Ohio Doctor Accused Of Rape, Injecting Pregnant Woman With Heroin
New Albany, OH – Following an intensive six-month investigation, Dr. Ali Salim was arrested in February. He was indicted on charges of kidnapping, drugging, rape, and murder after allegedly injecting a full-term pregnant woman with heroin – killing both Deanna Ballman, 23, and her unborn baby girl Mabel Lilly.
Single Salim, 44, lured the woman to his home through a Craigslist ad. However, Ballman was not the only one to reply as it was revealed the doctor had placed numerous posts on the site. Several other respondents claim they were accosted at Salim’s home – one leaving after the man insisted she pose in her underwear for $400 while he painted the digestive system onto her abdomen.
The successful physician, who lived in a $300,000 home in New Albany and owned several expensive cars, including a Porsche, had a history of drama. In 2010, Salim reported that his home had been burglarized but refused to cooperate with investigators.
In 2011, a woman who answered one of his ads called 911 to report an assault at Salim’s residence. Later that same year in December, an aspiring model responded to an ad, thinking it was a legitimate modeling job, and was appalled to find it wasn’t.
Ballman was last heard from around 3:30 pm on July 31, 2012, after calling her mother, Lori, and telling her she wasn’t feeling well. According to Lori, her daughter sounded disoriented, and after going silent a male with a foreign accent then got onto the phone, asking if there was anything he could do to help. Thereafter the call dropped. Lori filed a missing persons report.
Ballman’s body was found the next day stuffed in the backseat of her car along a country road a few miles from Salim’s house. An autopsy showed that she died as a result of a heroin overdose, and evidence of a sexual assault was present.
The young woman told family she was responding to a housecleaning ad, gathering cleaning supplies before leaving the house that day. Investigators state many of Salim’s ads were written in a suggestively intimate nature, others more blatant. Therefore, it was likely she was aware of the actual context of the visit and was too embarrassed to admit it to loved ones.
Fox News reported that Salim’s lawyer, Sam Shamansky, bluntly called Ballman an “unfortunate victim” who died as a result of prostituting herself to feed a drug habit. “Regrettably, she caused her own demise and Dr. Salim had nothing to do with it.”
Thursday, Salim pled not guilty, and has since been under house arrest on a $1 million bond. His trial is scheduled to begin on September 3. Due to the criminal charges, the Ohio medical board revoked Salim’s license.
[Image via Shutterstock]
