10/24/14 Authorities Confirm Remains As Hannah Graham Last Seen In The Early Morning Hours 9/13/14~ Jessie Matthew Jr On Trial For Hannah's Murder~ DNA Linked To The Death Of Morgan Harrington

Police believe they have found the body of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo announced at a press conference Saturday that human remains were found in an abandoned property in Albemarle County, Virginia around noon on Saturday. The body has not been formerly identified as Graham pending forthcoming forensic tests.

"Countless hours, thousands of hours have been spent by law enforcement and volunteers in an effort to find Hannah," said Longo. "We think they have proved their worth."

Longo said the "difficult" phone call had been made to Graham's parents, John and Susan Graham "to share with them this preliminary discovery."

The announcement was made by the joint police forces investigating the student's disappearance which has made national headlines for the last 35 days.

Albermarle Police Chief Steve Sellers said from the podium, "This, sadly, is now a death investigation."

"Today's discovery is a significant development," said Sellers. "And we have a great deal of work ahead of us. We cannot and will not jump to any conclusions in regards to today's discovery."

Graham was last seen the evening of September 12. The second-year University of Virginia straight-A student, 18, vanished in the early hours of Sept. 13 after leaving an off-campus party.

She was last seen on video and by witnesses with Jesse Leroy Matthew, 32. Matthew was arrested in Texas as a suspect in Graham's disappearance. He is being held in a Virginia jail, charged with abduction with intent to defile.

Police asked for any information from witnesses from the Albermarle County area where the body was found and asked if a person fitting Matthew's description was seen in the area.

The remains will be taken to the chief medical examiner's office in Richmond, VA for an autopsy. Police took no questions during the brief press conference.

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February 3, 2015

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Defense lawyers are seeking to delay a trial scheduled in March for the man who is also charged with abducting University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.
A hearing on the request for a continuance in the trial at Fairfax County Circuit Court on charges of attempted murder and sexual assault has been scheduled for Friday.
Public defenders representing Jesse Matthew of Charlottesville had hinted previously that they would need more time to prepare.
Matthew is accused in Fairfax of grabbing a woman as she walked home from a grocery store in September 2005 and sexually assaulting her.
He is charged separately with abducting Graham, who went missing in September and was later found dead.
The Fairfax trial is currently scheduled for March 9.

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October 24, 2014


CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The body found on an abandoned property outside of this college town has been confirmed as the remains of University of Virginia sophomore Hannah Graham, a grim result that came nearly six weeks after the 18-year-old from Fairfax County went missing.

Graham was last seen in the early morning hours of Sept. 13, after she was wandering the Downtown Mall here, about a mile and half from her apartment near U-Va.’s idyllic campus. Police on Sept. 24 arrested Jesse L. Matthew Jr., 32, on charges related to Graham’s disappearance after witnesses identified him as the last person with her.

A graduate of West Potomac High School, Graham was known by friends for her vibrant smile, jovial personality and spontaneous sense of humor. She spent the last night before she went missing socializing with friends from U-Va.’s ski club.


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November 19, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia -- A University of Virginia student whose disappearance sparked a monthlong search died from "homicidal violence" but the exact cause is unknown, authorities said Tuesday.

The Albemarle County Police Department outlined the findings from the Virginia medical examiner's office in the death of 18-year-old Hannah Graham but said a final autopsy report has not been issued.

The man Graham was last seen with, 32-year-old Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr.

has been charged with abduction with intent to defile Graham. In an emailed statement, county police and prosecutors said they would not be answering any further questions or providing additional information so they can "protect the integrity of the case."

Graham's remains were found Oct. 18 near Charlottesville, roughly 6 miles from where the body of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington was found after she vanished in 2009.

Graham met friends at a restaurant for dinner on Sept. 12 before stopping by two off-campus parties. She left the second party alone and eventually texted a friend saying she was lost, authorities said.

In surveillance video, she can be seen walking unsteadily and even running at times, past a pub and a service station and then onto a seven-block strip of bars, restaurants and shops.

Police have said forensic evidence connects Matthew to Harrington's killing, which in turn is linked by DNA to a 2005 sexual assault in northern Virginia. Matthew has pleaded not guilty in the 2005 case.
Following the positive identification of the remains last month, Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney Denise Lunsford said in a statement that the focus of the investigation now is to determine "what charges will be brought and the appropriate time to make those charges." In Tuesday's joint statement, county police and prosecutors said they "remain committed to the investigation."

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December 1, 2014



The Charlottesville preliminary hearing for the man accused of abducting Hannah Graham has been moved to March.
The request to continue Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr.’s Dec. 4 hearing in Charlottesville General District Court on a charge of abduction with intent to defile comes shortly after a request to move a Dec. 1 hearing on reckless driving charges in Albemarle County General District Court. The county hearing is now set for March 23 and the city hearing for March 26.
In a letter to the court, city Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman said the request was from both himself and Matthew’s attorney, Jim Camblos, and was a result of the proceedings in Fairfax.
In Fairfax, Matthew’s two-week trial is set to begin March 9.
The Fairfax charges stem from a Sept. 24, 2005, incident in which a man grabbed a woman as she walked home from a store. The man dragged her to a grassy area, attacked her and then fled when a passerby approached, authorities have said.
In October, authorities matched DNA from under the fingernails of the woman to Matthew. The forensic analysis concluded that chance that the DNA belongs to someone other than Matthew is “1 in greater than 7.2 billion,” the latter figure equivalent to the entire world population.
Fairfax authorities have charged Matthew, 32, with attempted capital murder, abduction with intent to defile and sexual assault. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing in November.
Graham, an 18-year-old University of Virginia student, went missing on Sept. 13 and was last seen on the Downtown Mall with Matthew. Her remains were found on Oct. 18 on an abandoned property off Old Lynchburg Road in Albemarle County.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled it a homicide.
The Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office hasn’t announced charges in Graham’s death.
Authorities have said forensics also link Matthew, of Albemarle, to Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, who disappeared on Oct. 17, 2009 and whose remains were discovered in early 2010. Harrington was found half a dozen miles from where Graham’s remains were discovered.
Two months after Harrington was found, authorities said DNA on Harrington’s T-shirt matched that found under the fingernails of the Fairfax victim, according to a search warrant.
The “wooden tip” from a cigarette butt found in Matthew’s wallet provided the DNA match to the DNA on Harrington’s shirt, according to the warrant.
No charges have been filed relating to Harrington’s disappearance or death.
Matthew is being held in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

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February 10, 2015

Jesse Matthew Jr., a former hospital worker, was indicted Monday on a count of first-degree murder in the abduction and killing of Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia student, who was missing for weeks before her body was discovered, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Albemarle County prosecutor Denise Lunsford said that the state will not seek the death penalty, and that Graham's family has been informed about the state's decision.

Lunsford declined to say why Matthew was not charged with the higher count of capital murder. The abduction and first-degree murder charges are punishable by up to life in prison. Matthew, 33, was already charged with abduction with intent to defile the 18-year-old.

Police have said forensic evidence also links Matthew to the 2009 disappearance and death of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, whose body also was found in the county. Lunsford said "there are no pending charges" against Matthew in the Harrington case.

"The simple fact is the case involving Hannah Graham was ready to be charged first," she said.

Graham vanished after a night out with friends Sept. 12. According to police, she left an off-campus party alone and texted a friend saying she was lost.

In surveillance video, she can be seen walking unsteadily and even running at times, past a pub and a service station and then onto a seven-block strip of bars, restaurants and shops. Another video captured her leaving a restaurant with Matthew, who had an arm around her.

Graham's disappearance prompted a month-long search involving thousands of volunteers as well as police. It ended when searchers found her remains Oct. 18 in rural Albemarle County, roughly six miles from the hayfield where Harrington's body was found in January 2010.

Harrington disappeared while attending a Metallica concert at U.Va in October 2009. Her T-shirt was later found on a nearby tree limb.

After police named Matthew a person of interest in Graham's disappearance, he fled and was later apprehended on a beach in Texas. He was charged with abduction with intent to defile, a felony that empowered police to swab his cheek for a DNA sample. That sample connected Matthew to a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax County, according to authorities. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.

The DNA evidence in the Fairfax sexual assault, in turn, linked Matthew to the Harrington case.

Matthew previously had been accused of raping students at Liberty University and Christopher Newport University in 2002 an 2003. Matthew had played football at both schools. The cases were dropped after the women declined to press charges.

Matthew's first court appearance on the newest charges in the Harrington case is scheduled for Feb. 18, Lunsford said. He will appear by video link from Fairfax County, where he is in jail awaiting trial in the 2005 rape case.


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This is just a guess on my part... I think forensics will tie him to other missing and murdered women besides Morgan Harrington. Prosecutors may have to plea bargain down the death penalty in efforts to recover bodies. This guy was accused of rapes back in 2002/2003 and is currently in jail pending a trial for a 2005 rape case.
He has habitually been committing crimes against women for over a decade. It would not surprise me in the least to hear that he's a serial killer.

*Oct. 17, 2002 – Alleged sexual assault at Liberty University

*Sept. 7, 2003 – Reported CNU assault

*Sept. 24, 2005 – Northern Virginia rape (forensic evidence linked to Morgan Harrington case)

*Oct. 17, 2009 – Morgan Harrington disappearance

*Sept. 13, 2014 – Hannah Graham disappearance


Law enforcement investigating cases for possible connection to Matthew:

*July 24, 2003 — Autumn Day in Newport News

*Sept. 7, 2003 – Sophia Rivera in Newport News

*August 26, 2009 – Heidi Childs and David Metzler, in Blacksburg

*Oct. 10, 2009 – Cassandra Morton, not far from Lynchburg

*Sept. 13, 2010 – Samantha Clarke, in Orange County


Cases unsolved in the area near Charlottesville

*Jan. 24, 2010 – Joan Cook, Roanoke County

*Nov. 21, 2011 — Lauren Smith, Madison County

*Nov. 20, 2012 — Dashad Sage Smith, Charlottesville

*August 3, 2013 – Alexis Murphy, Shipman (Randy Taylor jailed for this, body never recovered


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Wow!!!!

May 5, 2015

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The man accused of abducting and killing University of Virginia sophomore Hannah Graham last fall now faces a charge of capital murder in the case, meaning that if he is convicted he could receive the death penalty.

Jesse L. Matthew Jr., 33, had been charged with first-degree murder in Graham’s slaying, and the charges were upgraded at a court hearing in this college town on Tuesday. Homicides in Virginia can be charged as capital murders when there are allegations of aggravating factors, including abduction or sexual assault.

Graham, 18, of Fairfax County, Va., went missing in September from an outdoor mall near the U-Va. campus, and Matthew was the last person seen with her. Her body was found in a wooded area about 10 miles from campus weeks later, and Matthew was charged with her killing.


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