Alleged murderer returns to U.S. thanks to Obama

Guess things are already changing. Yazeed Essa, an Ohio doctor who stands accused of murdering his wife four years ago and fleeing to Cyprus, has decided to return to the United States to stand trial. And it’s all thanks to Barack Obama. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: Essa left the country because he feared his ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Guess things are already changing. Yazeed Essa, an Ohio doctor who stands accused of murdering his wife four years ago and fleeing to Cyprus, has decided to return to the United States to stand trial. And it's all thanks to Barack Obama. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Guess things are already changing. Yazeed Essa, an Ohio doctor who stands accused of murdering his wife four years ago and fleeing to Cyprus, has decided to return to the United States to stand trial. And it’s all thanks to Barack Obama. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Essa left the country because he feared his Arab-American heritage would preclude him from getting a fair trial, his lawyer said. Essa chose to return to fight the charges after Barack Obama was elected president because he sensed a shift in the political climate, Bradley said. If a man named Obama could be elected president, Essa reasoned, perhaps he could be judged fairly.

I certainly hope that’s true. Though if I were Dr. Essa, I’d be a bit more worried that police found cyanide in the "calcium" pills that he had been insisting his wife take.

(Hat tip: TD)

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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