Police: Doctor's wife sought hit man for 6 months

The gun used in the slaying has been found.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
AKRON -- The plan to kill Dr. Gulam Moonda was put into motion long before his death May 13, 2005.
The admitted gunman told police that the doctor's wife started hunting for someone to kill the millionaire urologist the previous December, promising half of her expected inheritance to the killer.
But it wasn't until early May 2005 that Donna Moonda informed her lover that they would kill her husband on the Ohio Turnpike in a previously planned trip, said Sgt. Dennis Goodhart of the Ohio State Highway Patrol at Friday's detention hearing before U.S. District Judge David Dowd.
Dowd sent the case against Moonda, 47, to a federal grand jury in Cleveland, which has 30 days to determine if new charges will be brought. She is now facing charges of aiding and abetting her former lover, Damian Bradford, in her husband's death.
Bradford, 25, cut a deal July 21 with prosecutors to plead guilty to interstate stalking and using a weapon in a crime of violence in exchange for 17 1/2 years in prison and testifying against Moonda. Bradford was to go on trial this past week and had faced life in prison.
Attorneys have until Tuesday to submit briefs to determine if Moonda can be released from jail while awaiting trial.
A recluse
Her attorney, Roger Synenberg, asked that she be released into her mother's custody with electronic monitoring. He argued that Moonda has become "a recluse" since her husband's death, leaving her home only to visit relatives and the graves of her husband and father.
He said she has been cooperative, turning herself in Monday, and not fleeing, even after learning Bradford had cut a deal. Synenberg noted her attorneys even notified police when she entered a mental institution for depression in July 2005 under an assumed name.
Prosecutors argued she is a danger and a flight risk. They say Moonda has personal assets of up to $175,000 in an Individual Retirement Account and about $200,000 worth of jewelry she has been trying to get Dr. Moonda's estate to buy from her.
"The defendant, up until this weekend, believed she would get way with the crime. Mr. Bradford was being prosecuted," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Barr. Barr added that Moonda had no opportunity to flee because she was under surveillance by the press after news of Bradford's agreement broke last Friday.
But Synenberg contends that Moonda has limited resources because her money is committed to her legal defense and she has strong ties to Hermitage, Pa., where she has lived her entire life.
Still in custody
It's unclear when Judge Dowd will decide if she can be released from custody.
Moonda appeared Friday in a dark blue jail uniform with "Medina County Jail" stamped on the back.
Sgt. Goodhart, the lead investigator of the case, said Moonda's story the night of her husband's death didn't add up.
She has contended her husband was a target of a robber who must have seen him pull out a wad of cash at a rest stop on the westbound lanes of the Ohio Turnpike.
However, video surveillance at the rest stop shows Mrs. Moonda with her husband's wallet.
There were also conflicting accounts given by Moonda and her mother, Dorothy Smouse, over why they pulled to the side of the road. Moonda contends her husband wanted to drive, but Smouse said her daughter pulled over complaining of a stomach ache and wanting the doctor to drive.
Goodhart said investigators did a routine check on Mrs. Moonda's finances and learned she had taken out a car loan and rented an apartment in Monaca, Pa., both in her maiden name.
He said they also got tips -- one from an anonymous caller and another from a suspect Pittsburgh's homicide division had in custody -- that Mrs. Moonda was having a sexual relationship with a man named Damian she met in drug rehabilitation. Goodhart said the tipsters also said Damian had a girlfriend named Charlene whom he had assaulted in Aliquippa, Pa.
According to Goodhart, police were able to match the names with Aliquippa police and found Bradford, who listed his address as the apartment Mrs. Moonda had rented in Monaca, Pa. Bradford's girlfriend, Charlene McFrazier, has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in this case. She had provided him with an alibi on the day of the killing.
The case
Bradford and Mrs. Moonda, a registered nurse, met in a drug rehabilitation program that she entered in 2004 after she was caught stealing drugs from her employer. Her nursing license has since been revoked.
Goodhart said they searched Bradford's apartment May 20 and took him in for questioning, during which he admitted the affair and turned over two cellular phones Donna Moonda had bought for him.
Police were able to recover numerous text messages between the two, including some Mrs. Moonda sent the day of the slaying, indicating she was leaving for the trip.
Police initially detained Bradford because they found steroids in his apartment. Bradford now contends Mrs. Moonda stole the steroids from her husband's office and gave them to him, Goodhart said.
Goodhart, under cross-examination, also revealed that Bradford led them to the murder weapon this past Wednesday.
Bradford was not concerned that the bullet would go through Dr. Moonda and hit Mrs. Moonda because he was using a hollow-point bullet, Goodhart said.
"She requested he give her a flesh wound also, but he said no, he wouldn't do that," according to Goodhart.
When Bradford got out of jail in December 2005 on the steroid charges, he spent two or three days with Mrs. Moonda in her palatial home in Hermitage between Christmas and New Year's, Goodhart said. He told police she gave him $2,000 when he left, Goodhart said.
Moonda had promised Bradford half of her inheritance for killing the doctor but told him that the executors of her husband's estate were giving her a hard time, Goodhart said.
Goodhart noted that they found about $900 on Bradford when they initially arrested him and learned that he had spent $1,500 in cash on new wheels and tires for his vehicle the day after the murder.
Dr. Moonda had about $3,000 in his wallet when he was shot. His wallet and other items were found along the eastbound lanes of the turnpike.
Mrs. Moonda did not speak during the hearing, only whispering to her attorney before he questioned the witness.
Her family, including her mother, sat in the front row behind her.
Sitting across the aisle were Dr. Moonda's friends, who were also at Mrs. Moonda's initial appearance.
After the hearing, Synenberg said his client is looking forward to trial.
"Mrs. Moonda had nothing to do with this crime. We're contending Damian Bradford is a convicted felon. His credibility is highly at issue. He will be proven to be a liar," Synenberg said.
cioffi@vindy.com