Forensic Transmissions Episode 124: Murder of Rosemarie Essa
On February 24, 2005, Rosemarie Essa, driving to meet a friend, collapsed behind the wheel of her car, and hit in a passing van. She later died at the hospital, even though she had no apparent injuries. After Rosemarie’s death, her doctor husband Yazeed hired two nannies, Marguerita Montenaz and Michele Madeline. When the cause of Rosie’s death was determined to be cyanide poisoning, Yazeed fled to Lebanon. Police discovered that he had a string of girlfriends and mistresses, including Michele Madeline (whom he had infected with herpes, as he did his wife Rosie), and family friend Marguerita Montenaz, who testifies here. The prosecution tried to paint Marguerita as an obsessed stalker who wanted to marry Yazeed and who had the motive and opportunity to poison his wife, but the argument was weak, and quickly overturned. Yazeed Essa was arrested in Cyprus in October, 2006, and after a lengthy extradition process, he was returned to the US to stand trial. Yazeed Essa was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years in March 2010.