Police are hunting the boyfriend of a murdered University of Pittsburgh student who was found dead in her off-campus home.
Alina Sheykhet, 20, sought an abuse order against Matthew Darby, 21, on September 20.
The Russian student was found dead inside her home on Sunday morning by her father who broke down the door when she failed to answer calls. She had been beaten to death.
Police in Pittsburgh are now hunting Darby, who was arrested for rape and sexual assault in March in a different county. Due to the nature of the crimes, it is not known if the victim in that case was Sheykhet.
On September 26, Darby was arrested for criminal trespassing for allegedly breaking into her home.
Police are looking for Matthew Darby, 21, (seen left in a previous mugshot) as part of their investigation into the murder of Alina Sheykhet, 20, his ex-girlfriend who was found dead inside her student home on Sunday
In her statement to police, she told how he’d climbed the gutters to break in to the house because he was mad she had broken up with him.
‘Defendent (sic) climbed up the gutter on the side of the house and broke through the second floor window of my home.
‘He did this because I left him and stopped answering his phone calls,’ she wrote.
Sheykhet said he ‘grabbed and pushed’ her, described him as ‘jealous and controlling’ and said he was guilty of emotional abuse.
It is not known how long the pair had been dating before Sheykhet called off their relationship.
Sheykhet’s father Yan broke into her home on Sunday and found her dead inside her room. Her roommates had thought she was asleep.
He told The Tribune Review that there was ‘lots of blood’ around her body when he discovered her.
On September 20, Alina filed a police report against Darby who she said had scaled the gutter outside her home to break into her bedroom after she dumped him. He was arrested six days later. Photo courtesy of WTAE
The student was found dead inside her room on the second floor of her student house (above) on October 8
Alina, who was training to become a physical therapist, was found beaten to death. Police have not revealed exactly what was used to kill her but she suffered a blunt force trauma to the head
‘We were supposed to pick her up at 8:30 a.m. to go on a dog walk for breast cancer in Allison Park.
‘She wasn’t answering my call. Nobody was answering the door. I pushed open the door and she was laying on the floor.
‘I was screaming, asking her to breathe. But she didn’t. There was lots of blood,’ he said.
The woman was studying to become a physical therapist.
She won a place at the university after graduating from a high school in Pittsburgh after relocating to the US with her family from Ivanovo, Russia.
Darby was also a student at the university until last month when he dropped out. He played basketball for the university’s team.
Police believe he may be armed and dangerous and urge anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts to call 412-323-7800.