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St. Mary’s Law Student Arrested on Murder and Arson Warrants

Summary: Matthew Edward Alexander has been arrested on charges of arson and murder. He is a student at St. Mary’s University Law School and is awaiting extradition to Louisiana.

Matthew Edward Alexander, a student at St. Mary’s University Law School, has been arrested on warrants from Monroe, Louisiana, according to The San Antonio Express-News.

He was taken into custody by officers on Tuesday night for warrants on two counts of murder and two counts of arson. Alexander was preparing to begin his second year of law school when he was arrested at the Center for Legal and Social Justice. He had just exited a class, according to university spokesman Andrew Festa.

“The arrest was made in private, outside of any classroom,” Festa said.

Neither the Monroe Police Department nor the Ouachita Parish Prosecutors Office issued comments about the arrest. There are very few details about the crime too.

The supervisory criminal investigator for the U.S. Marshals Service in Austin, Hector Gomez, said that the warrants were issued on Monday and they come from a single incident.

Alexander appeared in front of a magistrate in San Antonio on Wednesday. He is being held  without bail in Bexar County on murder charges, a charge of simple arson and a charge of aggravated arson.

Alexander was living in Chaminade Hall, the residence for graduate students on the campus of St. Mary’s. He will be extradited to Louisiana, according to Festa. He status as a student is being evaluated by the university.

“Everybody here is very concerned about everybody affected by the accusation, and we’re concerned about the safety and security of the campus,” Festa said.

Jim Vassallo: Jim is a freelance writer based out of the suburbs of Philadelphia in New Jersey. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and minor in Journalism from Rowan University in 2008. While in school he was the Assistant Sports Director at WGLS for two years and the Sports Director for one year. He also covered the football, baseball, softball and both basketball teams for the school newspaper 'The Whit.' Jim lives in New Jersey with his wife Nicole, son Tony and dog Phoebe.

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