00:00:06
1994 right position approach 125.35 >> some people get on a plane and they skip town
00:00:18
>> course it's 155 >> go to the other side of the world >> it's almost a cat and mouse came in a
00:00:26
lot of countries a lot of miles and that's where a lot of this starts I've been working international fuses
00:00:32
with the FBI about 26 years. We've arrested a lot of bad guys. It pumps up your adrenaline.
00:00:40
This is a once in a lifetime case, and it was certainly one of the tougher ones I ever worked on.
00:00:48
When first responders arrived at the scene of Rosy's car accident, they found her on the brink of unconsciousness,
00:00:54
slumped in the driver's side seat, clutching her open cell phone. She was trying to call her husband.
00:01:04
>> Yazidisa was what every woman dreams of of the perfect man. >> Hello. >> Doctor, businessman,
00:01:12
>> piercing blue eyes, beautiful house, beautiful wife. >> She was the last person in the world
00:01:19
you'd ever think this would happen to. >> Rosie was rushed to the hospital. She went unconscious and died shortly after
00:01:26
that. Her death immediately was suspicious because she didn't suffer any physical injuries from her car accident.
00:01:34
>> His life crumbled. His wife's dead. Then he was gone. Boom. We got to get out of here. Poof. He's gone.
00:01:43
>> Bye-bye. >> He fled the country before the corner had even ruled that her death was a
00:01:49
homicide. >> It was much more than a car. Actually, >> he was spotted in Toronto.
00:01:57
Syria. >> He was in Lebanon. >> Why are you hiding? And why don't you care about the amount of pain that
00:02:06
you're causing to this entire family? >> He lived a double life, family man on one side, playboy on the
00:02:14
other. It causes you to ask yourself how well you can ever know someone else. >> There is so much spin in this case. He
00:02:25
fled the country. He's got to be guilty. But when you look at this very closely,
00:02:31
I think you see something completely different. He got scared to death. He's not a
00:02:37
killer. He had finances. He had people he knew overseas. More we dug into it, we knew
00:02:44
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
00:03:26
this guy in custody. >> Now we're sitting next to him on a plane. I'm thinking at that point, uh,
00:03:36
you're going to court. It was a long road, but you're going to court. FBI special agent Phil Torsney remembers
00:03:43
the moment in January 2009 when the cell phone video was taken. The moment a three-year international manhunt came to
00:03:53
an end. >> That's our guy. >> That guy is Dr. Yazid Issa charged with the mysterious murder of his wife
00:04:02
Rosemary in Cleveland, Ohio. Her family has been waiting ever since to hear the truth about what happened to her. I
00:04:10
>> think we had a beautiful future together >> and her husband's odyssey in five
00:04:18
countries, forged documents, foreign prisons, safe houses, and secret affairs. It's a story Issa's friends say
00:04:28
is too bizarre to believe. If you were to watch this in a movie, you wouldn't even believe that this is possible.
00:04:36
>> It's also a story his lawyers Steven Bradley and Mark Marine believe. >> Are we going in
00:04:41
>> is too bizarre to be true. >> A cold bloodooded, calculated, intentional killing.
00:04:49
>> Two months before Yazid Issa goes to court, they're conducting a mock trial. >> The defendant is not guilty. Raise your
00:04:57
hand. >> I think it was pretty powerful. Mission accomplished. >> It's a high stakes mission in a case
00:05:04
that Cleveland plane dealer reporter Leila Atasi says has taken on a high profile, too.
00:05:10
>> You'd be hardressed to find someone in the greater Cleveland area who hasn't heard of this case. Um, just the mere
00:05:16
mention of the last name Issa will dredge up, you know, at least details, shadowy details of of what happened.
00:05:23
>> There you go. What happened to Rosie tore a hole in her tight-knit family. Parents Rocco and Gigi still host their
00:05:30
kids and grandkids for supper most Sunday nights. >> She was a she a friend of our family.
00:05:36
>> Rosy's brother Dominic, an attorney, says she always loved a good dinnertime debate.
00:05:42
>> Rosie called a spade a spade. >> She never let my head get too big. >> Annie says his little sister never
00:05:49
missed a chance to look out for others. Rosie always rooted for the underdog. She used to say that she wanted a a
00:05:57
handicapped child. I mean, who who do you hear says that? Anybody who was disadvantaged in any way, she was
00:06:03
attracted to that person. >> That calling led Rosie to become a nurse at Cleveland's now defunct Mount Sinai
00:06:09
Hospital. She was on ER rotation in 1995 when she met a dashing young doctor named Yazid Issa. Everyone knew him as
00:06:19
Yas. >> And so I said, "Well, who's who's this guy?" Yas. Everybody's talking about
00:06:23
>> my boy Sadesh over there. >> Dr. Bob Khadar became Yas Issa's best friend. >> Down here working if you can believe
00:06:30
that. >> He's very funny. Um, he had kind of a uh I don't care attitude. >> Smart.
00:06:37
>> Yes. >> Skilled physician. >> Yes. >> Yaz has always wanted to be a doctor and
00:06:42
he wanted to be a successful businessman. Yaz's brother, Faras, says growing up in a Palestinian-American
00:06:50
family, they learned about life on the mean streets of Detroit before they moved to Cleveland in 1988 for Yaz to go
00:06:57
to med school. As if Yas wasn't busy enough with his studies, he and Faras started a beeper
00:07:04
business. They would eventually own a satellite TV company worth millions. >> He was the kind that made everyone
00:07:11
laugh. He made everyone feel comfortable. I mean, he even charmed my dog groomer.
00:07:18
>> Alexander Herrera wasn't looking for love when she met Yazid Issa at work in the hospital in 1995,
00:07:26
but she found his lust for life impossible to resist. >> So, you were drawn to him?
00:07:32
>> Very drawn to him. >> Within months, they were living together. But about a year later, she
00:07:38
began to suspect he was seeing someone else. Sure enough, one day while she wasn't home, Yas suddenly packed up and
00:07:46
left. >> There was a uh a letter that said that he wasn't my [ __ ] anymore. I remember
00:07:54
asking, "What is it about this new person in your life that is so special?" >> And that person was Rosemary.
00:08:03
>> That person was Rosemary. She says Yas couldn't stand her suspicions and told
00:08:09
her in Rosie he found someone who didn't ask questions. >> Pronounce you husband and wife.
00:08:16
>> About a year later, Rosie and Yazid got married. It was September 11th, 1999.
00:08:23
>> Here's many years of happiness. Congratulations. >> Welcome to the family. The next year they had a son, Arand
00:08:34
>> and a daughter, Lena, two years after that. >> She liked being a mom. >> She loved being a mom. It's all she ever
00:08:43
wanted. >> She was so happy being a mother. >> Her sister-in-law, Julie, says they
00:08:48
seemed to have it all. A comfortable home, loving marriage, two beautiful children, and even planning a third. But
00:08:57
tragedy struck on February 24th, 2005. At about 2 p.m., Rosie left home to meet her sister for a movie.
00:09:06
>> She was driving slowly down, headed westbound. >> She was only driving about 10 m an hour
00:09:12
when at this intersection, she had a fender bender with another car and her near-perfect life came to a bizarre
00:09:21
halt. Her eyes were still open and her chest was gurgling and she was just slumped there clutching her cell phone.
00:09:28
>> I drove 100 miles an hour to the hospital thinking it was bad and I was praying the whole way that she would
00:09:35
that it wouldn't be bad. >> But it was bad. Rosie was pronounced dead at 3:02 p.m. An almost impossible
00:09:43
reality for her family because she was just 38, otherwise healthy. And her brother Rocky says she didn't have a
00:09:51
scratch on her. >> I mean, my father was right at Rosy's head. He was just cradling her and my
00:09:58
mom was on one side. I was on the other side. You know, it was chaotic. It was so emotional.
00:10:09
>> As more relatives gathered, Yaz stood quietly apart. His behavior struck everyone as strange. just kind of like
00:10:17
this like this rocking against the wall all upset and uh you know and he just kind of we
00:10:25
made eye contact and he just kind of shook his head. >> YZ said he had no idea how Rosie could
00:10:31
have died. Nobody else did either. But one thing was clear. >> It was obvious to everybody in the room.
00:10:38
I mean clearly she didn't die in the car accident. >> Now Yazid Issa is about to go on trial
00:10:44
for murder. This is going to be contentious. >> Sir, listen to my questions. >> Going to be a ball busting down in the
00:10:53
trenches trial. >> Um, I had a romantic relationship with him. >> He had engaged in sexual relations.
00:10:59
>> Yes. On January 25th, 2010, nearly 5 years after Rosemary Issa's mysterious death,
00:11:18
>> she's right here always. She's right with us. >> Testimony in her husband's murder trial
00:11:24
is about to begin. >> I'll rise for the jury, ladies and gentlemen. >> His lawyers have honed their arguments
00:11:31
in that mock trial. >> And let me begin by saying that >> now they're ready for the real one. Let
00:11:37
me begin by saying that the death of Rosemary Issa is senseless and certainly tragic.
00:11:45
>> Whole life's on the line here. So, naturally, there's a lot of anxiety. >> Right away, defense attorney Steven
00:11:52
Bradley and prosecutor Steve Dever begin a battle to define Yazid Issa for the jury.
00:11:58
>> What we're going to do is present to you a picture of a narcissistic sociopath
00:12:03
who calculated an evil plan to kill his wife. There's no motive whatsoever for him to have committed this crime.
00:12:12
>> The state calls Julie Deuchio >> as the state presents his case. >> This was an unbelievable shock to
00:12:18
>> Rosy's family is forced to relive that horrible day in the hospital. >> I saw my husband Dominic waiting outside
00:12:26
of the emergency room. He told me that she didn't make make it. Julie remembers that Yas remained
00:12:33
distant as the Depuchios gathered later that evening. A gathering that took a chilling turn about 2 hours later when
00:12:41
Dominic got a phone call from Ros's best friend, Eva McGregor. And I told her, "Oie died." And the first words out of
00:12:50
her mouth were, "Oh my god, that son of a [ __ ] He killed her." Eva told him Rosie had called her that
00:12:58
same afternoon from the car on the way to the movies. >> Do you solemnly swear to test?
00:13:03
>> Now 5 years later, she tells the jury the same story. >> She said she wasn't feeling well. She
00:13:09
had told me that she had taken this calcium pill that Yas had given her. >> Yazid had insisted Rosie take calcium
00:13:16
supplements that morning. Eva immediately suspected he tampered with those capsules and testifies she
00:13:23
confronted him at Rosy's funeral. >> And I said, "Couldn't there something been wrong with the calcium pill? I
00:13:31
didn't know what was in the pill, but I wanted to make sure everybody knew that he gave it to."
00:13:36
>> I was really struggling with believing that he had anything to do with it. Every time I saw him, are you all right?
00:13:42
What do you need? I'm fine. Everything's fine. In retrospect, Dominic says Yath seemed fine much too soon. He refused
00:13:50
the family's offers of help with the kids and instead hired a pair of nannies, Margarita Montinez and Michelle
00:13:57
Maline. >> He was sexually active uh with other partners throughout his marriage. So
00:14:03
this >> detective Gary McKe began investigating the strange case for the Highland
00:14:07
Heights Police Department soon after Rosie died and discovered Yazid's nannies were taking care of more than
00:14:15
the children. >> We did not know that they were his girlfriends. >> What was your reaction?
00:14:20
>> It was disgusting. I mean because those women were in the house within days of
00:14:26
her dying. Back in court, one of those women, Nanny Margarita Montinez, tells the jury she met Yazid at one of his
00:14:34
beeper stores and started sleeping with him in 2001 while both of them were married.
00:14:41
>> Yazid asked me out to for drinks at the winking lizard and um we went to Motel 6 after
00:14:49
>> he kissed me and it progressed from there. Yazid's other nanny, Michelle Maline, is still struggling to put the
00:14:57
relationship behind her and asked the judge to prohibit the media from showing her face on the witness stand.
00:15:03
>> Were you falling in love with him? >> Eventually, yes. >> They tell each other they love each
00:15:08
other. There are trips taken together. There are flowers sent. >> Michelle testifies she also became
00:15:16
involved with Yazid before Rosie died. They worked together at the hospital, but would meet regularly on Wednesday
00:15:23
nights in an apartment he kept upstairs from his satellite TV office. >> Did the defendant describe to you then
00:15:30
what was wrong with his relationship with Rosie? >> He wasn't in love with her. He would say
00:15:36
she was a good person, but she was cold. He would call her a mana. >> A mana. What does that mean?
00:15:41
>> The refrigerator brand. >> But for us, Issa says Yazid only cared for his wife and children. There were no
00:15:48
problems in the marriage. >> Not that I was aware of. >> He's happy in his marriage, but at the
00:15:53
same time, he continues to have all of these sexual affairs. >> Yep. >> Do you know whether Rosemary
00:16:02
was aware of the fact that your brother was cheating on her? >> No, she wasn't. She wasn't aware.
00:16:11
>> Until now, Faras has done everything he could to protect his brother at any cost. But in court and under oath, he's
00:16:19
about to be caught in a lie. >> Did you ever have a conversation with her brother about paying $35,000 to shut
00:16:25
somebody up? >> No. >> No. >> But prosecutors introduce evidence recorded on prison phone lines that the
00:16:32
Iser brothers did discuss exactly that. >> Cue that up, please. >> Whatever happened to that guy made her
00:16:39
ultimate 25 G's and shut up? s 35gs actually is what she accepted and then >> he clearly perjured himself. He was
00:16:50
looking at very serious jail times >> at this time. Uh I want to advise you of your right against selfinccrimination.
00:16:58
You can step down. >> Thank you. >> For us, Issa is dismissed for the time being so he can consult with an
00:17:04
attorney. >> Through it all, Yazid looks on seemingly unmoved. The same way Detective Gary
00:17:11
McKe remembers him when he questioned Yaz three weeks after Rosie died and first developed his own suspicions about
00:17:18
those calcium capsules he given her. >> Are there calcium pills a pill? >> Mhm. >> I'm thinking there's something more here
00:17:26
than meets the eye. >> Would you mind if I followed you back to your home and collected those?
00:17:31
>> No, that'd be great. Not at all. Okay. Yazid was apparently unconcerned about
00:17:37
handing over the remaining pills to police, but Julie Deuchio believes he was actually in a panic.
00:17:45
>> Look at my horse. >> When the police interviewed him, I think it really flipped him out.
00:17:50
>> The proof, she says, came just days later when Yazid Issa vanished. >> I just knew right then he did it. He did
00:18:01
something to hurt Rosie and he's gone. And when the lab results came back, police discovered Yazid Issa had good
00:18:09
reason to run. The evidence was in those calcium capsules. >> She died of cyanide poisoning.
00:18:24
In the second week of Yazid Isa's murder trial, the state focuses on his bizarre
00:18:29
disappearance and on a startling piece of evidence Dominic and Julie Depuchio discovered in his house almost
00:18:37
immediately afterwards. >> I noticed that there was an envelope on the table from the passport department
00:18:43
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.
00:18:56
We found out that he fled and we tried and tried and tried to find him. >> Like a needle in a haststack, it felt
00:19:03
like sometimes. And it was killing us not knowing. >> After Yaziz disappeared, the Deuchios
00:19:09
took on an even bigger burden. Making a home for Yaz and Ros's children, Armond and Lena. They already had four children
00:19:17
of their own. >> Happy birthday, Dad. >> Daddy. Can I help you? >> How would I? >> It was very difficult in the beginning
00:19:23
bringing in two more children who had just lost both their parents. And that was very difficult to do when you're
00:19:31
falling apart. You don't even know if you can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
00:19:39
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
00:19:44
went and what happened to him. In April 2005, just two months after Ros's death, FBI agent Phil Torsy, a
00:19:59
veteran fugitive hunter, was assigned to figure out where the successful doctor and businessman was.
00:20:05
>> This is the location where Dr. Issa purchased his ticket where the investigation started for us. Torsy
00:20:11
picked up Issa's trail at this travel agency and soon uncovered evidence that Yas had used a kind of underground
00:20:18
railroad for his escape. >> Next stop is here in Detroit at the casino. Meet up with some buddies and do
00:20:25
some gambling. Issa crossed the border from the United States into Canada, possibly here at the tunnel where he
00:20:31
proceeded to Toronto where he boarded his flight overseas. >> Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London
00:20:38
Heathro. Heathro over to Cyprus. That's where we we sort of came to a standstill
00:20:44
at some point. We knew from Cypress he was probably in the Middle East. Using a network of family and business
00:20:57
contacts, Yazid Issa made his way all the way here to Beirut, Lebanon, where at first he went underground, moving
00:21:05
from safe house to safe house all over the city. Lebanon was no random destination. This
00:21:14
country doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States. So while authorities use credit cards and emails
00:21:20
to track Isa Beirut, they wouldn't be able to lay a hand on him if they found him.
00:21:26
>> He knew we were looking for him and I I believe he felt he was safe over there.
00:21:30
>> Did the authorities clue you in to his movements, how he was conducting himself, the lifestyle he led. You knew
00:21:37
nothing. >> As far as we knew, nobody knew where he was. >> I got a phone call. Uh he needs some
00:21:43
help in Lebanon. Please help him. Take care of him. Yazid's protector in Lebanon was this man, Jamal Khalif, a
00:21:51
self-described businessman who had once lived in Michigan where his family knew the Isas.
00:21:56
>> If I was trying to stay one step ahead of the law and I was in Beirut, you could help me.
00:22:01
>> Yes. >> You could provide me with a new passport. >> Yes. >> You could get me a new identity.
00:22:06
>> Yes. >> You could help me stay out of jail. >> Hell yes. >> Hell yes. >> Don't worry about nothing. We'll take
00:22:14
care of you. So Jamal took care of Yazid. He gave him a gun, a slew of fake IDs, and safe
00:22:24
houses to hide in. But Yas didn't remain underground for long. Here he is at a wedding with Jamal while he was in
00:22:33
hiding. >> Was he living large in Beirut? >> Yeah, he was living large. Zunyz was living a bit too large for his
00:22:45
own good. He spent his days drinking in pubs and cafes on Beirut's waterfront and his nights partying in discos all
00:22:53
over town. To support his lavish lifestyle, investigators say he had his brother Faras wire him thousands of
00:23:01
dollars at a time. >> I know he was trying to create a new life for himself. He had to figure out a
00:23:11
way to survive there. >> So it sound like he was on vacation. >> He was on vacation.
00:23:17
>> Is he dating women? Is he seeing women? >> Yeah, he was dating. >> So you thought you had a future with
00:23:22
him? >> Yeah, I thought that. >> Nylasuki met Yazid Isa in an online chat room about 3 months after he arrived in
00:23:31
Beirut. >> What was his email address? >> Fugitivemail.com. >> Fugitivehotmail.com.
00:23:37
>> Yeah. The 38-year-old teacher says she never thought that was suspicious. >> He wanted to see me and I said, "Why
00:23:44
not?" And we started seeing each other more often. >> By the spring of 2006, Yaziz's
00:23:51
relationship with Nyla was getting serious. >> He cut ties with Jamal and moved to her
00:23:57
neighborhood. >> You live here? >> Yeah. >> And what floor was he? >> The first porch. The balcony here.
00:24:05
>> The first one. >> Yeah. They saw each other every day. >> We went to movies. We went uh for dinner
00:24:12
sometimes to the mountains, to the beach. >> They had a lot of time to talk and Yazid
00:24:17
Issa had a lot to say. >> He said they were accusing him of killing his wife to be with another
00:24:24
woman and that he didn't do it. >> Did you ever ask him the question directly, Nyla? Did you kill your wife?
00:24:33
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
00:24:42
leaving the pills or giving them to the police, would he do it? Would he convict
00:24:48
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.
00:24:56
>> But Jamal says Yazid wasn't acting smart at all. >> Well, how was he behaving? stupid.
00:25:03
>> Stupid >> drinking, bragging, being the big shot with money. I told him to change his ways,
00:25:12
>> have a lower profile. >> Lower profile. >> But in October 2006, Yaz boarded a plane
00:25:24
to Cyprus, a country that does have an extradition treaty with the United States. His recklessness finally caught
00:25:31
up with him. Interpol and the FBI had tipped off Cypress police that Yazid Isa might be
00:25:39
on board traveling under an alias. Sergeant Mario Yuanu of the Lornica police was waiting at the airport when
00:25:47
the plane landed. >> We knew that it was supposed to use a passport with his photo but with a
00:25:55
different name. Maurice Khalif. >> Maurice Khalif. >> Yes. Maurice Khif was Jamal's cousin. Yazid
00:26:02
had been using his identity for months. As passengers filed off the plane, Yuanu
00:26:08
compared them to a grainy photo he'd been given. >> What did he look like in the photo?
00:26:13
>> He was bored. He had no hair. >> You were looking for a bald man. >> Yes. >> Yuanu was beginning to think his
00:26:21
information was bad. When the last passengers came into view, one looked vaguely familiar. Actually, I didn't
00:26:28
recognize him because he had a long hair. >> He had long hair. >> Yes. I asked him, "Uh, sir, what is your
00:26:35
name?" He told me that my name is Maurice Khalif. >> This is the passport that you saw.
00:26:41
>> Yes. >> But when Yuanu called him in for questioning and fingerprinting, the prints were an instant match to Yazid.
00:26:54
Yazid was arrested for using a doctorred passport and held in the Cypress prison
00:26:58
for US authorities. >> He had changed his appearance. He had done a lot of things, but fingerprints
00:27:04
don't lie. >> After 19 months, Phil Torsney finally had his man. For 2 years, Yazid Issa
00:27:13
would fight extradition until Torsy was finally able to put him on that plane to
00:27:18
Cleveland in January 2009. Yet, it didn't take nearly that long for his former protector, Jamal Khalifa, to
00:27:26
turn on him, says prosecutor Matt Meyer. >> Jamal remembered transactions, amounts, dates, places.
00:27:34
>> I give them evidence, papers. >> Jamal knew things that nobody knew. including
00:27:41
something so explosive that prosecutors will bring Khalifa all the way from the Middle East to the Midwest to testify at
00:27:50
Yazid Issa's murder trial. >> You believe Yazid Isa killed Rosemary? >> I know it for a fact.
00:28:09
As Yazid Isa's murder trial enters its second week, the state calls its star witness.
00:28:14
>> You know the defendant, Dr. Issa? >> Yes. >> YZ's one-time protector, Jamal Khalif,
00:28:20
who has traveled all the way from Beirut to lay out the sorted details of Issa's
00:28:26
Underground Railroad escape >> and his 19 months on the run. >> Good morning, sir. If you would come
00:28:36
forward, please, and raise your right hand. >> There's one detail that assists DA Matt
00:28:41
Meyer hopes will turn this case into a slam dunk for the state. >> Jamal knew things that nobody knew.
00:28:48
>> I know that he killed his wife. How do you know? He told me. >> And what did he tell you about his the
00:28:54
death of his wife in cyanide? >> He told me the whole story. He grounded the cyanide, refilled the pills, and uh
00:29:03
he gave her two pills. She had a car accident and she died. >> Defense attorneys Mark Marine and Steven
00:29:09
Bradley know they'll never win this trial without discrediting Jamal Khalifa. And they've got a lot to work
00:29:15
with. >> In a 29 count charging moneyaundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States,
00:29:22
mail fraud. >> Turns out Jamal became a fugitive long before Yazid Isa ever was.
00:29:28
>> Possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of a firearm with an altered
00:29:33
serial number. and laundering of money instruments. Is that true? >> No. No. >> In 1994,
00:29:40
>> why >> Jamal was under investigation for money laundering and a weapons charge in
00:29:44
Michigan, potentially facing a long prison sentence. He fled the US for his native Lebanon. He always wanted a way
00:29:51
back to America, says the defense. And when Yazid Issa walked into his life in 2005, Jamal saw his chance. He
00:30:00
recognized that Yazid Isa was his get out of jail free card. >> Is there something funny?
00:30:09
>> I I noticed that you're laughing. Is there something funny? >> Defense attorneys are convinced Jamal
00:30:14
has cut a deal with the state for his testimony. But getting him to admit it >> is a different matter.
00:30:21
>> Just listen to my question. >> Listen, sir. Listen to my questions. Gentlemen,
00:30:27
>> okay, >> of you, let's calm down. All right, you ask the question, sir. You answer the
00:30:34
question. >> The fact of the matter is you've been negotiating with these people all along.
00:30:42
Isn't that true? >> Well, I'm going to get them pretend. >> I'm asking you. >> No, I'm asking you.
00:30:47
>> I'm asking the question on my phone. >> Sir, I will ask you questions. You will
00:30:53
provide me with responses. We understand each other. >> All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're
00:30:59
going to take >> What does Jamal Khif get in return for sharing his story? >> He doesn't get prosecuted for helping
00:31:05
Yazid. >> Actually, Jamal Khalif gets a lot more than that. 2 days after testifying
00:31:14
against Yazid Issa, a judge ruling on those Michigan charges lets him off with probation. He cut a deal and the proof's
00:31:25
in the pudding because he's back in the country and he's not in a jail facility.
00:31:33
The defense hopes exposing Khif's plea deal will discredit him with the jury, but the defense is about to be handed a
00:31:42
stunning setback that nobody is expecting. >> You remain under oath. Obviously, >> two weeks after he was caught lying on
00:31:50
the stand, >> 35 G's actually is what she accepted. >> Yazid Isa's brother, Faras, suddenly
00:31:58
reappears in court. >> Good afternoon, Mr. Issa. You're here today to testify and to give
00:32:03
complete and truthful testimony. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> So, he really had a stark choice to
00:32:09
make. Deal with his own issues or continue holding the bag for his brother. >> It must have been nerve-wracking for you
00:32:15
to testify. It was I can't describe how much love I have for my brother. It was gut-wrenching.
00:32:23
>> If he lies again, Faras faces up to 16 years in prison on perjury and obstruction of justice.
00:32:30
>> I don't know. >> What he says at this moment could very well seal his brother's fate or seal his
00:32:37
own. So, as you sit here today before this jury before Rosy's family in the back of the courtroom, did the defendant
00:32:44
tell you who put the uh cyanide into the calcium pills? >> Tell me he did. >> When you found out that information,
00:32:54
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
00:33:04
her. He just ruined his whole family. >> Have you told your brother? >> After everything Dominic Deuchio has
00:33:12
been through in the last 5 years, he can't believe his ears. >> He looked like a man on an island and uh
00:33:20
you know, in a weird way, I just I felt sorry for him. >> Did you speak to your brother at all
00:33:25
today? >> In closing arguments, the defense reminds the jury to stick with the basics. There's no motive in this case.
00:33:35
And investigators found no DNA and no usable fingerprints. There is still no proof. They say that Yazid Issa ever
00:33:44
actually possessed cyanide. Nor is there an explanation for why he gave the murder weapon to police.
00:33:50
>> Presumably, an intelligent individual who had spiked calcium capsules would have taken those capsules and flushed
00:33:58
them down the toilet or done something with them. He did nothing. in the state's closings.
00:34:04
>> She was calling to him for help and you didn't help her, did you? >> Prosecutor Anna Farelia says Yazid Issa
00:34:13
did plenty. >> A health care professional takes an oath to preserve life, not destroy it.
00:34:20
>> With all eyes on him, Yazid Issa decides not to testify, leaving the lawyers to
00:34:26
argue about whether he's a victim of circumstance. >> Did you find any evidence that he for a
00:34:32
predator who planned the perfect murder at the expense of those who needed him the most.
00:34:40
>> One day, these children are going to come and try to find out what happened to their mother.
00:34:46
>> He thinks he can fool these 12 people. I'm sure of it. >> His life is in the light.
00:34:54
>> Ladies and gentlemen, I understand that you have reached a verdict in this case.
00:34:57
Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Very good. Mr. Four person, if you would hand me the verdict one.
00:35:17
After 5 weeks of testimony, >> let your verdict be fair and impartial. Thus, >> the jury begins to deliberate Yazid
00:35:24
Isa's fate. One agonizing day turns into two. Then three on the fourth day of deliberations.
00:35:38
>> What do you expect, sir? >> Finally, a verdict. >> Please rise. >> Ladies and gentlemen, I understand that
00:35:46
you have reached a verdict in this case. Is that correct? >> For Ros's family, the tension is
00:35:51
unbearable as Judge Dina Calib delivers the verdict. We the jury in this case being duly impanled and sworn do find
00:36:00
the defendant Yazid Issa guilty of >> guilty of aggravated murder of the revised code
00:36:09
>> for the Deuchios and their loved ones. 5 years of pain and exhaustion give way to
00:36:15
tears. >> She was tough. She did she did good. >> I didn't think I was going to make it,
00:36:20
but I did. >> Rosie's going to rest in peace now. Prosecutors savor an emotional victory.
00:36:27
>> At the end of the day, truth prevailed. >> You know, I visited that home shortly
00:36:33
after Yazid fled, and I remember seeing high chairs. >> Is wrong. >> Mr. Bradley,
00:36:40
>> the defense team is in no mood to linger. >> How about a reaction? >> We're disappointed.
00:36:46
>> 4 days later, after Yaz trades in his expensive suits for prison clothes, >> there is no closure. I mean, we were
00:36:54
changed forever. >> Ros's family addresses the court. >> Maybe there'll be less nights that my
00:37:00
wife cries herself to sleep. >> I stand before you with strong conviction that Yasid Isa receives the
00:37:09
maximum sentence. He had no regrets about killing Rosie or abandoning his children.
00:37:15
After years of struggling to face his worst fears about Yazid Issa, your honor, >> Dominic Depuchia will finally address
00:37:23
his sister's killer directly. >> I challenge him to find the courage today to admit what he did.
00:37:29
>> It was me versus Yaz. He was the leader of his family. I'm the leader of mine.
00:37:34
>> Are you man enough? Are you? It's your last chance to save your soul right here, right now.
00:37:44
Are you a man or not? >> Protecting his chances for a successful appeal, Yazid Issa doesn't say a word
00:37:51
and barely flinches as the judge reads the sentence. >> I cannot imagine the evil that you have
00:37:58
done to these people. At this time, I sentence you to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years.
00:38:11
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
00:38:16
it, that would have gone a long way. >> Any any comments at all? >> You sure? >> Do you think you'll ever understand?
00:38:24
>> No. There's no reason to try and understand. It's all about coping. >> It's not easy to deal with. You know,
00:38:31
>> for Russ, Issa will have to cope with the knowledge that he more than anyone helped send his brother to prison.
00:38:38
>> What is your relationship with your brother today? It's the same as it's always been. We're
00:38:44
just as close as we were the day I was born. And we'll be that way till the day we die.
00:38:51
>> You know, many people would find that surprising. >> Many people aren't my brother.
00:38:55
>> And he wasn't angered. >> Nothing's going to change our relationship. Period.
00:39:00
>> Could this have been a perfect crime? >> Perfect in the sense that he could have
00:39:04
gotten away with it. I think so. Yeah. If she flips her car doing 60 mph on the freeway, nobody has any reason to
00:39:11
believe that it wasn't anything other than a car accident. Dominic Deuchio has become legal
00:39:19
guardian of Yazid Isa's children and he is looking into changing their last names to his own.
00:39:28
Cutting Yazid's ties to the son and daughter he left behind in honor of the woman he took away.
00:39:37
>> I talk to her every day. I ask her for advice. I ask her, "What would you do? Can you
00:39:43
help me? Can you help me figure this out? Because this is a hard one. But I will do whatever it takes for
00:39:50
Rosie.