PITTSBURGH (AP) — The ex-boyfriend suspected of using a claw hammer and two knives to kill a University of Pittsburgh student in her off-campus apartment has been arrested in South Carolina. Pittsburgh and Myrtle Beach police confirmed the arrest of
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The ex-boyfriend suspected of using a claw hammer and two knives to kill a University of Pittsburgh student in her off-campus apartment has been arrested in South Carolina.
Pittsburgh and Myrtle Beach police confirmed the arrest of 21-year-old Matthew Darby, of Greensburg, early Wednesday.
Darby was charged Tuesday evening with criminal homicide, burglary and other crimes against Alina Sheykhet, 20, who was found slain about 9 a.m. Sunday.
Pittsburgh police used a video scope to search a sewer drain near Sheykhet’s apartment and said Tuesday they’d found the hammer and knives they suspect Darby used to kill her. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner has said Sheykhet died of “blunt force and sharp trauma” to the head, without elaborating.
A criminal complaint filed Tuesday spells out why police searched the sewer drain and charged Darby.
Darby was at Duquesne University, also in Pittsburgh, about 3:20 a.m. Sunday trying to meet a friend before he hired an Uber to drive him to Sheykhet’s street near the Pitt campus a couple miles away. The driver told police he picked up Darby about 4:20 a.m. and saw him walk toward Sheykhet’s residence after asking the driver to wait for him 10 minutes. Darby returned and asked the driver to wait 10 more minutes then called back in a hushed voice asking the driver to wait longer, but the driver refused and drove off, according to the complaint.
Police indicate surveillance video showed someone matching Darby’s description dropping a shiny object into a sewer drain and something else into a trash container, the complaint said.
Darby was arrested by Myrtle Beach police when a concerned citizen saw someone “tampering with a window at a residence” about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, police spokesman Capt. Joey Crosby said. When Myrtle Beach police confirmed Darby’s identity, they learned of the Pittsburgh charges and jailed him without bond at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway, South Carolina.
Defense attorney David Shrager had read a statement from Darby’s parents on Pittsburgh TV news stations, urging the suspect to surrender on Tuesday.
“Obviously, it would have been my preference had he contacted me and done this in a more professional fashion,” Shrager told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “That being said, I am happy this ended peacefully and we can move forward as appropriate in court.”
Shrager said he couldn’t address the charges specifically.
“At this time I have just that, allegations. I need to do an extensive and thorough review of all the evidence in order to create a long-term and short-term litigation strategy,” Shrager said, adding he’s working to bring Darby back to Pennsylvania.
Shrager also represents Darby in the alleged rape of another ex-girlfriend in February. That woman told authorities in Indiana County — about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh — that Darby called her 33 times one night after they broke up and she relented and let him come over to apologize. The woman contends Darby pulled her hair and raped her when she told him she was seeing someone else. Darby has claimed the sex was consensual.
Pittsburgh police said cellphone records show Darby called Sheykhet twice minutes before he called for the Uber and three more times about 4:55 a.m., and that she didn’t answer the calls. Sheykhet’s cellphone was missing from her room when her family found her body on Sunday, police said.
