Where is Yazeed Essa today? Details explored ahead of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered

Yazeed Essa, who murdered his wife Rosemarie Essa on February 24, 2005 is currently serving his life sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.

This entire case will be covered in the latest episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered titled 'Bitter Pill', which will air on 17 January 2023 at 8:00 PM ON OXYGEN 79.

At the now-defunct Mount Sinai Hospital, where Rosemarie worked as a nurse and Yazeed as an emergency room physician and businessman, they first met in 1995. Yazeed left Alexandra Herrera for Rosemarie after having a relationship with her at the time.

The wedding took place on September 11, 1999. They have two kids, a girl named Lena and a son named Armand.

Let's take a closer look at this case and how Yazeed poisoned his wife.

Trigger warning: This article contains details of murder. Viewer discretion is advised.

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How did Yazeed Essa murder his wife and where is he now?

Around 2:00 p.m. on February 24, 2005, Rosemarie Essa and her sister left for a movie theatre. She contacted her close friend Eva McGregor when she began to feel bad while driving and explained that the cause may be the calcium pills her husband had earlier given her.

Rosemarie then hung up and called her husband but he didn't respond. She was only driving at a speed of 10 mph when she collapsed behind the wheel and her SUV collided with another van. When bystanders arrived to help her, she was nearly unconscious and began vomiting in the car before losing consciousness.

She was then rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead at 3:02 PM. No injuries were found on her body and this confused authorities. It was later when Dominic DiPuccio, Rosemarie's husband, revealed to Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, that Rosie’s closest friend, Eva McGregor, suspected Yazeed had something to do with the case.

He said,

"She proceeded to tell me that Rosie was talking to her on her way to the movie and she said Yaz had given her a calcium pill before she left the house and she started to feel queasy."

She continued,

"She just kept insisting, ‘Promise me you’ll get a full autopsy, promise me you’ll get a toxicology report. Promise me, promise me, promise me."

Rosemarie's relatives were already suspecting her husband as they recalled that her husband was standing apart, emotionless. He later sent an email informing others of his wife's death read simply,

"Just wanted to let you know that Rosie died yesterday in a minor car accident. She will be missed."

Eva McGregor informed the Highland Heights Police Department about her suspicions and Yazeed was brought in for questioning. Yazeed informed the police that he had insisted Rosie consumed the calcium pills after overhearing his mother talking about osteoporosis.

Yazeed gave the police the pill bottle after they visited Yazeed's house. When the container was examined, it was found that the calcium pills had cyanide added to them. He had left the nation for Lebanon by the time the police found him, though.

He became overconfident and began bragging to people about her crime. After spending 17 months in Lebanon, he flew to Cyprus under a false identity but was caught by the officials waiting there. He was extradited back to Cleveland to face trial for aggravated murder in January 2009.

On March 8, 2010, Yazeed was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole for 20 years. He is currently being held at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.