Damien Bradford could be released

The man described as a "person of interest" in the slaying of a millionaire Mercer County physician could get out of jail next month.

Damian Ray Bradford, 24, of Center, Beaver County, has been in jail since his arrest in May on unrelated charges of possessing a small amount of steroids found by investigators who searched his home for evidence after the fatal shooting of Dr. Gulam Moonda, 69, of Hermitage.

Bradford was sentenced last month to 6 to 12 months in jail after pleading no contest to the charges of possessing three vials of anabolic steroids. At the time of his arrest, Bradford was on probation for a conviction of carrying a firearm without a license. Those charges were filed after a police chase in Aliquippa in 2001.

The Beaver County Adult Probation and Parole Department said the steroid charges violated the terms of Bradford's probation.

Beaver County Judge John D. McBride yesterday agreed, and sentenced Bradford to serve 6 to 23 1/2 months in jail for the probation violation, but gave him credit for time already served. Bradford's attorneys could petition for his release Nov. 21.

Moonda was shot to death on May 13 along the Ohio Turnpike near Cleveland as he, his wife, Donna, 46, and her mother were traveling to Toledo. They pulled off the road to change drivers, and the women said a roadside robber shot Moonda in the face.

No one has been accused in the killing, but the Ohio State Highway Patrol labeled Bradford "a person of interest" in the case.

Confidential informants told police that Bradford and Donna Moonda were involved in a relationship after meeting at a drug rehabilitation facility.