Hannah Graham, 18, went missing on September 13, 2014, Jesse Matthew has been charged with her murder - Trial date set for July 5, 2016 - Charlottesville, VA

Court Documents: Jesse Matthew Hearing Now Set for Dec. 7
Posted: Dec 02, 2015 8:28 AM PST
Updated: Dec 02, 2015 8:33 AM PST

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va (WVIR) -

The man accused of killing a University of Virginia student will have an unexpected pre-trial hearing.

Court documents reveal Jesse Matthew is now scheduled for a hearing at noon on Monday, December 7.

Read more:  http://www.nbc29.com/story/30649744/court-documents-jesse-matthew-hearing-now-set-for-dec-7

Jesse Matthew, Jr. set for pre-trial motions hearing today in Hannah Graham murder case

By Emily Satchell and Evanne Armour
Published: December 7, 2015, 4:46 am  |  Updated: December 7, 2015, 6:49 am



ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Today, one of the murder cases against Jesse Matthew, Jr. is moving forward.

Matthew is charged with killing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham and Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington. He’s set to face separate trials for the deaths of Graham and Harrington next year. Today’s pre-trial motions hearing is for Graham’s case.

Those close to the case are keeping tight-lipped about it for now. Attorneys are not commenting on what will happen today or if Matthew will be in court.

~Snipped~

Today’s hearing is at 12 p.m. 8News will have a crew in court.

Read more:

http://wric.com/2015/12/07/jesse-matthew-jr-set-for-pre-trial-motions-hearing-today-in-hannah-graham-murder-case/

Mental health expert appointed in Jesse Matthew case

Posted: Monday, December 7, 2015 4:30 pm

Associated Press |

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A mental health expert will evaluate a man charged with killing two college students in Virginia, according to a court order approved Monday.
 
William Stejskal will be paid $350 per hour to examine Jesse Matthew Jr. before his trial in the 2014 slaying of 18-year-old University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, the court order says.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the Graham case, which is scheduled for a jury trial in July.

Read more:

http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/ap/article_1ac87364-b04b-5aa1-a47b-5ce8b0330d38.html

Hearing will reveal evidence against Jesse Matthew in Hannah Graham murder

By Neal Augenstein | @AugensteinWTOP
January 10, 2016 11:06 am


Evidence of the case against Jesse Matthew in the Hannah Graham murder could be revealed in a motions hearing (AP Photo/Steve Helber, file)

WASHINGTON — Despite extensive media coverage of the search and arrest of Jesse Matthew for the September 2014 kidnap and murder of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, very little is known about the prosecution’s case against Matthew.

New details will likely be revealed Monday, in a day-long pretrial motions hearing, in which 14 witnesses have been subpoenaed to testify.

Matthew was arrested Sept. 24, 2014 in Galveston, Texas, 11 days after Graham, a UVA sophomore from Alexandria, Virginia, was last seen on Charlottesville’s downtown mall. Police said Matthew was the last person seen with Graham.

Read more:

http://wtop.com/hannah-graham-murder/2016/01/hearing-will-reveal-evidence-against-jesse-matthew-in-hannah-graham-murder/

I will be following this case. I wonder if this monster is responsible for more disappearances/deaths than just Morgan and Hannah?

US  |  Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:19pm EST

Slain Virginia student's scent found in suspect's apartment: witness

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  |  By Gary Robertson

A police tracking dog picked up the scent of university student Hannah Graham in the apartment of the former hospital worker charged with murdering her in 2014, a former detective testified on Monday.

~Snipped~

Stuart Garner Jr., a former Louisa County detective and dog handler, testified in a pretrial hearing that his dog alerted him to Graham's scent in several areas of Matthew's apartment during a massive search for the student.

Garner sparred with defense attorney Douglas Ramseur about whether he had told Ramseur that he believed that Graham had never been in Matthew’s apartment.

"Didn’t you say Hannah Graham had never been present in Jesse Matthew’s apartment?” Ramseur asked, reading from an affidavit he had submitted to the court.

"I don’t know,” Garner said. “I found that her scent was present.”

The pretrial hearing, in Albemarle Circuit Court, offered a rare window into forensic evidence linking Matthew to

Graham. Matthew's trial is scheduled to begin July.

Read more:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-virginia-student-idUSKCN0UP28N20160111

Judge rules investigators did not mislead magistrate in obtaining search warrant in Jesse Matthew case

Posted 7:10 am, January 11, 2016, by Laura French, Updated at 08:49pm, January 11, 2016

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA -- Jesse Matthew Jr. appeared in Albemarle County Circuit Court Monday, for an all-day hearing scheduled in the Hannah Graham murder case.

The Judge ruled investigators did not mislead magistrate in obtaining search warrant after an evidentiary hearing, something typically conducted to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to hold the defendant for trial. The intent was to determine whether the prosecution report intentionally misrepresented findings of bloodhound searches for Graham.

Fourteen law enforcement officers from Charlottesville, Albemarle and Louisa were subpoenaed for the hearing scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.

~Snipped~

The reason so many officers took the stand is that the defense wanted the court to determine if there were any lies made by officers to get a search warrant.

Matthew's attorneys claim there was not enough probable cause to get a search warrant for his apartment and that an affidavit in the case was misleading. The defense said that Graham's movements as described by police are not corroborated by witnesses or video evidence.

Read more:

http://wtvr.com/2016/01/11/jesse-matthew-hearing-1/

Police dog found U-Va. student’s scent in alleged attacker’s car, at apartment

By T. Rees Shapiro January 11 at 5:48 PM

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A former police bloodhound handler testified Monday that a dog found traces of scent from University of Virginia student Hannah Graham at the apartment and in the car belonging to a Charlottesville man charged with killing her.

Former Louisa County Sheriff’s Office detective Buck Garner testified in Albemarle County that Graham’s scent was present at the apartment and in a coupe owned by Jesse L. Matthew Jr., and that the dog found Graham’s scent at an industrial site about a mile from downtown Charlottesville. It’s possible that she was violently attacked at the site.

~Snipped~

In lengthy testimony during a pretrial hearing, Garner discussed his role in the early days of the Graham investigation working with his “partner,” a 7-year-old bloodhound named Shaker.

Garner, who has nearly three decades of experience as a K-9 handler, described following Shaker as the dog traced Graham’s scent to Charlottesville’s downtown, where she was last seen. After Graham disappeared in the early morning hours of Sept. 13, 2014, video footage emerged that showed the 18-year-old sophomore walking that night alongside Matthew. Her body was found six weeks later on an abandoned property in Albemarle about 12 miles from the U-Va. campus.

~Snipped~

During a subsequent search, Garner said that Shaker detected Graham’s scent on the passenger door of Matthew’s vehicle, in the doorway to his residence and near a dumpster at his apartment complex. Garner said that the dog did not find Graham’s scent near other apartments. Garner, who left his Louisa post in December 2015, also testified that the dog only found Graham’s scent and not necessarily evidence that Graham had been walking near Matthew’s apartment.

Read more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/jesse-matthew-to-appear-in-court-in-graham-capital-murder-case/2016/01/11/fd11e48e-b81a-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html

Judge rules evidence against Jesse Matthew can hold in Hannah Graham case

By Robb Crocker
Published: January 11, 2016, 7:31 am  |  Updated: January 11, 2016, 10:21 pm



CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — Jesse Matthew was back in court Monday for what turned out to be a marathon hearing that lasted almost nine hours.

The defense fought to get evidence collected from Jesse Matthew’s apartment tossed from the case. But ultimately the judge denied his motion, ruling that evidence will stay.

Matthew’s attorney argued that police intentionally misled a magistrate to get a search warrant for Matthew’s home. The judge apparently didn’t agree, ruling there was probable cause for the warrant.

Read more:

http://wric.com/2016/01/11/judge-rules-evidence-against-jesse-matthew-can-hold-in-hannah-graham-case/

Police dog picked up scent of murdered Virginia student Hannah Graham in the apartment of man charged with killing her

| UPDATED: 18:53 EST, 11 January 2016

"....Stuart Garner Jr., a former Louisa County detective and dog handler, testified in a pre-trial hearing that his dog alerted him to Graham's scent in several areas of Matthew's apartment during a massive search for the student...."

"...Garner sparred with defense attorney Douglas Ramseur about whether he had told Ramseur that he believed that Graham had never been in Matthew’s apartment.

‘Didn’t you say Hannah Graham had never been present in Jesse Matthew’s apartment?’ Ramseur asked, reading from an affidavit he had submitted to the court.

‘I don’t know,’ Garner replied. ‘I found that her scent was present.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3394764/Police-dog-picked-scent-murdered-Virginia-student-Hannah-Graham-apartment-man-charged-killing-her.html

Search warrants of Jesse Matthew's apartment, car unsealed

POSTED: 07:00 PM EST Jan 11, 2016 UPDATED: 07:25 PM EST Jan 12, 2016

Video:

http://www.wdbj7.com/video/unsealed-search-warrants-of-jesse-matthews-apartment-car/37401136

Documents provide insight on Hannah Graham search

Posted: Wednesday, January 13, 2016 8:56 am
By Lauren Berg The Daily Progress  

New details emerged in the capital murder case against Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. after search warrants recently were made public.
 
The unsealed documents provide more details about the investigation into the disappearance and death of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham in September 2014. Graham’s remains were found weeks later on a property in southern Albemarle County.

~Snipped~

Among the documents in the Graham case are several search warrants for Matthew’s apartment and vehicle, a 1998 orange two-door Chrysler coupe.

In an affidavit for a search warrant filed on Sept. 19, 2014, Charlottesville police indicated they wanted to search Matthew’s apartment for “black pants, women’s midriff top, white women’s shoes, women’s undergarments … Apple iPhone 5S, a proximity key, long white shorts, white shirt,” as well as trace evidence including hairs and fibers, latent prints and biological material.

The search warrant was granted that same day and, according to the attached search inventory, police seized “a Samsung Galaxy Mega cellphone, possible hairs, a white comforter and pillow … a white sheet, shorts, a swab of a sink” and other items. Police also collected a black camisole, white shorts, a cigar butt, several pairs of boxer shorts and a hair band with hair.

Read more:

http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/article_657c091c-b9fd-11e5-8999-0369807adbaf.html

Documents Unsealed in Jesse Matthew Case

Updated: Tue 11:17 PM, Jan 12, 2016
By: Courteney Stuart



Read more:

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/Documents-Unsealed-in-Jesse-Matthew-Case-365053641.html

How police closed in on Jesse Matthew in the Hannah Graham murder

By Neal Augenstein | @AugensteinWTOP
January 13, 2016 9:51 am

Excerpts:

Matthew “really drunk” and doesn’t remember night he met Graham

A co-worker at University of Virginia hospital identified the man seen on mall surveillance video as Jesse Matthew, and told police he drove a “burnt orange, fast and furious type car,”

At 4:41 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2014, police arrived at Matthew’s apartment in the Hessian Hills neighborhood, armed with a search warrant for Matthew’s orange 1998 Chrysler 2D Coupe,

As Charlottesville police announced their arrival, Matthew came to the door barefoot, with his pit bull barking inside, and asked, “What’s up?”

Standing outside the apartment, detective sergeant Jim Mooney asked Matthew, “Have you heard about the missing girl we’ve been asked to investigate?” Matthew said “Yeah.”

Mooney, the lead investigator in the Graham case, told Matthew “We’ve got you on video downtown talking to her inside of a restaurant. We’d like to talk to you about that because you haven’t come to talk to us.”

Mooney said he hoped Matthew could help “figure out what happened down there, where she may have gone.” Matthew responded, “I was really drunk,” and said he didn’t remember.

When Mooney tried to clarify whether Matthew was saying he didn’t remember what happened to Graham or didn’t remember being downtown that evening, Matthew said, “I remember being down there.”

Matthew went back into his apartment to get some socks, then came outside to hand his car keys to police as they seized his car.

Mooney asked Matthew, “Did she leave with you? Was she in the car?”

Matthew responded, “Ummm …”

Mooney told Matthew, “We’re going to find that out and I’d rather hear that from you.” He asked Matthew to be straight with them.

Mooney asked Matthew, “After she left with you, where did she end up?” Matthew asked, “What are you talking about? … Should I talk to a lawyer?”

Told he wasn’t under arrest, and could talk with police if he wanted to, Matthew said, “I think I’ll just go inside my house then.”

~Snipped~

What happened next

The next day, Matthew appeared at the Charlottesville police station and asked for a lawyer, but declined to speak with police about Graham. Later, as police tailed him, Matthew eluded them, setting off a nationwide manhunt.

Matthew was spotted and apprehended on a beach in Galveston, Texas, four days later.

Graham’s body was found Oct. 18, 2014, behind an empty house in a remote section of southern Albemarle County.

Matthew will go on trial for Graham’s murder July 5. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Read more:

http://wtop.com/hannah-graham-murder/2016/01/how-police-closed-in-on-jesse-matthew-in-the-hannah-graham-murder/

^^^^^
This is brilliantly written, clear, and provides a concise timeline.
Thanks for the share!

Prosecutor: Man to plead guilty to 2 students' slaying

Associated Press
By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press
2 hrs ago

RICHMOND, Va. — A former hospital worker is expected to plead guilty in the high-profile slayings of two college students in Virginia, a prosecutor said Monday.

Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Tracci announced the plea agreements in Jesse LeRoy Matthew Jr.'s cases in a brief news release. Matthew is due in Albemarle County Circuit Court on Wednesday. Details of the agreement were withheld "in the interest of protecting the integrity of the judicial process," Tracci wrote.

Matthew is charged with murder in the deaths of 18-year-old Hannah Graham and 20-year-old Morgan Harrington. Without the plea agreement, he could have faced the death penalty in the Graham case had he been convicted at trial. He's already serving life in prison for a sexual assault in Fairfax County.

Read more:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/prosecutor-man-to-plead-guilty-to-2-students-slaying/ar-BBqatGP?li=BBnb7Kz

^^^Probably for the best. His guilty plea will spare the young ladies families from having to sit through murder trials and listen to painful details.

^^^I agree. It is probably the best solution to spare the families more pain.

Jesse Matthew to enter guilty pleas in Graham and Harrington cases

By T. Rees Shapiro February 29 at 9:16 PM

The Charlottesville-area man facing murder charges in the slayings of two college women is expected to plead guilty this week, according to a letter released by the Albemarle County prosecutor’s office.

Jesse L. Matthew Jr., 33, is set to enter pleas Wednesday involving Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia sophomore who was found dead in 2014, and Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student whose body was discovered in a field in Albemarle County in 2010, the letter said.

Matthew faced the possibility of the death penalty in the Graham case, and he was scheduled to go to trial this year in Harrington’s slaying.

In a letter to the news media, Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert N. Tracci wrote that Matthew “will be entering pleas of guilty to resolve both the Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington abduction and murder cases.”

Read more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/jesse-matthew-to-plead-in-graham-and-harrington-cases/2016/02/29/1b7cf44e-df1d-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html

Jesse Matthew Jr. Pleads Guilty to Killing Virginia College Students
By Max Kutner On 3/3/16 at 12:18 PM

Jesse Matthew Jr. pleaded guilty in an Albemarle County, Virginia, court to murdering Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington, college students whose disappearances and deaths received widespread attention.

...On Wednesday, Matthew pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abduction with intent to defile. As part of a plea agreement, Matthew will not face the death penalty, The Washington Post reported. A judge sentenced him to four life terms.

...Matthew has waived his right to appeal and to petition for early release or parole, the prosecutor told reporters.

(BBM)

Read more:  http://www.newsweek.com/jesse-matthew-guilty-sentenced-graham-harrington-433090

------------

Cross-posting this on Morgan Harrington's thread.

Moving to Closed.

crimesider
By ERIN DONAGHUE CBS/AP March 3, 2016, 3:57 PM
Docs: UVA victim Hannah Graham refused to get in killer's car

"....The two witnesses said Graham appeared to be very impaired. One told Matthew, "You don't even know her," the documents say, to which he replied, "Hush."

The two witnesses followed Matthew and Graham to Tempo, where they say Matthew bought a drink for himself and one for Graham. As the two witnesses left the bar, one witness told the other, "He's going to f--- her up," the documents say.

The documents say Matthew and Graham left Tempo together were captured on surveillance footage walking arm and arm past the Red Pump Kitchen at 1:18 a.m. Shadows from the surveillance footage indicate Matthew pauses for about 10 seconds. It's not clear whether Graham also paused, but the documents say a witness -- the last witness to see Graham alive -- said Graham separated from Matthew and began to walk ahead of him.

The witness watched Graham cross a street in a crosswalk, and that's when he said Matthew approached her again and put his arm around her. He then heard Graham yell that she wasn't going to get in Matthew's car. The witness told investigators Graham's voice sounded "elevated, rapid and frightened, as if she did not know [Matthew.]"

The witness kept walking, but didn't hear anything else and didn't see them again, despite continuing to listen and looking back twice. Less than two minutes later, the documents say, the witness drove past the spot but didn't see Graham or Matthew.

The documents also outline physical evidence investigators collected against Matthew in Graham's murder. They say DNA that is likely Graham's was discovered on his shorts and on the interior passenger side door of his car. They also say that Matthew's car was seen between 6:30 and 7:30 that morning near the rural vacant property where Graham's skeletonized remains would be discovered five weeks later, about 12 miles southwest from where she was last seen...."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/docs-uva-victim-hannah-graham-refused-to-get-in-killer-jesse-matthews-car/

Video from link by Freckles:

Thanks so much for this great link, Freckles!  I'm adding the "statement of facts" pdf for Hannah.  I don't think it contains anything more than what is contained in your link, though.  There is also a "statement of facts" for Morgan Harrington, but I'll add that to her thread.

Hannah Graham Statement of Facts
http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wvir/documents/Statement-of-Facts-Graham.pdf