Forensic evidence links Hannah Graham suspect to TWO more attacks including rape and murder of co-ed five years ago
- Police say suspect Jesse Matthew Jr. has links to both the recent disappearance of Graham and the 2009 murder of Morgan Harrington
- Harrington's death has already been linked by to a 2005 sexual assault in which the suspect was scared away
- UVA student Hannah Graham is the fifth young woman in five years to vanish along 'Route 29 corridor' - and only one body has ever been found
- Matthew was accused of rape in a 2002 Lynchburg, Virginia case at Liberty University, but was not convicted
The prime suspect in the abduction of Hannah Graham has been linked to the disappearance, rape and murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, it was revealed on Monday.
Virginia State Police this morning confirmed the arrest of Jesse ‘LJ’ Matthew had provided a ‘new forensic link’ to detectives investigating the disappearance of 20-year-old Morgan in October 2009.
Police described the dramatic development as a ‘significant break’.
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Suspect: The man suspected in the recent abduction of 18-year-old Hannah Graham(left)--Jesse Matthew, Jr. (right)--has been linked to the 2009 abduction and murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, 20, according to Harrington's mother Gil Harringto
Police revealed Monday that evidence appears to link the still open abduction-murder case of Morgan Harrington (pictured), who vanished outside a Charlottesville Metallica concert in 2009, with the suspect in the recent disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham
Morgan’s brutal murder has already been linked by DNA to the rape of a 26-year-old woman in Fairfax, Virginia in September 2005.
If the link between Morgan’s disappearance and Matthew is confirmed, the 32-year-old will be accused of the abduction, rape or sexual assault of at least four young women over a 14-year period.
- The abduction ‘with intent to defile’ (a legal term for sexual assault) of UVA student Hannah Graham in September 2014.
- The murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington in October 2009
- Sexual assault of a 26-year-old woman in Fairfax, Virginia, in September 2005
- Rape of a Liberty University student in October 2002
Morgan’s mother, who has tirelessly campaigned to bring her daughter’s killer to justice, told local TV station WTVR.com: ‘We worked five years to get to this point, so we are relieved.’
The disappearances of a further five young women from the area around Charlottesville, known as the Route 29 corridor, remain unexplained.
Two years after Morgan Harrington’s remains were found, the FBI released a sketch of a man seen with the student.
The sketch was released after investigators found forensic evidence that linked a 2005 sex assault in Fairfax to Harrington’s disappearance.
Virginia State Police refused to link Hannah’s disappearance with the Morgan Harrington case when contacted by MailOnline last Thursday.
Spokeswoman Corinne Geller said: ‘The disappearance and death of Morgan Harrington remains a separate and ongoing criminal investigation by Virginia State Police. There is nothing new to release at this time concerning the progress of the Harrington case.’
The disappearances of a further five young women from the area around Charlottesville, known as the Route 29 corridor, remain unexplained.
Was this a sketch of Matthew? Police sketched out the suspect at left after the 2005 was connected to Harrington's murder in 2009. At right, a photo of Matthew when his hair was far shorter than it is today
Pictured: Matthew was working as a taxi driver at the time of Morgan’s disappearance and would offer lifts for free to girls, according to a source with detailed knowledge of his past. A source told MailOnline: ‘LJ got in trouble with work because he would pull up in his cab alongside girls walking along and he would ask random girls'
Christian college student: A team photo of the 2002 Liberty University Football team that included Jesse Matthews. Matthew, the man suspected of abducting missing UVA student Hannah Graham, was behind bars Wednesday night after he was dramatically arrested in Texas
However a source with detailed knowledge of Matthew’s background alerted MailOnline to a likely link with Morgan’s disappearance as soon as he was charged with Hannah Graham’s abduction.
Speaking to MailOnline the source said: ‘After Morgan disappeared LJ [Matthew] started growing his hair and shaved off his beard.
‘I mentioned to him that he looked like the man in the sketch [of a suspect issued by police following Morgan’s disappearance].
‘It was the spitting image of him.
‘He didn’t reply, he just said “oh”, which was unusual. He normally always had something to say.
‘Even friends from elementary school said he looked like the man in the sketch.
‘At the time when the incident happened he had a beard and short hair. And he was a lot darker then.
Taken away: Morgan's skeletal remains were found in January 2010 on a farm in Albemarle County - around four miles away from where she disappeared
Left alone: Harrington left the 2009 Metallica concert alone and witnesses claim a woman fitting her description was seen hitchhiking at a bridge near the concert venue
‘But he grew his hair out and shaved his beard off.
‘He had his hair twisted. And then he grew it out into dreads and he wore it in a pony tail.’
Yesterday Virginia State Police confirmed this suspicion.
A spokeswoman said in statement: ‘For the past give year, the Virginia State Police has been aggressively pursuing the investigation into the disappearance and death of 20-year-old Morgan D Harrington of Roanoke, VA.
‘Last week the arrest of Jesse L Matthew, 32, of Charlottesville, Virginia, provided a significant break in this case with a new forensic link for state police investigators to pursue.
‘There is still a great deal of work to be done in regards to this investigation and we appreciate the public’s patience as we move forward.’
Morgan Harrington vanished from John Paul Jones Arena while attending a Metallica concert in October 2009. Her remains were discovered on a farm in Albemarle County in January 2010.
Got their man? FBI agents lead Matthew out of a plane after his extradition from Texas, where he was discovered camping on a beach September
Found: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. is escorted into a courtroom for an appearance before 405th District Court Judge Michelle Slaughter regarding his extradition back to Virginia on Thursday in Texas. Matthew Jr. was arrested on a beach in the Texas community of Gilchrist by Galveston County Sheriff's authorities
The 20-year-old was last seen trying to hitch a lift, according to Virginia State Police.
Matthew was working as a taxi driver at the time of Morgan’s disappearance and would offer lifts for free to girls, according to a source with detailed knowledge of his past.
The source told MailOnline: ‘LJ got in trouble with work because he would pull up in his cab alongside girls walking along and he would ask random girls.
‘He would say; “hey do you want a ride. I’ll take you wherever you want to go for free”.
‘One time he tried to follow one girl into her home.’
Meanwhile the search for Hannah Graham continues.
The second-year UVA student vanished on the night of Friday 12th / Saturday 13th September after leaving a student party.
Video footage showed her walking to the Downtown Mall. She was last seen on film at about 1.00am being followed by a black man with deadlocks who later put his arm around her. The pair were later spotted in the Tempo restaurant together.
Jesse ‘LJ’ Matthew was named by MailOnline as that man.
He told family members he was innocent and that ‘he went his way and she went hers’, MailOnline exclusively reported.
But Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo said he believed Matthew was the last person to be seen with Hannah Graham ‘before she vanished off the face of the earth’.
Matthew was charged with abducting Hannah, ‘with intent to defile’ – a legal term for sexual assault – last Tuesday.
However he had gone on the run.
Search is on: Hannah Graham was reported missing on September 14, the day after she was caught on surveillance videos as she walked unaccompanied in Charlottesville's Downtown Mall
Confusion: This map shows Hannah Graham's movements on the night of Friday September 12 and Saturday the 13thj. At 11.50pm she was seen at a party by friends with another male friend. She then seemed to head westward toward the Charlottesville Downtown Mall
Searching: Volunteers search woodlands in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a massive search effort by the community to find missing UVA student Hannah Graham
The search area has now been widened to wooded areas south of Charlottesville principally between routes 29 and 20
Matthew was captured the following day in Gilchrist, Texas, after his face appeared on an arrest warrant which was circulated across the country.
He was extradited from Texas to Virginia on Saturday and he is expected to appear in court for the first time on Thursday.
Police have admitted they don’t know what happened to Hannah Graham and the hunt for her continues.
In 2002 Matthew was named as a suspect of a rape at Liberty University, the acclaimed Christian college, in Lynchburg, Virginia, MailOnline revealed.
He was not arrested or charged but he was expelled.
The victim of the Fairfax assault, in September 2005, was lucky to have escaped with her life.
The 26-year-old woman was walking along a residential street after dark when a man grabbed her from behind and forced her into a nearby wood.
He sexually assaulted her but he fled after being startled by a passerby.
The victim was rushed to hospital for treatment for several injuries.
She described her attacker as black in his mid-20’s and with a heavy build, to police.
Virginia State Police have said there was a forensic connection between this case and the murder of Morgan Harrington. DNA evidence linked the cases, according to the Washington Post
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