2nd victim IDs accused Hannah Graham killer in court
FAIRFAX, Va. — A woman whom prosecutors say was a victim of the same man accused of killing a University of Virginia student last year identified him in court Thursday as her attacker in a 2005 sexual assault.
Jesse Matthew Jr., 33, of Charlottesville, Va., is charged in Fairfax County Circuit Court with abducting, raping and attempting to murder the woman who testified at Thursday's pretrial hearing. A jury trial in the case is expected to begin Monday.
He also is charged with first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in the case of Hannah Graham, 18, a college sophomore from Alexandria, Va., who disappeared Sept. 13 from a Charlottesville bar and whose remains were found more than a month later on an abandoned farm about 10 miles away. Surveillance video from the bar showed Graham leaving with Matthew.
He faces a separate trial in Albemarle County in connection with the Graham killing, which prompted a weeks-long, community-wide search for the co-ed.
Matthew's lawyer tried to keep the Fairfax victim from identifying Matthew, filing a motion to suppress the testimony because the she may have been influenced seeing photos of Matthew in the news and online. Judge David Schell decided to deny that motion.
The woman, who is not being identified because she is a crime victim, testified that she had seen a picture of Matthew online after Fairfax County detectives told her about an arrest linked to her case. The victim, 26 years old at the time, was attacked as she walked home from a grocery story.
She said that Matthew, who is now in jail in Fairfax County, looked familiar. She traveled from India to testify at the hearing and arrived around 1 p.m. ET in Virginia.
Prosecutors originally had hoped to delay her court appearance for a day to allow her to rest, but Schell said her testimony needed to occur Thursday because of quirks in Virginia law.
It is unclear whether her ability to identify her attacker will be a key issue at trial. Prosecutors have said they have DNA evidence tying Matthew to the attack.
DNA evidence is also how police linked the Fairfax case to Graham.
Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh referred to questions about the victim's ability to recognize Matthew as "sort of a non-issue." During the hearing, the woman did not appear to make any direct eye contact with Matthew, who sat at the defense table in shackles and a green jail jumpsuit.
At the outset of the hearing, Schell rejected a defense motion to close the suppression hearing to news media based on the argument that it would create unfair publicity on the eve of trial.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, and Schell said about 150 potential jurors will be available if needed.
Contributing: The Associated Press