still host their
kids and grandkids for supper most Sunday nights. >> She was a she a friend of our family.
>> Rosy's brother Dominic, an attorney, says she always loved a good dinnertime debate.
>> Rosie called a spade a spade. >> She never let my head get too big. >> Annie says his little sister never
missed a chance to look out for others. Rosie always rooted for the underdog. She used to say that she wanted a a
handicapped child. I mean, who who do you hear says that? Anybody who was disadvantaged in any way, she was
attracted to that person. >> That calling led Rosie to become a nurse at Cleveland's now defunct Mount Sinai
Hospital. She was on ER rotation in 1995 when she met a dashing young doctor named Yazid Issa. Everyone knew him as
Yas. >> And so I said, "Well, who's who's this guy?" Yas. Everybody's talking about
>> my boy Sadesh over there. >> Dr. Bob Khadar became Yas Issa's best friend. >> Down here working if you can believe
that. >> He's very funny. Um, he had kind of a uh I don't care attitude. >> Smart.
>> Yes. >> Skilled physician. >> Yes. >> Yaz has always wanted to be a doctor and
he wanted to be a successful businessman. Yaz's brother, Faras, says growing up in a Palestinian-American
family, they learned about life on the mean streets of Detroit before they moved to Cleveland in 1988 for Yaz to go
to med school. As if Yas wasn't busy enough with his studies, he and Faras started a beeper
business. They would eventually own a satellite TV company worth millions. >> He was the kind that made everyone
laugh. He made everyone feel comfortable. I mean, he even charmed my dog groomer.
>> Alexander Herrera wasn't looking for love when she met Yazid Issa at work in the hospital in 1995,
but she found his lust for life impossible to resist. >> So, you were drawn to him?
>> Very drawn to him. >> Within months, they were living together. But about a year later, she
began to suspect he was seeing someone else. Sure enough, one day while she wasn't home, Yas suddenly packed up and
left. >> There was a uh a letter that said that he wasn't my [ __ ] anymore. I remember
asking, "What is it about this new person in your life that is so special?" >> And that person was Rosemary.
>> That person was Rosemary. She says Yas couldn't stand her suspicions and told
her in Rosie he found someone who didn't ask questions. >> Pronounce you husband and wife.
>> About a year later, Rosie and Yazid got married. It was September 11th, 1999.
>> Here's many years of happiness. Congratulations. >> Welcome to the family. The next year they had a son, Arand
>> and a daughter, Lena, two years after that. >> She liked being a mom. >> She loved being a mom. It's all she ever
wanted. >> She was so happy being a mother. >> Her sister-in-law, Julie, says they
seemed to have it all. A comfortable home, loving marriage, two beautiful children, and even planning a third. But
tragedy struck on February 24th, 2005. At about 2 p.m., Rosie left home to meet her sister for a movie.
>> She was driving slowly down, headed westbound. >> She was only driving about 10 m an hour
when at this intersection, she had a fender bender with another car and her near-perfect life came to a bizarre
halt. Her eyes were still open and her chest was gurgling and she was just slumped there clutching her cell phone.
>> I drove 100 miles an hour to the hospital thinking it was bad and I was praying the whole way that she would
that it wouldn't be bad. >> But it was bad. Rosie was pronounced dead at 3:02 p.m. An almost impossible
reality for her family because she was just 38, otherwise healthy. And her brother Rocky says she didn't have a
scratch on her. >> I mean, my father was right at Rosy's head. He was just cradling her and my
mom was on one side. I was on the other side. You know, it was chaotic. It was so emotional.
>> As more relatives gathered, Yaz stood quietly apart. His behavior struck everyone as strange. just kind of like
this like this rocking against the wall all upset and uh you know and he just kind of we
made eye contact and he just kind of shook his head. >> YZ said he had no idea how Rosie could
have died. Nobody else did either. But one thing was clear. >> It was obvious to everybody in the room.
I mean clearly she didn't die in the car accident. >> Now Yazid Issa is about to go on trial
for murder. This is going to be contentious. >> Sir, listen to my questions. >> Going to be a ball busting down in the
trenches trial. >> Um, I had a romantic relationship with him. >> He had engaged in sexual relations.
>> Yes. On January 25th, 2010, nearly 5 years after Rosemary Issa's mysterious death,
>> she's right here always. She's right with us. >> Testimony in her husband's murder trial
is about to begin. >> I'll rise for the jury, ladies and gentlemen. >> His lawyers have honed their arguments
in that mock trial. >> And let me begin by saying that >> now they're ready for the real one. Let
me begin by saying that the death of Rosemary Issa is senseless and certainly tragic.
>> Whole life's on the line here. So, naturally, there's a lot of anxiety. >> Right away, defense attorney Steven
Bradley and prosecutor Steve Dever begin a battle to define Yazid Issa for the jury.
>> What we're going to do is present to you a picture of a narcissistic sociopath
who calculated an evil plan to kill his wife. There's no motive whatsoever for him to have committed this crime.
>> The state calls Julie Deuchio >> as the state presents his case. >> This was an unbelievable shock to
>> Rosy's family is forced to relive that horrible day in the hospital. >> I saw my husband Dominic waiting outside
of the emergency room. He told me that she didn't make make it. Julie remembers that Yas remained
distant as the Depuchios gathered later that evening. A gathering that took a chilling turn about 2 hours later when
Dominic got a phone call from Ros's best friend, Eva McGregor. And I told her, "Oie died." And the first words out of
her mouth were, "Oh my god, that son of a [ __ ] He killed her." Eva told him Rosie had called her that
same afternoon from the car on the way to the movies. >> Do you solemnly swear to test?
>> Now 5 years later, she tells the jury the same story. >> She said she wasn't feeling well. She
had told me that she had taken this calcium pill that Yas had given her. >> Yazid had insisted Rosie take calcium
supplements that morning. Eva immediately suspected he tampered with those capsules and testifies she
confronted him at Rosy's funeral. >> And I said, "Couldn't there something been wrong with the calcium pill? I
didn't know what was in the pill, but I wanted to make sure everybody knew that he gave it to."
>> I was really struggling with believing that he had anything to do with it. Every time I saw him, are you all right?
What do you need? I'm fine. Everything's fine. In retrospect, Dominic says Yath seemed fine much too soon. He refused
the family's offers of help with the kids and instead hired a pair of nannies, Margarita Montinez and Michelle
Maline. >> He was sexually active uh with other partners throughout his marriage. So
this >> detective Gary McKe began investigating the strange case for the Highland
Heights Police Department soon after Rosie died and discovered Yazid's nannies were taking care of more than
the children. >> We did not know that they were his girlfriends. >> What was your reaction?
>> It was disgusting. I mean because those women were in the house within days of
her dying. Back in court, one of those women, Nanny Margarita Montinez, tells the jury she met Yazid at one of his
beeper stores and started sleeping with him in 2001 while both of them were married.
>> Yazid asked me out to for drinks at the winking lizard and um we went to Motel 6 after
>> he kissed me and it progressed from there. Yazid's other nanny, Michelle Maline, is still struggling to put the
relationship behind her and asked the judge to prohibit the media from showing her face on the witness stand.
>> Were you falling in love with him? >> Eventually, yes. >> They tell each other they love each
other. There are trips taken together. There are flowers sent. >> Michelle testifies she also became
involved with Yazid before Rosie died. They worked together at the hospital, but would meet regularly on Wednesday
nights in an apartment he kept upstairs from his satellite TV office. >> Did the defendant describe to you then
what was wrong with his relationship with Rosie? >> He wasn't in love with her. He would say
she was a good person, but she was cold. He would call her a mana. >> A mana. What does that mean?
>> The refrigerator brand. >> But for us, Issa says Yazid only cared for his wife and children. There were no
problems in the marriage. >> Not that I was aware of. >> He's happy in his marriage, but at the
same time, he continues to have all of these sexual affairs. >> Yep. >> Do you know whether Rosemary
was aware of the fact that your brother was cheating on her? >> No, she wasn't. She wasn't aware.
>> Until now, Faras has done everything he could to protect his brother at any cost. But in court and under oath, he's
about to be caught in a lie. >> Did you ever have a conversation with her brother about paying $35,000 to shut
somebody up? >> No. >> No. >> But prosecutors introduce evidence recorded on prison phone lines that the
Iser brothers did discuss exactly that. >> Cue that up, please. >> Whatever happened to that guy made her
ultimate 25 G's and shut up? s 35gs actually is what she accepted and then >> he clearly perjured himself. He was
looking at very serious jail times >> at this time. Uh I want to advise you of your right against selfinccrimination.
You can step down. >> Thank you. >> For us, Issa is dismissed for the time being so he can consult with an
attorney. >> Through it all, Yazid looks on seemingly unmoved. The same way Detective Gary
McKe remembers him when he questioned Yaz three weeks after Rosie died and first developed his own suspicions about
those calcium capsules he given her. >> Are there calcium pills a pill? >> Mhm. >> I'm thinking there's something more here
than meets the eye. >> Would you mind if I followed you back to your home and collected those?
>> No, that'd be great. Not at all. Okay. Yazid was apparently unconcerned about
handing over the remaining pills to police, but Julie Deuchio believes he was actually in a panic.
>> Look at my horse. >> When the police interviewed him, I think it really flipped him out.
>> The proof, she says, came just days later when Yazid Issa vanished. >> I just knew right then he did it. He did
something to hurt Rosie and he's gone. And when the lab results came back, police discovered Yazid Issa had good
reason to run. The evidence was in those calcium capsules. >> She died of cyanide poisoning.
In the second week of Yazid Isa's murder trial, the state focuses on his bizarre
disappearance and on a startling piece of evidence Dominic and Julie Depuchio discovered in his house almost
immediately afterwards. >> I noticed that there was an envelope on the table from the passport department
and it had been ripped open. >> And I just I looked at my wife and I just said to her, I said, "He's gone.
We found out that he fled and we tried and tried and tried to find him. >> Like a needle in a haststack, it felt
like sometimes. And it was killing us not knowing. >> After Yaziz disappeared, the Deuchios
took on an even bigger burden. Making a home for Yaz and Ros's children, Armond and Lena. They already had four children
of their own. >> Happy birthday, Dad. >> Daddy. Can I help you? >> How would I? >> It was very difficult in the beginning
bringing in two more children who had just lost both their parents. And that was very difficult to do when you're
falling apart. You don't even know if you can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
And all I'm thinking is my head is spinning and I needed to be quiet so I can think and we can figure out where he
went and what happened to him. In April 2005, just two months after Ros's death, FBI agent Phil Torsy, a
veteran fugitive hunter, was assigned to figure out where the successful doctor and businessman was.
>> This is the location where Dr. Issa purchased his ticket where the investigation started for us. Torsy
picked up Issa's trail at this travel agency and soon uncovered evidence that Yas had used a kind of underground
railroad for his escape. >> Next stop is here in Detroit at the casino. Meet up with some buddies and do
some gambling. Issa crossed the border from the United States into Canada, possibly here at the tunnel where he
proceeded to Toronto where he boarded his flight overseas. >> Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London
Heathro. Heathro over to Cyprus. That's where we we sort of came to a standstill
at some point. We knew from Cypress he was probably in the Middle East. Using a network of family and business
contacts, Yazid Issa made his way all the way here to Beirut, Lebanon, where at first he went underground, moving
from safe house to safe house all over the city. Lebanon was no random destination. This
country doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States. So while authorities use credit cards and emails
to track Isa Beirut, they wouldn't be able to lay a hand on him if they found him.
>> He knew we were looking for him and I I believe he felt he was safe over there.
>> Did the authorities clue you in to his movements, how he was conducting himself, the lifestyle he led. You knew
nothing. >> As far as we knew, nobody knew where he was. >> I got a phone call. Uh he needs some
help in Lebanon. Please help him. Take care of him. Yazid's protector in Lebanon was this man, Jamal Khalif, a
self-described businessman who had once lived in Michigan where his family knew the Isas.
>> If I was trying to stay one step ahead of the law and I was in Beirut, you could help me.
>> Yes. >> You could provide me with a new passport. >> Yes. >> You could get me a new identity.
>> Yes. >> You could help me stay out of jail. >> Hell yes. >> Hell yes. >> Don't worry about nothing. We'll take
care of you. So Jamal took care of Yazid. He gave him a gun, a slew of fake IDs, and safe
houses to hide in. But Yas didn't remain underground for long. Here he is at a wedding with Jamal while he was in
hiding. >> Was he living large in Beirut? >> Yeah, he was living large. Zunyz was living a bit too large for his
own good. He spent his days drinking in pubs and cafes on Beirut's waterfront and his nights partying in discos all
over town. To support his lavish lifestyle, investigators say he had his brother Faras wire him thousands of
dollars at a time. >> I know he was trying to create a new life for himself. He had to figure out a
way to survive there. >> So it sound like he was on vacation. >> He was on vacation.
>> Is he dating women? Is he seeing women? >> Yeah, he was dating. >> So you thought you had a future with
him? >> Yeah, I thought that. >> Nylasuki met Yazid Isa in an online chat room about 3 months after he arrived in
Beirut. >> What was his email address? >> Fugitivemail.com. >> Fugitivehotmail.com.
>> Yeah. The 38-year-old teacher says she never thought that was suspicious. >> He wanted to see me and I said, "Why
not?" And we started seeing each other more often. >> By the spring of 2006, Yaziz's
relationship with Nyla was getting serious. >> He cut ties with Jamal and moved to her
neighborhood. >> You live here? >> Yeah. >> And what floor was he? >> The first porch. The balcony here.
>> The first one. >> Yeah. They saw each other every day. >> We went to movies. We went uh for dinner
sometimes to the mountains, to the beach. >> They had a lot of time to talk and Yazid
Issa had a lot to say. >> He said they were accusing him of killing his wife to be with another
woman and that he didn't do it. >> Did you ever ask him the question directly, Nyla? Did you kill your wife?
I think I did it once and he said, "Don't don't you believe me? I I I would never do it." The way the story was like
leaving the pills or giving them to the police, would he do it? Would he convict
himself? He's a smart man. He's very clever. If he wanted to do something bad to his wife, he wouldn't do it this way.
>> But Jamal says Yazid wasn't acting smart at all. >> Well, how was he behaving? stupid.
>> Stupid >> drinking, bragging, being the big shot with money. I told him to change his ways,
>> have a lower profile. >> Lower profile. >> But in October 2006, Yaz boarded a plane
to Cyprus, a country that does have an extradition treaty with the United States. His recklessness finally caught
up with him. Interpol and the FBI had tipped off Cypress police that Yazid Isa might be
on board traveling under an alias. Sergeant Mario Yuanu of the Lornica police was waiting at the airport when
the plane landed. >> We knew that it was supposed to use a passport with his photo but with a
different name. Maurice Khalif. >> Maurice Khalif. >> Yes. Maurice Khif was Jamal's cousin. Yazid
had been using his identity for months. As passengers filed off the plane, Yuanu
compared them to a grainy photo he'd been given. >> What did he look like in the photo?
>> He was bored. He had no hair. >> You were looking for a bald man. >> Yes. >> Yuanu was beginning to think his
information was bad. When the last passengers came into view, one looked vaguely familiar. Actually, I didn't
recognize him because he had a long hair. >> He had long hair. >> Yes. I asked him, "Uh, sir, what is your
name?" He told me that my name is Maurice Khalif. >> This is the passport that you saw.
>> Yes. >> But when Yuanu called him in for questioning and fingerprinting, the prints were an instant match to Yazid.
Yazid was arrested for using a doctorred passport and held in the Cypress prison
for US authorities. >> He had changed his appearance. He had done a lot of things, but fingerprints
don't lie. >> After 19 months, Phil Torsney finally had his man. For 2 years, Yazid Issa
would fight extradition until Torsy was finally able to put him on that plane to
Cleveland in January 2009. Yet, it didn't take nearly that long for his former protector, Jamal Khalifa, to
turn on him, says prosecutor Matt Meyer. >> Jamal remembered transactions, amounts, dates, places.
>> I give them evidence, papers. >> Jamal knew things that nobody knew. including
something so explosive that prosecutors will bring Khalifa all the way from the Middle East to the Midwest to testify at
Yazid Issa's murder trial. >> You believe Yazid Isa killed Rosemary? >> I know it for a fact.
As Yazid Isa's murder trial enters its second week, the state calls its star witness.
>> You know the defendant, Dr. Issa? >> Yes. >> YZ's one-time protector, Jamal Khalif,
who has traveled all the way from Beirut to lay out the sorted details of Issa's
Underground Railroad escape >> and his 19 months on the run. >> Good morning, sir. If you would come
forward, please, and raise your right hand. >> There's one detail that assists DA Matt
Meyer hopes will turn this case into a slam dunk for the state. >> Jamal knew things that nobody knew.
>> I know that he killed his wife. How do you know? He told me. >> And what did he tell you about his the
death of his wife in cyanide? >> He told me the whole story. He grounded the cyanide, refilled the pills, and uh
he gave her two pills. She had a car accident and she died. >> Defense attorneys Mark Marine and Steven
Bradley know they'll never win this trial without discrediting Jamal Khalifa. And they've got a lot to work
with. >> In a 29 count charging moneyaundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States,
mail fraud. >> Turns out Jamal became a fugitive long before Yazid Isa ever was.
>> Possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of a firearm with an altered
serial number. and laundering of money instruments. Is that true? >> No. No. >> In 1994,
>> why >> Jamal was under investigation for money laundering and a weapons charge in
Michigan, potentially facing a long prison sentence. He fled the US for his native Lebanon. He always wanted a way
back to America, says the defense. And when Yazid Issa walked into his life in 2005, Jamal saw his chance. He
recognized that Yazid Isa was his get out of jail free card. >> Is there something funny?
>> I I noticed that you're laughing. Is there something funny? >> Defense attorneys are convinced Jamal
has cut a deal with the state for his testimony. But getting him to admit it >> is a different matter.
>> Just listen to my question. >> Listen, sir. Listen to my questions. Gentlemen,
>> okay, >> of you, let's calm down. All right, you ask the question, sir. You answer the
question. >> The fact of the matter is you've been negotiating with these people all along.
Isn't that true? >> Well, I'm going to get them pretend. >> I'm asking you. >> No, I'm asking you.
>> I'm asking the question on my phone. >> Sir, I will ask you questions. You will
provide me with responses. We understand each other. >> All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're
going to take >> What does Jamal Khif get in return for sharing his story? >> He doesn't get prosecuted for helping
Yazid. >> Actually, Jamal Khalif gets a lot more than that. 2 days after testifying
against Yazid Issa, a judge ruling on those Michigan charges lets him off with probation. He cut a deal and the proof's
in the pudding because he's back in the country and he's not in a jail facility.
The defense hopes exposing Khif's plea deal will discredit him with the jury, but the defense is about to be handed a
stunning setback that nobody is expecting. >> You remain under oath. Obviously, >> two weeks after he was caught lying on
the stand, >> 35 G's actually is what she accepted. >> Yazid Isa's brother, Faras, suddenly
reappears in court. >> Good afternoon, Mr. Issa. You're here today to testify and to give
complete and truthful testimony. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> So, he really had a stark choice to
make. Deal with his own issues or continue holding the bag for his brother. >> It must have been nerve-wracking for you
to testify. It was I can't describe how much love I have for my brother. It was gut-wrenching.
>> If he lies again, Faras faces up to 16 years in prison on perjury and obstruction of justice.
>> I don't know. >> What he says at this moment could very well seal his brother's fate or seal his
own. So, as you sit here today before this jury before Rosy's family in the back of the courtroom, did the defendant
tell you who put the uh cyanide into the calcium pills? >> Tell me he did. >> When you found out that information,
what did you say to your brother? >> He told me he's a Why did you say that? >> Because he took Ros's life and I loved
her. He just ruined his whole family. >> Have you told your brother? >> After everything Dominic Deuchio has
been through in the last 5 years, he can't believe his ears. >> He looked like a man on an island and uh
you know, in a weird way, I just I felt sorry for him. >> Did you speak to your brother at all
today? >> In closing arguments, the defense reminds the jury to stick with the basics. There's no motive in this case.
And investigators found no DNA and no usable fingerprints. There is still no proof. They say that Yazid Issa ever
actually possessed cyanide. Nor is there an explanation for why he gave the murder weapon to police.
>> Presumably, an intelligent individual who had spiked calcium capsules would have taken those capsules and flushed
them down the toilet or done something with them. He did nothing. in the state's closings.
>> She was calling to him for help and you didn't help her, did you? >> Prosecutor Anna Farelia says Yazid Issa
did plenty. >> A health care professional takes an oath to preserve life, not destroy it.
>> With all eyes on him, Yazid Issa decides not to testify, leaving the lawyers to
argue about whether he's a victim of circumstance. >> Did you find any evidence that he for a
predator who planned the perfect murder at the expense of those who needed him the most.
>> One day, these children are going to come and try to find out what happened to their mother.
>> He thinks he can fool these 12 people. I'm sure of it. >> His life is in the light.
>> Ladies and gentlemen, I understand that you have reached a verdict in this case.
Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Very good. Mr. Four person, if you would hand me the verdict one.
After 5 weeks of testimony, >> let your verdict be fair and impartial. Thus, >> the jury begins to deliberate Yazid
Isa's fate. One agonizing day turns into two. Then three on the fourth day of deliberations.
>> What do you expect, sir? >> Finally, a verdict. >> Please rise. >> Ladies and gentlemen, I understand that
you have reached a verdict in this case. Is that correct? >> For Ros's family, the tension is
unbearable as Judge Dina Calib delivers the verdict. We the jury in this case being duly impanled and sworn do find
the defendant Yazid Issa guilty of >> guilty of aggravated murder of the revised code
>> for the Deuchios and their loved ones. 5 years of pain and exhaustion give way to
tears. >> She was tough. She did she did good. >> I didn't think I was going to make it,
but I did. >> Rosie's going to rest in peace now. Prosecutors savor an emotional victory.
>> At the end of the day, truth prevailed. >> You know, I visited that home shortly
after Yazid fled, and I remember seeing high chairs. >> Is wrong. >> Mr. Bradley,
>> the defense team is in no mood to linger. >> How about a reaction? >> We're disappointed.
>> 4 days later, after Yaz trades in his expensive suits for prison clothes, >> there is no closure. I mean, we were
changed forever. >> Ros's family addresses the court. >> Maybe there'll be less nights that my
wife cries herself to sleep. >> I stand before you with strong conviction that Yasid Isa receives the
maximum sentence. He had no regrets about killing Rosie or abandoning his children.
After years of struggling to face his worst fears about Yazid Issa, your honor, >> Dominic Depuchia will finally address
his sister's killer directly. >> I challenge him to find the courage today to admit what he did.
>> It was me versus Yaz. He was the leader of his family. I'm the leader of mine.
>> Are you man enough? Are you? It's your last chance to save your soul right here, right now.
Are you a man or not? >> Protecting his chances for a successful appeal, Yazid Issa doesn't say a word
and barely flinches as the judge reads the sentence. >> I cannot imagine the evil that you have
done to these people. At this time, I sentence you to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years.
If he would have said the right things and explained to us that he did it, why he did it, that he was sorry for he did
it, that would have gone a long way. >> Any any comments at all? >> You sure? >> Do you think you'll ever understand?
>> No. There's no reason to try and understand. It's all about coping. >> It's not easy to deal with. You know,
>> for Russ, Issa will have to cope with the knowledge that he more than anyone helped send his brother to prison.
>> What is your relationship with your brother today? It's the same as it's always been. We're
just as close as we were the day I was born. And we'll be that way till the day we die.
>> You know, many people would find that surprising. >> Many people aren't my brother.
>> And he wasn't angered. >> Nothing's going to change our relationship. Period.
>> Could this have been a perfect crime? >> Perfect in the sense that he could have
gotten away with it. I think so. Yeah. If she flips her car doing 60 mph on the freeway, nobody has any reason to
believe that it wasn't anything other than a car accident. Dominic Deuchio has become legal
guardian of Yazid Isa's children and he is looking into changing their last names to his own.
Cutting Yazid's ties to the son and daughter he left behind in honor of the woman he took away.
>> I talk to her every day. I ask her for advice. I ask her, "What would you do? Can you
help me? Can you help me figure this out? Because this is a hard one. But I will do whatever it takes for
Rosie.

A global manhunt for a top doctor after his wife's untimely death. "48 Hours" correspondent Troy Roberts reports in this episode from June 2013. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

Dr. Yazid Issa is found guilty of murdering his wife Rosemary in a case involving cyanide poisoning and an international manhunt.

Key points

The Mysterious Death of Rosemary Issa. Rosemary Issa's death raises suspicions after a car accident leaves her without injuries.
A Life of Deception. Yazid Issa lived a double life, charming on one side and deceitful on the other.
The International Manhunt. FBI agent Phil Torsney recalls the moment they captured Dr. Yazid Issa after a long search.
The Trial Begins. The trial for Yazid Issa begins, revealing shocking details about his life and marriage.
The Shocking Evidence. The investigation reveals that Rosemary died of cyanide poisoning, raising more questions about Yazid.
Yazid's Recklessness Catches Up. Yazid Isa's reckless behavior leads to his arrest in Cyprus after using a false identity.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is a once in a lifetime case.

0:40WatchJun 30, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.