University of Texas Professor Found Dead

[AP]

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A music graduate student at the
University of Texas was charged Friday in the slaying of an
acclaimed piano professor, authorities said.
Police said Jackson Fan Chun Ngai was holding a sharp-edged
weapon and standing near the body of Danielle J. Martin when police
arrived at Martin's home after receiving a 911 call Thursday night.
When he refused to put the weapon down, an officer fired a
Taser gun at him and he was taken into custody, police said.
The 22-year-old student was charged Friday with murder and
held on $1 million bond, police spokeswoman Laura Albrecht said.
University spokesman Don Hale said Martin, 56, had multiple
sclerosis and used a scooter to get around. Ngai, an applied music
graduate student, had assisted Martin in getting to and from campus,
Hale said.
"A teacher is a gift to life; thus we are all diminished in
this moment of tragedy," university president Larry Faulkner said.
Martin, a native of New York, joined the UT faculty in 1972
and headed the keyboard division in the School of Music. She was
critically acclaimed for her artistry and versatility as a solo
recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist, the university
said in a news release.
She performed and taught throughout the United States, in
Canada, Mexico, Korea and Jamaica and was heard in radio broadcasts
throughout Europe, the university said.

[AP]

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A University of Texas graduate student
was charged with murder Friday after police said he used a meat
cleaver to kill an acclaimed piano professor.
Jackson Fan Chun Ngai was holding the cleaver and standing

near the body of Danielle J. Martin when police arrived at Martin's

home after receiving a 911 call Thursday night, assistant police
chief Robert Dahlstrom said.

When he refused to put the weapon down, an officer fired a

Taser gun at him and he was taken into custody, Dahlstrom said.