Ring was traded for drugs; Diamonds scored fiance's cocaine.

Byline: Scott J. Croteau

WORCESTER - A few days after Katherine MacDougall's homicide, detectives tracked down the ring given to her by the boyfriend accused of strangling her to death.

The ring was found at a known drug house in the city, authorities said.

The ring, which investigators said was valued at a few thousand dollars and had several diamonds, was allegedly used by Taylor Hurst to buy drugs sometime after the death of Ms. MacDougall, the woman with whom he lived on Elm Street and was reportedly engaged to, according to Detective Capt. Edward J. McGinn Jr.

"We developed information that he was out using crack (cocaine after her death)," Capt. McGinn said yesterday.

Mr. Hurst is accused of strangling Ms. MacDougall, 23, March 2 in their 90 Elm St. apartment. He pleaded not guilty to murder at his March 5 arraignment in Central District Court.

Police said Mr. Hurst, 24, spent some time in the apartment with his girlfriend's body face down in the bathtub. Capt. McGinn said yesterday investigators learned Mr. Hurst went to a drug house in the city and bought crack with the engagement ring. Family members told police Ms. MacDougall and Mr. Hurst recently got engaged. Ms. MacDougall was threemonths pregnant at the time of her death.

The ring is being used as evidence in the murder case against Mr. Hurst. Capt. McGinn credited Edward N. Karcasinas Jr., a prosecutor for the Worcester District Attorney's Office, Detective Sgt. John W. Towns and Detective Michael A. Tarckini for recovering the ring. The captain would not identify where the drug house was located.

In a posting on a Dave Matthews Band fan Web site called www.antsmarching.org, Ms. MacDougall described a ring given to her by Mr. Hurst during a dinner out. The site allows fans of the band to converse about a range of subjects.

"We both ordered martinis and we start to chat. He pulled out a little wrapped box from his pocket and hands it to me, I love you, Merry x-mas," Ms. MacDougall wrote on Oct. 26. "I opened the box and it is the most beautiful ring. A big pink sapphaire (sic) surrounded by 10 diamonds, so sparkly."

She said Mr. Hurst didn't ask her to marry her at the time. "No he didnt (sic) ask me to marry him (thank god!!)," she wrote. The story said the two shared a romantic kiss only to have Ms. MacDougall's hair catch fire from the candle on the table.

"Everytime (sic) I show someone my ring, I have to bring up that story," she said under the name NewEnglandCutie. "Everytime (sic) I go to dinner with him, we always make sure that if theres (sic) a candle, we blow it out."

The young woman who grew up in Randolph and Dedham and attended Salem State College for a couple of years allegedly fought with Mr. Hurst sometime before her death, police said.

Records on file in Central District Court said Mr. Hurst admitted to manually strangling Ms. MacDougall sometime in the evening on March 2. Ms. MacDougall's mother, concerned about her daughter, went to the home March 4, but no one answered the door.

The mother told police she saw Mr. Hurst drive away in her daughter's car. Police were then called to the home and around 10 that night they found Ms. MacDougall's body and an "apology-type" letter inside, court records said.

Police were looking for the Pontiac Grand Prix Sunday and found it near Washington Square with Mr. Hurst inside drinking a beer, records said. Police arrested Mr. Hurst for having the open container of alcohol. They later interviewed him about Ms. MacDougall's death.

"Hurst gave a detailed statement, indicating that he killed the victim by manual strangulation on Friday," according to the police reports.

More postings on the Dave Matthews Band fan Web site show that on Jan. 18 Ms. MacDougall and Mr. Hurst had found out they were having a baby. She said Mr. Hurst, who was born in Louisiana, was thinking about rejoining the military. In previous posts, Ms. MacDougall said Mr. Hurst was in the Navy before they met in Massachusetts.

"He thinks he can join the military and they will take care of me, him and the baby," she wrote. "He thinks this is the best option, instead of working 2 $10/hr jobs. I told him its (sic) not that easy, and I would prefer to struggle to make ends meet together, than be alone raising a baby, while he's off in the military."

Mr. Hurst allegedly said if the two were married the military would pay for housing and living expenses. She asked for advice from others on the Web site.

Ms. MacDougall, who worked for Staples at their corporate office in Framingham, also was looking for a Web site where she could use pictures of Mr. Hurst and herself to see what the baby might look like.

After her death, friends posted messages on Ms. MacDougall's myspace.com Web site, referring to her as Katie, and said their goodbyes to the avid Red Sox fan who one friend said had a "contagious smile."

One friend noted that Ms. MacDougall mentioned being excited about getting married and having a baby.

Ms. MacDougall and Mr. Hurst had a long-distance relationship during some of their time together. She said Mr. Hurst was in Louisiana at some point during their relationship. She posted on the band fan Web site that they could move to Louisiana, where Mr. Hurst's parents live and own a cattle company.

"He can raise cows and I can raise a baby," she said in a Jan. 18 posting.

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Taylor Hurst and Katherine MacDougall as seen on myspace.com. (2) Taylor Hurst, left, appears at his arraignment last week in Worcester.

PHOTOG: (2) T&G File Photo/MARK C. IDE

NOTE: 2007 INCIDENT