Dr. Yazeed Essa

Essa was an immigrant's sonhis father was a grocery store owner of Palestinian descentwho had earned his riches the good old-fashioned American way, through sheer hard work, perseverance and a bit of cunning.

While he was a med student studying anesthesiology (he later switched to become an ER doctor), he and his brother Firas had opened a paging company in 1996. They were even featured in a story in Cleveland's daily newspaper, The Plain Dealer.

Yazeed cut a dashing figure: tall and broad shouldered, with bright green-blue eyes, an olive complexion and a head full of thick brown hair. He was widely seen as a catch by the nurses and doctors at the hospital where he worked as a resident.

But if people peered closer, they would have seen something much different than what he presented to the outside world.

That pager company? Two years after he was quoted in The Plain Dealer that they made $2 million a year, he and his brother, were indicted, along with 9 others for tampering with billing records and theft. Though Essa's record was expungedit is not clear if he was found guilty or notthat was just the beginning of his problems.

He was also an alcoholic. He'd had his medical license revoked in 2004 when he'd skipped out on a mandated drug test and his required quarterly interview. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Essa's license was reinstated a month later on a "probationary basis."

And, it was revealed during the trial, he was a philanderer. He had a seemingly endless string of women, whom he would often take to his other apartment, one that he used for a satellite dish company he owned with his brother. And, according to The Plain Dealer, his brother Firas testified that his brother once slept with six women in a 24-hour period.

He had even, allegedly, given his wife herpes, Eva McGregor testified later at the trial.

After his wife's murder, he brazenly hired two of his mistresses to be his kids' daytime and nighttime nannies. He told one of them, Michelle Madeline (nee Stephens), that they would be able to come out as a couple after time had passed, perhaps in the fall.

But his scheme never got that far.