Jurors in Essa case hold press conference after verdict is announced

CLEVELAND - It was a dramatic end to a made for TV murder trial.

When the jurors took their places for their press conference, applause rang out in the courtroom from the family of victim, Rosemarie Essa...applause for the jury.

The jury had deliberated for four days before reaching their verdict on Friday morning.  Their four days of deliberation followed a trial that spanned six weeks.

"What took so long? 204 pieces of evidence, giving him the benefit of the doubt, fair and impartial.." said one juror.

The family listened intently as the jurors said there was no one piece of evidence that made them convict Yazeed Essa of poisoning his wife  Rosemarie with cyanide-laced calcium pills.

They did find Essa's brother, Firas, to be genuine when he said Yazeed admitted the murder to him.  The final straw for jurors, however, was when the Gates Mills doctor fled the country and left his children. 

His demeanor in court did not help him win the jury over either.

"They put up the picture of Rosie and the two kids.  When your kids ain't there, you're gonna miss them.  You're gonna cry.  No expression at all.  He hadn't seen these kids in five years.   No expression, no tears, nothing...", said another juror.

"There was no dispute he gave her the pills. It couldn't be disputed," said a juror.

Rosemarie's brother, Dominic Dipuccio, expressed a heart felt thank you to the jurors for taking six weeks out their lives to bring what he felt was justice to his sister.