He remains jailed on a $3 million bond. Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion said the case would be appealed on multiple grounds.
During the three-day trial, county prosecutors built their case on an audio recording of Ahmad discussing the details of the planned crime with a former patient, Josh Ryan, whom he asked to hire a hit man.
Instead, Ryan contacted police and agreed to wear a wire during an Oct. 26, 2009, meeting with Ahmad in a Centerville parking lot.
The jury heard the recording in which Ahmad left $2,000 with Ryan and directed him to have the hit man follow his ex-wife, Kristin Hornsby, after she dropped their son off at school.
During the conversation, Ahmad did ask if there were alternatives to killing her and at least once said he did not want Hornsby to die.
Prosecutors argued that those were the words of a man rationalizing his actions.
Instead, Ahmad directed where the hit should take place and agreed to provide photos of Hornsby and directions to the school.
After that meeting, county sheriff’s detectives told Ryan to call Ahmad back and say he needed the photos and directions right away.
Ahmad was arrested on his way back to the parking lot. He had four photos of Hornsby and handwritten directions to the school in his possession.
“The jury apparently put a lot of stock in the recording,” Rion said.
Ahmad’s offices in Huber Heights and Trotwood have been closed since his arrest.
His ex-wife, who now lives in Batavia, told the jury of the continued conflict between she and Ahmad over their now 11-year-old son since their divorce in 2005.
For many years, they made parental exchanges at area police stations and sheriff’s offices. The two married in 1996.
“I’m delighted,” Assistant Montgomery County Prosecutor Robert Deschler said of the verdict.
Rion argued that the state had not proven the case and that investigators had engaged in entrapment.
He said Ahmad, a Pakistani, might not have understood what Ryan said when Ryan mentioned he had a friend who was willing to “murf” Hornsby.
After Ahmad realized what Ryan meant, Rion said, he tried to back out.
Deschler said if Ahmad didn’t want the hit man to kill Hornsby, he should not have gone to the second meeting to deliver the photos.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2290 or dpage@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author