AKRON, Ohio -- Donna Moonda, the woman behind one of the region's most notorious murders, squirmed and cried yesterday as her mother and three sisters asked a jury to spare her life.

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All four said they would be shattered if Mrs. Moonda receives a death sentence for arranging the murder of her husband.

"It would just break my heart. I don't know what I would do," said Dorothy Smouse, 77, Mrs. Moonda's mother.

Mrs. Smouse has seen lethal violence at close range. She witnessed the shooting of Dr. Gulam Moonda, her daughter's late husband. Donna Moonda, of Hermitage, Pa., masterminded the attack and had it carried out on the Ohio Turnpike, right before her mother's eyes.

During her 20 minutes on the witness stand, Mrs. Smouse never mentioned the murder. Instead, she talked about the virtues of her 48-year-old daughter, who sat slumped between the three lawyers trying to save her life.

Mrs. Smouse remembered her daughter as kind and hard-working, a go-getter who sold magazines to pay her college tuition. She said it was Donna Moonda who cared for her when she was stricken with cancer, and when she needed surgery on her diseased eyes.

Mrs. Smouse also said there were parts of her daughter's life that she knew nothing about. She said she did not know that Mrs. Moonda lost her nursing license for stealing narcotics or that she was having an affair with 26-year-old Damian Bradford.

Mr. Bradford shot and killed Dr. Moonda at Donna Moonda's behest.

David L. Grant, one of Mrs. Moonda's lawyers, used his opening statement yesterday to portray Mr. Bradford as the person responsible for Dr. Moonda's murder.

"Mrs. Moonda was not the primary offender," he said.

He also asked the jurors for mercy because, he said, Mrs. Moonda has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since the murder. But because she masterminded the killing, the suffering it caused her may not win her points with the jury.

Mr. Grant also said Mrs. Moonda has "dependent personality disorder," a condition that left her vulnerable to street-smart Mr. Bradford.

For a month, prosecutors have assailed Mrs. Moonda as a chronic liar who killed her husband in a failed attempt to collect $3 million in inheritance. To challenge that image, the defense summoned 10 of Mrs. Moonda's relatives and friends to humanize her.

Shirley White, Mrs. Moonda's younger sister, said Donna Moonda was a generous woman who never complained about anything. Mrs. White also took a few potshots at Dr. Moonda, describing him as a man so controlling that he decided where Donna Moonda could sit when they went out to dinner.

Prosecutors elected not to cross-examine most family members, but they went after Mrs. White.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Barr asked Mrs. White, 45, who paid her tuition when she enrolled in nursing school. Mrs. White said Dr. Moonda did. She also had to admit that Dr. Moonda gave her a job in his medical office after she graduated.

Other witnesses for Mrs. Moonda included three women who were cheerleaders with her some 30 years ago at Hickory High School. They remembered Mrs. Moonda as "positive" and "bubbly," and said she never had a mean word for anybody.

One of the former cheerleaders, Deborah Englebaugh, described Mrs. Moonda as decent and practical. She said Dr. Moonda tried to give Donna a DeLorean automobile early in the relationship, but she told Ms. Englebaugh she could not accept such an extravagant gift.

Nearly all the defense witnesses said Mrs. Moonda's upbeat approach to life diminished in 1998, after the death of her father, Ross Smouse.

Jeanean Russell, 53, another of Mrs. Moonda's sisters, said she slipped into a deep depression. Now, Mrs. Russell said she is worried about jurors voting to execute Mrs. Moonda.

"It would devastate me. I don't even want to think about it," Mrs. Russell said.

After she walked off the witness stand, Mrs. Russell turned to Mrs. Moonda and whispered, "I love you." U.S. marshals had ordered relatives not to speak to Mrs. Moonda in the courtroom, but they ignored this interaction.

As for the prosecutors, they called only two witnesses yesterday and rested their death-penalty case after only an hour.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Kelley stressed in her opening statement that jurors should focus on the murder of a good man, and the overwhelming evidence that led them to convict Mrs. Moonda.

Dr. Faroq Moonda, nephew of the victim, testified the Hermitage-Sharon area lost a remarkable person because of Mrs. Moonda.

He said Gulam Moonda was still working at age 69 because he cared so much about his patients. The area had no other urologist, so he stayed on the job when he could have been living a comfortable retirement, Faroq Moonda said.

"I wanted to be just like him. He was a good human being," he said.

He also emphasized that he considered Donna Moonda more responsible for the murder than Mr. Bradford, the triggerman. Prosecutors gave Mr. Bradford a 17¹/₂-year prison sentence in return for testimony that helped convict Mrs. Moonda.

"I was OK with that," Faroq Moonda said.

Since the murder, he said, he has become different from his uncle in one respect. Gulam Moonda, he said, trusted everyone and found the best in people. Faroq Moonda said Donna Moonda murdering his uncle has made him less trusting.

Testimony in the penalty phase of the trial should conclude today. Jurors probably will start deliberations tomorrow.

The defense attorney asked the jurors for mercy because, he said, Mrs. Moonda has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since the murder.