Jesse Matthew to serve 4 life sentences for murders of Hannah Graham, Morgan Harrington

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Posted: Wednesday, March 2, 2016 2:45 pm

Staff and wire reports

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and abduction with the intent to defile in both the Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington death cases as part of a plea deal. ... The plea agreement includes four life sentences, to be served consecutively with no chance of parole.

Matthew is already serving three life terms after entering an Alford Plea in a 2005 abduction, sexual assault and attempted murder case in Fairfax. ... In a news release, Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Tracci said the plea deal is "consistent with the wishes of the Graham and Harrington families, and provides a measure of legal finality in the cases.
....

SUMMARY OF THE PLEA DEAL

According to the terms of the plea deal, Matthew waived his right to seek early, conditional or geriatric release or any parole. Matthew also waived his right to appeal the decision or withdraw the plea.

Matthew showed no expression during the hearing and said through his attorney that "he is very sorry and he loves his family very much." He was already was serving three life terms for a 2005 sexual assault in northern Virginia.

Read more: http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/article_5c69b1a4-b7e6-50c6-b7bd-6f49ee64fe5e.html

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BREAKING: Jesse Matthew pleads guilty to murders of Hannah Graham, Morgan Harrington

Graham disappeared fall 2014; Harrington, fall 2009

by Hannah Hall | Mar 02 2016 | 44 minutes ago

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. pleaded guilty to the murders of then second-year College student Hannah Graham and Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington at the Albemarle Circuit County Court Wednesday. Matthew’s trial for Graham’s murder was originally set for July 5. The trial for Harrington’s murder was set for Oct. 24.

Matthew was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for the murder and abduction of Graham and the murder and abduction of Harrington. The capital murder charge in Graham’s case was nolle prosequi. ... As part of the plea bargain, Matthew waived his right to apply for conditional release, early release and parole, including geriatric release.

Prior to his plea, Matthew was charged with capital murder and abduction with intent to defile in the murder of Graham, as well as with the charges of first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in the murder of Harrington.

Graham — whose disappearance in the fall of 2014 sent shockwaves through the University community — was last seen on the Downtown Mall on Sept. 13 of the same year. Matthew was arrested for her abduction in Galveston, Texas on Sept. 24, 2014. He had fled the state after the Charlottesville Police Department labeled him a person of interest in their investigation. ... After Matthew’s arrest, human remains were found on an abandoned property eight miles from the University in October. Charlottesville Police confirmed the remains belonged to Graham on Oct. 24, 2014 — over a month after she disappeared.

For those of us who are not Cavalier Daily writers in a pre-law program:

Nolle prosequi

Nolle prosequi ... is legal term of art and a Latin legal phrase meaning "be unwilling to pursue", a phrase amounting to "do not prosecute". It is a phrase used in many common law criminal prosecution contexts to describe a prosecutor's decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges either before trial or before a verdict is rendered. It contrasts with an involuntary dismissal.

Breaking News: Jesse Matthew to admit guilt in Graham and Harrington cases, prosecutors say

Posted: Monday, February 29, 2016 4:28 pm

Lewis Millholland, news editor

Jesse Leroy Matthew, Jr., is expected to plead guilty to the abduction and murder of both Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington in a court hearing on Wednesday, March 2.

Matthew was arrested in September 2014 for his connection with U.Va. student Hannah Graham’s disappearance. He has since been charged with her murder, as well as the murder of former Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington after she went missing on Oct. 17, 2009.

“It is anticipated that Jesse Leroy Matthew, Jr., will be entering pleas of guilty to resolve both the Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington abduction and murder cases,” stated the release from the desk of Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci.

Albemarle County Circuit Court will hold a public hearing on March 2, 2016, at 1:30 p.m. Matthew is expected to plea guilty to both cases at this hearing.

[FLPanhandle]

1. There are some here who will say "life without parole" is too harsh.

Fuck that. For scum like him, I would support public execution.

[SoCalMusicLover]

4. I Would Buy A Ticket

Some people just don't deserve to live on this planet.

The death penalty is not too popular here, heck....guns are more in favor here than the DP. But this scum serves no useful purpose, but at least he won't tie up the courts with appeals.

4 Life terms.....what, 3 terms wouldn't be enough? I'm sure he would have been willing to take 10 life terms to make a deal avoiding the DP. The same DP he gave those young girls.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. In addition to the three he already had.

He is now up to seven life terms.

[Chan790]

6. No, as an anti-DP activist, I'd say it's exactly harsh enough.

The whining masses opposing LwP sentencing are going to make it a lot harder to end capital punishment because the opposition is exactly right when they look at convicts like Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. and Steven Hayes and say "this person is too dangerous to ever be allowed to live even one day of the remainder of their life as a free, non-incarcerated person." If we aren't going to kill them...and we shouldn't kill them...then the option of incarcerating them until they die of other causes must remain.

He's exactly where he belongs until the grass grows long over his grave...hopefully many years from now.

[FLPanhandle]

8. The only reason I'm not anti-DP is people complaining about Life w/o Parole

If there was a guarantee of Life without Parole, I'd advocate the abolitionism of the DP.

There are too many fighting against L w/o P though.

[bemildred]

2. Good. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. Wow. I haven't followed this case since he was merely a person of interest/fugitive.

I had no idea all these other revelations came about.

He dodged prosecution when victims didn't press charges in 2002 and 2003. If only...

It would be interesting to know what happened in those prior cases. A football player getting away with rape. Hmmm.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Facts released in Graham, Harrington cases

Facts released in Graham, Harrington cases

Matthew confirms facts beyond reasonable doubt

by Ankita Satpathy | Mar 04 2016 | 03/04/16 12:08am

Jesse Leroy Matthew, Jr. pleaded guilty to the murders of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington and to abduction with intent to defile each of them Wednesday. ... Matthew was indicted by grand juries for these murders in April and Sept. 2015, respectively, and would have faced the death penalty had he been convicted.

According to Matthew’s plea agreement, he was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, which is the court’s statutory maximum for these charges. He will serve these in addition to the three life terms he is already serving for an abduction, sexual assault and attempted murder charge from 2005 in Fairfax County, to which Matthew pleaded guilty without admitting to the crime. ... The plea bargain stipulated Matthew waive his right to appeal the decision of the court or withdraw the plea, as well as any right to early release or parole.

“This resolution serves the interests of justice by ensuring the defendant will never again pose a threat to public safety,” Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert N. Tracci said in a press release. “It is consistent with the wishes of the Graham and Harrington families, and provides a measure of legal finality in cases that would have been subject to highly public trials and protracted appellate review.”

As part of the plea agreement, Matthew signed the Commonwealth’s Statements of Facts concerning both Harrington’s and Graham’s cases, stipulating that the facts would have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt had the case gone to trial. The statements included DNA evidence connecting Matthew to both crimes.

The article goes into a timeline for both cases.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Jesse Matthew transferred to maximum security prison

Jesse Matthew transferred to maximum security prison

Posted: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 11:43 am

The Daily Progress staff reports

Jesse Matthew, who recently pleaded guilty to the murders of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington, was transferred to Red Onion State Prison in Wise County Tuesday night.

Officials at the super-maximum security prison confirmed Wednesday that Matthew was transferred to their custody from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

Officials would not comment on how long Matthew is expected to remain at Red Onion.

Matthew is currently serving four life sentences with no chance of early release or parole.