MERCER, Pa. -- The Ohio Turnpike murder of a wealthy physician may not have been the work of a panicked robber.

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette This is the home that was shared by Dr. Gulam Moonda and his wife, Donna, near Sharpsville in Mercer County. Click photo for larger image.

Investigators with the Ohio State Highway Patrol say the shooting death of Dr. Gulam Moonda could have been motivated by a grudge or something equally sinister. So their investigation now stretches back across the state line, to the Western Pennsylvania towns where Moonda lived and practiced urology.

Moonda, 69, of Sharpsville in Mercer County, was killed by a single gunshot to the head eight days ago. The Friday the 13th slaying was carried out after Moonda surrendered his money to a robber on the turnpike.

The idea of a thief turning murderous after he had money in hand is one of the crime's many oddities, said Sgt. Stephanie Norman of the highway patrol.

In addition, Moonda was killed in the presence of his wife, Donna, 46, and his mother-in-law, Dorothy Smouse, 74, both of whom were unharmed.

Dr. Gulam Moonda

"Why just murder one person?" Norman said. "I mean, there were two other witnesses in the vehicle."

Yet another unusual aspect of this highway robbery was that it occurred in daylight. Investigators estimate the bandit fired a bullet into Moonda's right temple about 6:30 p.m.

The killer may have been in a dark-colored van that followed Moonda's gold Jaguar along the turnpike. Moonda's wife, who was driving, stopped on the roadway some 15 minutes south of Cleveland.

Patrol investigators said she intended to relinquish the driving duties there. The nearest exit, in Strongsville, was about three miles away.

Moonda, a native of India, had extensive property holdings in Mercer County. He and his wife lived in an immaculate white house ringed by manicured lawns and mature trees.

They married in December 1990 after meeting through their jobs. Donna Smouse Moonda is a nurse anesthetist. It was his second marriage and her first. Court records show that Moonda divorced his first wife in 1972 in Montgomery County.

The union of Gulam and Donna Moonda had at least one crisis that became public knowledge. Pennsylvania police arrested her in October 2003 for stealing the painkiller fentanyl from the Greenville hospital where she worked.

After the medical staff monitored her unusually large requisitions of fentanyl, Mrs. Moonda admitted she was smuggling the drug home for personal use.

"I have a problem and I need help," police quoted her as saying in an affidavit outlining the case against her.

She entered a rehabilitation clinic in March 2004, and was released to outpatient status two months later. She pleaded no contest in August to obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation.

Mrs. Moonda received probation. Reinstated to her job, she agreed to random drug screenings for three years.

Nobody answered the phone at her home the past two days, nor was she at her house yesterday.

In his will, Gulam Moonda said his intent was to leave his home, one of his cars and 20 percent of his gross estate to his wife.

His remaining assets are to be divided into nine equal shares. Most of the money will go to siblings and charities in India.

His wishes are clearly outlined in the eight-page will. The mystery of who killed him and why remains for police to unravel.

Norman said investigators have no plate number for the dark van linked to Moonda's shooter. Ohio Turnpike tollbooths are not equipped with cameras, but the highway patrol said it is busy reviewing private surveillance videos, fingerprints and ballistic evidence.