Moonda's drug rehab records sought

Prosecutors are unsure if the records are relevant.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Federal prosecutors are asking for the drug treatment records of Donna Moonda, charged in her husband's murder.
Papers filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Akron state that the government is seeking drug records from Moonda's 2004 treatment at Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Aliquippa, Pa.
The request comes after Moonda's defense team asked the court to get the drug treatment records of Moonda's boyfriend, Damian Bradford.
Prosecutors noted in their motion that Moonda's attorneys established good cause to support their request for Bradford's drug treatment records and those same reasons apply for the release of Moonda's treatment records.
Prosecutors, however, did state that it's unclear if the records will be relevant or admissible at trial until they are reviewed.
Background
Moonda, 47, met Bradford, 25, at the drug rehabilitation facility in 2004, and the pair started an intimate relationship, authorities said. Prosecutors contend she then persuaded Bradford to kill her millionaire-urologist husband.
Dr. Gulam Moonda, 69, was shot and killed on the side of the Ohio Turnpike on May 13, 2005.
Bradford is expected to be the principal witness in Moonda's upcoming federal trial. He pleaded guilty last year to shooting the doctor and is expected to be sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison if he testifies against Donna Moonda.
Bradford told authorities he shot the doctor at Moonda's request and was promised half of the widow's expected million-dollar inheritance.
Donna Moonda has denied those allegations. She is expected to go on trial in June and is being held in the Medina County Jail. She could be sentenced to death if found guilty.
cioffi@vindy.com