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CLEVELAND -- The trial of accused murderer Yazeed Essa took a sudden twist on day four when Essa's brother pleaded the fifth.

Firas Essa seemed shocked when prosecutors played a tape that allegedly captured the brothers plotting to pay a witness hush money.

Prosecutors said the telephone conversation occurred in January of 2009, shortly after Yazeed Essa was extradited to the Cuyahoga County Justice Center from Cyprus.

Men's voices could be heard discussing a payment of $35,000 to a women to keep her quiet.

Firas Essa told the jury he and his brother were simply joking around in the tape recordings.

"I was doing it, I guess, just to throw you guys for a loop," Firas Essa explained.

Early Thursday, Firas Essa consulted with his own attorney and then made the decision to assert his fifth amendment privilege.

The prosecution also called Dr. Sudesh Kedar, a longtime friend of Yazeed Essa, to the witness stand Thursday.

Yazeed Essa was said to have corresponded with Kedar while on the run in the Middle East.

In the first piece of emotion in this trial, Kedar told the jury how much victim Rosemarie Essa meant to him, and said, "Rosie was a good friend of mine and of my family and I think it's tragic what happened to her."

The trial resumes Monday with expected testimony from Rosemarie's family.

**On January 26, as part of our coverage on the Yazeed Essa Trial, we reported the following: 'Faras Essa also testified that in late 2006, he, his sister, and attorney Larry Zukerman traveled to Cyprus and gave Yazeed Essa approximately $40,000 cash. Essa was currently in prison in Cyprus and his attorney allegedly handled the money.'

We want to clarify the above report to say that 'his attorney' refers to Essa's attorney in Cyprus and not Larry Zukerman.**