11-14-2014, 03:43 PM
2005 Rape and Attempted Murder Charges against Jesse Matthew-- Update
While he awaits the next legal steps in the death of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, Jesse Matthew appeared in court Friday to answer charges on another case -- an alleged abduction, sexual assault and attempted murder from nearly a decade ago.
During a brief appearance at the Fairfax County Courthouse in northern Virginia, Matthew only uttered two words -- "Not guilty" -- to all three charges related to the September 2005 incident.
Judge Dennis Smith set a trial date of March 9. The trial is expected to last six or seven days.
Authorities say that on September 24, 2005, a 26-year-old woman was returning from a grocery store in the city of Fairfax when someone grabbed her from behind and sexually assaulted her.
"We saw her purse on the front sidewalk," said neighbor Stacey Simkins. "He had already dragged her behind our units to the dark pool area." The FBI would say later that "the offender was scared away by a passerby."
The victim in the 2005 case was able to provide enough of a detailed description to yield a police sketch. Years later, that information (HOTD: and DNA) would link Matthew to the case of another missing young woman -- Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student who vanished in Charlottesville in October 2009 and was found dead a few months later. (HOTD: Police have said there is a forensic connection between Morgan Harrington's case and Hannah Graham's case, one that involves Jesse Matthew.)
At Friday's court hearing, lawyers for the 32-year-old Matthew waived the hearing of the charges against him. But according to the indictment in the 2005 case, he "did feloniously, willfully, deliberately, intentionally and with premeditation attempt to kill (the victim) in the commission of or subsequent to an abduction with the intent to defile."
The woman now lives in India and is prepared to fly to the United States to testify in the upcoming trial, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh told reporters Friday.
Full story: http://us.cnn.com/2014/11/14/justice/jes...?hpt=ju_c2
While he awaits the next legal steps in the death of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, Jesse Matthew appeared in court Friday to answer charges on another case -- an alleged abduction, sexual assault and attempted murder from nearly a decade ago.
During a brief appearance at the Fairfax County Courthouse in northern Virginia, Matthew only uttered two words -- "Not guilty" -- to all three charges related to the September 2005 incident.
Judge Dennis Smith set a trial date of March 9. The trial is expected to last six or seven days.
Authorities say that on September 24, 2005, a 26-year-old woman was returning from a grocery store in the city of Fairfax when someone grabbed her from behind and sexually assaulted her.
"We saw her purse on the front sidewalk," said neighbor Stacey Simkins. "He had already dragged her behind our units to the dark pool area." The FBI would say later that "the offender was scared away by a passerby."
The victim in the 2005 case was able to provide enough of a detailed description to yield a police sketch. Years later, that information (HOTD: and DNA) would link Matthew to the case of another missing young woman -- Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student who vanished in Charlottesville in October 2009 and was found dead a few months later. (HOTD: Police have said there is a forensic connection between Morgan Harrington's case and Hannah Graham's case, one that involves Jesse Matthew.)
At Friday's court hearing, lawyers for the 32-year-old Matthew waived the hearing of the charges against him. But according to the indictment in the 2005 case, he "did feloniously, willfully, deliberately, intentionally and with premeditation attempt to kill (the victim) in the commission of or subsequent to an abduction with the intent to defile."
The woman now lives in India and is prepared to fly to the United States to testify in the upcoming trial, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh told reporters Friday.
Full story: http://us.cnn.com/2014/11/14/justice/jes...?hpt=ju_c2