Shooter: It was her idea

Mrs. Moonda will appear Friday in federal court for a detention hearing.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
YOUNGSTOWN -- The lovers' plan was to kill the millionaire doctor and split his estate, authorities said.
It was supposed to look like an armed robbery gone bad, they said.
On Monday, the plot, which could have been taken from a made-for-TV movie, came to light as one of the suspects turned on the other and agreed to testify in court.
Damian Bradford, 25, of Aliquippa, Pa., admitted in United States District Court that he followed Dr. Gulam Moonda, 69, and his family from Pennsylvania and shot the Hermitage, Pa., urologist in the head.
He also told prosecutors that Dr. Moonda's wife, Donna, initiated the plot after the two started an affair during a stint at a drug rehabilitation center in Pennsylvania.
They worked together, Bradford said, meeting clandestinely, to plan and execute the killing on the side of the Ohio Turnpike, near Cleveland, on May 13, 2005. Mrs. Moonda and her mother, Dorothy Smouse, were in the car that Mrs. Moonda had pulled into an emergency stopping lane under the guise of allowing her husband to drive.
Bradford pulled behind the Moonda car. Then, with handgun drawn, he approached the doctor and demanded his wallet. He then ordered the doctor back into the car and shot him in the head, police said.
Court scene
Nine people, who appeared to be friends and relatives of Dr. Moonda's, sat stoically in federal court as the widow was put in handcuffs and arrested.
Mrs. Moonda's mother and sister sat in the back of the courtroom.
None would comment to the press after the short proceeding Monday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate George Limbert.
Mrs. Moonda surrendered at 1:28 p.m. at Thomas D. Lambros federal court building on Market Street after Bradford pleaded guilty to charges of interstate stalking and using a weapon in a crime of violence earlier in United States District Court in Akron.
Bradford gave authorities their first full accounting of Dr. Moonda's death Friday after agreeing to a plea arrangement, whereby he will receive 210 months in prison if he fully cooperates and testifies in any upcoming proceedings.
Bradford was to go to trial Monday and was facing life in prison if convicted.
He clearly and respectfully answered questions of U.S. District Judge David Dowd as they went over the 10-page plea agreement.
Other details
Bradford will be sentenced only after he testifies against Mrs. Moonda. In exchange, authorities in Cuyahoga County -- where the crime occurred -- have agreed not to prosecute Bradford.
"It's a good deal for everyone involved," said Michael DeRiso, one of Bradford's attorneys. "I think they [prosecutors] value and believe what Damian Bradford has to say."
DeRiso said Mrs. Moonda's insistence last week that she would assert her right not to incriminate herself if called to testify at Bradford's trial played a role in his plea as did new evidence prosecutors revealed to the defense.
"As we were getting near to trial, they started sharing evidence. They did give us evidence last week that was very strong," said Bradford's other attorney, Patrick Thomassey.
Bradford admitted in court that he approached Dr. Moonda on the Ohio Turnpike, demanded his wallet and then shot him in the side of the head.
Just a few hours later, Mrs. Moonda emerged from a sport utility vehicle on Market Street in Youngstown to surrender to authorities. A warrant had been issued for her arrest.
She came to court with her attorneys Niki Z. Schwartz and Roger Synenberg to a crush of reporters. Mrs. Moonda did not speak during the appearance.
Limbert ordered her to appear at 10 a.m. Friday in Akron before Judge Dowd for her detention hearing.
Charges
Bill Edwards of the U.S. attorney's office said she is charged with aiding and abetting interstate stalking and aiding and abetting in the use of a weapon in a crime of violence resulting in death. She could face the death penalty if convicted of those charges, he said.
Edwards could not say where she was being detained.
In an affidavit filed to support the charge, prosecutors say Mrs. Moonda plotted to kill her husband of 16 years to get her million-dollar inheritance. Her prenuptial agreement limited her total settlement to $250,000 if they divorced, court papers said.
Police said she met Bradford in a drug rehabilitation program where she went after being convicted in Pennsylvania for illegally obtaining Fentanyl, a prescription painkiller, from the hospital where she worked as a nurse. Bradford was a small-time cocaine dealer, police said.
The pair started an affair in 2004, and sometime later, she asked Bradford to kill her husband, he told authorities Friday.
She expected to get $2 million to $3 million from the estate and $676,000 from two life insurance policies on her husband, police said. She offered to split half of that inheritance with Bradford if he killed her husband, court papers stated.
Police said that before the shooting, Mrs. Moonda rented an apartment for Bradford and purchased vehicles, clothing and jewelry for him.
What Bradford said
On the day of the shooting -- May 13, 2005 -- the lovers met in Lawrence County to share their plan and for Mrs. Moonda to give Bradford the route she intended to take through Ohio with her husband, police said. The family was heading to Toledo to help Dr. Moonda's nephew find a new house.
Bradford said Mrs. Moonda told him to make it look like an armed robbery. She had also told him that she would provide police with a description inconsistent with his appearance, Bradford said.
Ohio State Highway Patrol, the lead investigative agency, became suspicious of Bradford and Mrs. Moonda shortly after the killing, and when they searched Bradford's Beaver County apartment, they found some of Mrs. Moonda's belongings, plus syringes, steroids and 19 $50 bills that Bradford said was drug money. Mrs. Moonda had told police her husband was carrying about $3,000 in $50 bills on the evening of his murder.
Bradford told police he took the $3,000 after shooting Dr. Moonda and then threw the wallet and credit cards out the window. Police said those items were found months later about 15 miles away near the eastbound lanes of the turnpike.
cioffi@vindy.com