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Darby now faces rape charges

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police have filed new and unrelated rape charges against a former Butler County man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, a University of Pittsburgh student who was found dead earlier this month in her off-campus home.

Police charged 21-year-old Matthew Darby on Thursday with raping a teenage girl at a home, just days before the Oct. 8 death of Alina Sheykhet.

Darby is charged with criminal homicide over Sheykhet’s death and was arrested last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after a passer-by called police to report a man tampering with a window at a private residence.

Police allege Darby, who formerly lived in Cranberry Township and graduated from Seneca Valley High School in 2014, broke into Sheykhet’s home and beat her to death.

Pittsburgh police said they found a claw hammer and two knives in a sewer drain near her apartment that may have been used to kill her. An autopsy listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma. A physical therapy student at Pitt, Sheykhet last month had filed a protection from abuse order against Darby after a Sept. 20 incident where her allegedly broke into her apartment.

Darby has pleaded not guilty to charges he raped another ex-girlfriend earlier this year in Indiana County, which is about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

He’s awaiting extradition to Pittsburgh.

A message seeking comment from Darby’s attorney wasn’t immediately returned Thursday.

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