Watch CBS News

Deanna Ballman Murder: Ali Salim, Ohio doctor, charged in 2012 murder of pregnant woman

Deanna Ballman, 23, was nine-months pregnant when she was found dead Aug. 1, 2012 in a vehicle parked near a road northeast of Columbus, Ohio. CBS Denver

(CBS/AP) DELAWARE, Ohio - A central Ohio doctor was charged Wednesday with rape and two counts of murder in the death of a pregnant woman, whose body was found last summer in her car after she had headed to a house-cleaning job listed in an online ad.

Ali Salim of New Albany was indicted by a Delaware County grand jury on nine felony counts in the deaths of 23-year-old Deanna Ballman of Pataskala and her unborn child.

Ballman, who lived in Pataskala and was nine-months pregnant, was reported missing the day before her body was found Aug. 1 in a vehicle parked near a road northeast of Columbus. A coroner determined she died of acute heroin intoxication.

Relatives said she had gone to a New Albany house-cleaning job listed in an online classified ad. Her mother said Ballman called saying she wasn't feeling well, and then the call was dropped.

Salim, 44, was indicted on two counts each of murder and tampering with evidence, as well as single counts of rape, assault, kidnapping, corrupting another with drugs and abuse of a corpse.

Salim was arrested at home and taken to jail Wednesday to await his arraignment Thursday afternoon, the sheriff and prosecutor said. Court records listed no attorney for him.

Licensure information from the state indicates Salim was born in Pakistan and trained there at King Edward Medical College, graduating in 1993. He told the State Medical Board of Ohio that his specialties were internal medicine, emergency medicine and psychiatry.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.