Suspect in Pitt student's slaying accused of rape
PITTSBURGH — A former Cranberry Township man awaiting trial on charges of having killed a University of Pittsburgh student in her apartment last year appeared in court Friday on charges that he raped a teenage girl in Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County.
Twenty-one-year-old Matthew Darby is accused of having used a claw hammer and two knives in October to kill 20-year-old Alina Sheykhet, his ex-girlfriend. He fled and was captured in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
A Seneca Valley graduate, he most recently lived in Greensburg.
The Allegheny County Police Department last year also charged Darby with rape, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual assault and other charges after he allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl in Elizabeth Township on Oct. 3, five days before Sheykhet was killed.
Defense attorney David Shrager questioned the girl’s account at Friday’s preliminary hearing, asking why she agreed to go with him to two places and then for a brief walk in the woods. The charges in the rape case were held for court and an arraignment was scheduled for April.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
