Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Deena Calabrese handed down the life in prison with parole possible after 20 years for Yazeed Essa.

Essa never apologized to his wife Rosemarie's family for what he did. Instead he sat in silence.

Before sentencing Rosemarie's mother, Gee Gee Dipuccio spoke to the court. "Seven weeks looking at the devil in his eyes and a blank expression...may your life in prison be as miserable as you are." Gee Gee's speech ended with her saying their family has something Essa doesn't, "heart, love, compassion and strength and a higher power that will get us all through this."

Judge Calabrese said the Dipuccio's are the classiest, most remarkably family she's ever met in her career. She also told Essa she thought for days what to say to him but "you have so little respect for women I doubt anything I could possibly say to you would make any difference to you at all...anything I say would be a waste of my breath." She added, "I regret that you have the benefit of committing this crime under the old law, so the only sentence I can give to you is the one by law, that is it; I have no other choice." She concluded by saying, "my only hope is that they forget you and that Dominic does become their father."

Essa was convicted last week of lacing his wife's calcium supplement with cyanide in 2005. Rosemarie Essa collapsed while driving and crashed her car into another vehicle near the couple's suburban Cleveland home.

Prosecutors claimed the former emergency room doctor at an Akron hospital killed his wife so he could be with a mistress.

Essa didn't testify at his trial or speak at sentencing. He wants a judge to declare him innocent so he can get a court-appointed attorney for appeal.

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