Jesse Matthew gets 3 life terms in 2005 sexual assault
FAIRFAX, Virginia - Jesse Matthew Jr., charged with the murders of university students Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington, has been sentenced to three life prison terms for a sexual assault on a woman a decade ago in northern Virginia.
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The Charlottesville, Virginia, man was sentenced Friday in Fairfax for attempted capital murder and sexual assault of a woman in 2005. The judge ordered the sentences to be served consecutively at Friday's sentencing.
DNA evidence collected from Matthew during last year's investigation of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham's disappearance and death linked him to the Fairfax County case investigators said. Prosecutors have also said forensic evidence from the 2005 attack is linked to the 2009 disappearance and death of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington.
Matthew's family asked the judge for leniency. A former girlfriend wrote a letter on Matthew's behalf saying he was raped as a child.
His trial in the Graham case is set for July. He faces a possible death sentence.