Accused Hannah Graham killer on trial for 2005 attack

FAIRFAX, Va. — A jury pool of as many as 150 people is at the ready Monday as the accused killer of a University of Virginia student faces sexual-assault charges in a crime from 10 years ago.

Jesse Matthew Jr., 33, of Charlottesville, Va., is charged in Fairfax County Circuit Court with abducting, raping and attempting to murder a woman, 26 years old at the time, who was attacked as she walked home from a grocery store in 2005. The victim has returned from India to testify against him.

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. Her 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 was charged in the unsolved Fairfax case last year after his arrest in connection with Graham's disappearance yielded a hit on DNA evidence.

Judge David Schell is not permitting cameras or audio recording devices in the courtroom.

About 100 potential jurors are at the courthouse Monday. Because defense lawyers are worried that pretrial publicity could cause many people to already form opinions in the case, an additional 50 people will be called in Tuesday if needed.

The trial is scheduled to last two weeks.

If Matthew eventually is convicted of killing Graham, he could be put to death. A conviction in this case could send him to prison for life.