Doctor from Pakistan pleads not guilty to murder of pregnant woman who answered online job ad

ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O’Brien discusses the investigation into Dr. Ali Salim, charged in the 2012 killing of a pregnant woman and her unborn child, on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, at the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Delaware, Ohio. Andrew Welsh-Huggins/AP

DELAWARE, Ohio — A doctor from Pakistan charged with raping and killing a pregnant woman who responded to an online ad has pleaded not guilty and is expected to meet the $1 million bond set for him Thursday afternoon.

Dr. Ali Salim will be on house arrest once he’s released from jail, must surrender his passport and must wear a GPS monitoring device until his trial in early May.

Salim, 44, is accused of killing Deanna Ballman and her unborn child last summer after she responded to an online job ad he placed. An indictment says Salim raped Ballman and also injected her with heroin.

County Judge Duncan Whitney rejected prosecutors’ arguments for a $5 million bond on the grounds that Salim, a Pakistani native, had reason to leave the country once the full amount of evidence was presented.

Salim has three bank accounts containing “tens of thousands of dollars,” said assistant prosecutor Kyle Rohrer.

Salim’s attorney said he has represented Salim since last summer and throughout the investigation, including a meeting with investigators where Salim provided hair samples.

“If he was going to flee, it would have happened,” Sam Shamansky argued.

Prosecutors say other women had responded to ads placed by Salim, including one woman who said Salim wanted to paint internal organs on her body.

16:57ET 21-02-13

Tags: doctor, murder, Pakistan, pregnant, rape