Ohio doctor accused of murder-for-hire scheme

10/23/2009

KETTERING, Ohio — Authorities have accused an Ohio family physician involved in a child custody dispute of paying a man to kill his ex-wife.

A charge of conspiracy to commit murder was filed Friday against Dr. Shafik Ahmad in Kettering Municipal Court in suburban Dayton. The 48-year-old physician was ordered held on $3 million bond and to surrender his passport.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer says undercover detectives watched Ahmad give the man the second and final payment on Wednesday to carry out the slaying. Plummer says Ahmad was immediately arrested, and the slaying never occurred. The sheriff says the man being paid was an informant who tipped off authorities.

Ahmad's attorney, John Rion, says the allegations against Ahmad are inconsistent with the doctor he has come to know.