ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996            TAG: 9612120063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: PRINCE GEORGE

MURDER TRIAL OPENS TODAY

The man accused of strangling his pregnant girlfriend and abandoning her 1-year-old daughter in Chesapeake was scheduled to go on trial today in Prince George County Circuit Court.

Malcolm Ruffin, 31, of Prince George County is charged with first degree murder in the August death of Antitca Monique Hurt, 20, of Petersburg.

Ruffin led police to the wooded area where Hurt's body was found. Police have said he confessed to the killing.

Police believe he was the expectant father..

A day before her body was found, her 1-year-old daughter was found crawling along a Chesapeake road.

Ruffin waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Oct. 22 before the case went directly to the grand jury.

- Associated Press

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