AKRON, Ohio -- Federal prosecutors yesterday called a series of witnesses to portray murder suspect Donna Moonda as a chronic liar who told wildly conflicting stories from one day to the next.

		A guide to the Moonda case Previous Post-Gazette articles, photos and graphics, plus federal court documents, are available on our Moonda index page. Listen in Staff writer Milan Simonich reports from Akron, Ohio, that federal prosecutors in the trial today questioned Donna Moonda's credibility.

Just after the murder of her husband, Dr. Gulam Moonda, she said her married life had been one of bliss.

"She said she had the perfect marriage. She said she was so much in love," Faroq Moonda, 32, testified.

Faroq was Gulam Moonda's nephew, but Gulam and Donna Moonda regarded him as their son. Faroq emigrated from India when he was 14 and lived with Donna and Gulam Moonda in Mercer County, Pa., until he went off to the University of Pittsburgh.

Less than a week after Donna Moonda had assured Faroq that her marriage was rock solid, she gave a different story to a homicide investigator. Donna Moonda admitted that she was carrying on an affair with a young man named Damian Bradford.

Mrs. Moonda also insisted to police that Mr. Bradford had nothing to do with the shooting death of her husband along the Ohio Turnpike.

"She said Damian Bradford could not have pulled the trigger," said Trooper Vicki Casey of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Trooper Casey's testimony yesterday was the first time police publicly disclosed that Donna Moonda tried to have Mr. Bradford eliminated as a suspect in the murder.

Mr. Bradford did indeed kill Dr. Moonda, firing a bullet into his face as Donna Moonda watched. Mr. Bradford admitted to the killing last summer, three days before he was to stand trial.

Mr. Bradford now says it was a premeditated killing that was supposed to look like a highway robbery, and that Donna Moonda hired him to carry it out.

Mr. Bradford says the motive was greed. With Dr. Moonda dead, his wife would inherit millions of dollars, and Mr. Bradford expected to receive a share.

Lawyers for Mrs. Moonda, 48, say she is the victim of a frame-up perpetrated by 25-year-old Mr. Bradford. The defense contends that Mr. Bradford killed Dr. Moonda on his own. Then, to lessen his prison sentence, the defense says, Mr. Bradford made up a story implicating Donna Moonda.

Roger Synenberg, Mrs. Moonda's lead attorney, attacked Mr. Bradford at every opportunity yesterday, even though Mr. Bradford was not in the courtroom and is days away from being called as a witness.

Mr. Synenberg invoked Mr. Bradford's name repeatedly when cross-examining Lt. Judy Neel of the highway patrol. He asked her if she had interrogated customers who bought drugs from Mr. Bradford, a small-time dealer in Beaver County, Pa. Mr. Synenberg also pressed for details about whether police knew Mr. Bradford had carried a gun.

U.S. District Judge David Dowd admonished Mr. Synenberg for his tactics.

"Mr. Bradford is not on trial here. Your client is," the judge said.

Mr. Synenberg tried to paint Mrs. Moonda as a tormented housewife when questioning Faroq Moonda. At one point, he asked if she even was allowed to answer the phone in her own home.

After some wrangling between the lawyers, Mr. Synenberg reworded his question, asking: "Who picked up the phone?"

Faroq said, "Whoever was closest to it," dismissing the notion that Dr. Moonda had somehow mistreated Donna Moonda.

Faroq and his wife, Afreen Moonda, testified that they eventually learned of Donna's Moonda's adultery with Mr. Bradford from newspaper accounts about the murder.

Faroq said he confronted Donna Moonda about the reports.

"She said she was seeing a guy," Faroq testified.

Then he pressed her about whether Dr. Moonda knew she had been unfaithful to him. Faroq quoted her as saying, "We had an understanding."

Prosecutors used the testimony of Afreen Moonda to fight back at defense claims that Donna Moonda was a simple housewife who was not interested in material possessions.

Afreen testified that she sometimes went shopping with Donna Moonda. She remembered a trip to an upscale mall in New Jersey, when she said Donna Moonda went straight for the expensive designer brands.

Mr. Synenberg huddled with the other two defense lawyers for several moments, then decided not to cross-examine Afreen Moonda.

Testimony resumes this morning. Prosecutors are expected to offer cell phone records that they say will prove Donna Moonda and Damian Bradford met the day of the murder, then stayed in touch via text messages until the shooting.