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Man arrrested in death of pregnant woman in Salem

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 17, 2009 12:32 PM

By Gabrielle Dunn and Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondents

SALEM -- A 46-year-old Marblehead man has surrendered in Connecticut, acknowledging he is a suspect in the death of his pregnant girlfriend this morning in Salem, police said.

Peter Ronchi approached a police officer in Norwalk, Ct. at 4:15 p.m. and identified himself as the person wanted in the death of a woman in Salem, a city North of Boston, said Captain Paul Tucker of the Salem Police Department.

Ronchi was held as a fugitive from justice and scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in Stamford, Ct. Police in Salem had deemed Ronchi a person of interest when he turned himself in, Tucker said.

At a press conference today at the Salem Police Department, Tucker did not specify a motive or method in the murder, which occurred about 7:30 a.m. in the Salem Heights apartment building, a 10-story complex at 12 Pope St.

Officials identified the victim as Yuliya Galperina, a 42-year-old mother of two who was about nine months pregnant when she was killed. It was not clear if Ronchi would be charged in the death of the fetus. Tucker said it also is unclear if Ronchi is the father of any of Galperina's children.

Police said the woman's children were "in the area" when she was killed, but did not offer specific information about their whereabouts.

Alison Goodwin, spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, said the department took custody of the woman's 3-year-daughter and 8-year-old son yesterday.

Eleanor Norris, who has lived in the building 22 years, said she did not know Galperina by name, but she believed she was Russian.

"I've seen her around with her children," Norris said. "She's very well dressed. She's a very well put-together woman."