The man already charged with the abduction of a University of Virginia student who was missing for weeks before her body was discovered has been indicted on a count of first-degree murder in the case, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Jesse Matthew Jr., 33, was indicted on the murder charge Monday, Albemarle County prosecutor Denise Lunsford said at a news conference. Matthew already was charged with abduction with intent to defile in the case. Hannah Graham, 18, disappeared in September and was found dead in Albemarle County a few weeks later.
Lunsford declined to say why Matthew was not charged with the higher count of capital murder, which would have carried a possible sentence of the death penalty. The abduction and first-degree murder charges are punishable by up to life in prison.
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Matthew previously had been accused of raping students at Liberty University and Christopher Newport University in 2002 and 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 Graham 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.
