Murder of Hannah Graham

Hannah Elizabeth Graham (February 25, 1996 – c. September 13, 2014) was an 18-year-old second-year British American student at the University of Virginia who went missing on September 13, 2014. She was last seen early in the morning that day, at the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia. Five weeks later, her remains were discovered on an abandoned property in nearby Albemarle County.

Graham's friends last heard from her via text message at about 1:20 am that day, after she told them she was on her way to a party, but was lost. She had attended another party before disappearing. According to surveillance footage and witness testimony, among the last places she was seen was at Tempo Restaurant with a 32-year-old man, person of interest, Jesse Leeroy Matthew Jr. A witness also said that the person of interest was seen in the restaurant holding an arm around Graham, and that she looked drunk. Because Graham was below the US legal drinking age, Tempo Restaurant could face legal action if these sightings are confirmed.

The last witness to see Hannah Graham alive says that Graham was with a man who "did not look friendly." As Graham was standing by a vehicle identified to be Matthew's orange 1998 Chrysler Sebring, the witness heard her say, "I’m not getting in that car with you!"

Over a decade earlier, Matthew was twice accused of sexual assault at two separate Virginia colleges he attended as a student; he left each school immediately after each allegation. The reported assaults occurred within an 11-month period of each other: from 2002 to 2003 as Jesse Leeroy “LJ” Matthew, Jr. moved from the evangelical Christian Liberty University in Lynchburg to the Christopher Newport University in Newport News. Police investigated each report, but in neither incident was a criminal case brought against him.

Volunteer search

On September 20, a volunteer search for Graham took place throughout Charlottesville. Over 1,000 volunteers were reported to have been involved in the search.

Search efforts

On September 25, Charlottesville police chief Timothy Longo said he believed that Graham was either in Charlottesville or one of the surrounding nine counties, and asked property owners to search for her on their own land. The Department of Emergency Management organized two-person search teams in the search for Graham and estimated that as of September 26, those crews spent 44 hours in the field since the volunteer search.

Remains found

On October 18, 2014, human remains were found at an abandoned property in Albemarle County, Virginia, by searchers from the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office. At a press conference later that day, Chief Longo stated that the remains had not been positively identified as Graham; however, authorities informed Graham's parents of the discovery. The remains were sent to the Chief Medical Examiner's office in Richmond for identification. On October 24, the remains were positively identified as Graham. That same day, Graham's parents visited the property where she was found. On November 18, The Washington Post reported that a cause for Graham's death was determined but was withheld at the request of law enforcement. Later that day, the Albemarle County Police Department reversed course, releasing that Graham died of homicide by an "undetermined etiology".

On September 19, the local police identified a man they described as a "person of interest" whom they saw on surveillance cameras leaving a bar with Graham. The police have concluded that Graham may have gotten into a car with this man. They also searched the man's car and apartment, but declined to arrest or identify him at that time. The police identified the "person of interest" as Jesse L. Matthew, Jr. the following day, in an effort to make contact with him for further questioning. Police again searched Matthew's apartment on September 22; during the search, they took items of clothing from his apartment, but would not elaborate on the importance of these items. Police described the searches as a major break in the case and have offered a $100,000 reward for information relating to Graham's disappearance.

Arrest

On September 21, the police issued an arrest warrant for reckless driving by Jesse Matthew. On September 23, Longo announced that Matthew had been charged with abduction with intent to defile. On September 24, Longo, during a joint press conference with the FBI, announced that the suspect had been arrested in a sparsely populated part of Galveston County, Texas.

Connection to Morgan Harrington case

The suspect has been forensically linked by the Virginia State Police to the murder of Morgan Dana Harrington.

On September 29, 2014, it was reported that forensic evidence taken from the investigation into the murder of Morgan Dana Harrington matched evidence taken from Jesse Matthew. Sources close to the Graham investigation added that Harrington interacted with Matthew on the night she disappeared. Graham's remains were found about five miles from the location where Harrington's remains were discovered. Matthew attended Liberty University, and later, Christopher Newport University; he was accused of sexual assault once at each of those universities. The first alleged incident occurred on October 17, 2002, and the second on September 7, 2003.

On September 15, 2015, Matthew was formally charged with first degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in the murder of Morgan Harrington. In a February 29, 2016 letter to news media, prosecutors said Matthew would plead guilty. Matthew pled guilty and received four additional life terms.

Legal proceedings

Matthew's first court appearance was scheduled for December 4, 2014. Matthew's attorney stated that he would not ask the court for bail for his client. On February 10, 2015, Albemarle County commonwealth's attorney Denise Lunsford announced that Matthew was being indicted for first-degree murder of Graham, in addition to the abduction charges. On May 5, 2015, prosecutors announced that Matthew would be charged with capital murder. The increased charge of capital murder meant that Matthew could have faced the death penalty if convicted. The trial date was set for July 5, 2016. In a February 29, 2016 letter to news media, prosecutors said Matthew would plead guilty. Later, Matthew pleaded guilty and received four additional life terms.

Fairfax case

On October 20, 2014, Matthew was indicted on charges of attempted murder, object sexual penetration, and abduction with intent to defile from an incident that occurred in September 2005 in Fairfax, Virginia. On November 14, 2014, Matthew pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a trial was set to begin on March 9, 2015. On February 6, 2015, the Fairfax trial was postponed, with a new trial to be set on February 13. On February 18, Matthew appeared in court, where Albemarle County Circuit Judge Cheryl Higgins scheduled his jury trial to begin on June 29. However, the trial began on June 8, and on June 10, Matthew abruptly entered an Alford plea, and was convicted on all charges. On October 2, 2015, Matthew was sentenced to three life terms in the Fairfax case.

After Graham's remains were discovered and identified, students at the University of Virginia erected a memorial on campus in her honor.