Jesse Matthew link to yet another Va. missing case?
NELSON COUNTY, Va. -- Officials in Virginia want "scientific testing" to rule out the suspect in the case of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham in yet another case of a missing teen, reports CBS affiliate WTVR.
The Nelson County commonwealth's attorney says he'll order the tests after a lawyer for Randy Taylor, who was convicted in the murder of missing Nelson County teen Alexis Murphy, asked investigators to check for any possible links between Murphy and 32-year-old Jesse Matthew Jr.
The lawyer, Mike Hallahan, told WTVR that he based the request on multiple reports that allege Matthew is "responsible or linked" to the disappearance of multiple young women across the state. Matthew has so far been linked by authorities to Graham, the disappearance and death of another student - Morgan Harrington -- and three sexual assault allegations.
Matthew was arrested and charged with abduction with intent to defile in the case of University of Virginia sophomore Graham, who vanished Sept. 13 after a night out with friends. Police say they believe she was with Matthew on Charlottesville's downtown pedestrian mall, and may have been in his car when he left.
Several jurisdictions in Virginia are investigating to see whether Matthew could be linked to other unsolved murders and disappearances in the state, including the 2009 murder of Cassandra Morton. Morton vanished near Lynchburg a week before Harrington.
"This is not a fishing expedition, but rather this request is based upon the evidence presented at Randy Taylor's trial and based upon those new developments relating to Matthew in the news," Hallahan wrote to the Nelson County commonwealth's attorney, according to the station.
Taylor was convicted in May of Murphy's abduction and murder, though her body has never been found. Murphy was last seen at a gas station in Lovingston, Va. in August of 2013 and her car was found in Charlottesville, about 35 miles away.
Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin has maintained he believes there is no evidence to suggest Matthew was involved in Murphy's disappearance.
DNA from a bloody hair extension and a false eyelash in Taylor's camper indicated that Murphy was with Taylor there and a struggle ensued, prosecutors said at trial, reports the Richmond Times Dispatch. Taylor implicated another man in Murphy's disappearance who was later cleared, Martin told WTVR. That man was not Matthew, he said.
"Even though the evidence on Randy Taylor and Randy Taylor alone in the Alexis Murphy case is clear, the Commonwealth will make sure that scientific testing is done in order to bring closure to the speculation," read a statement by the commonwealth attorney's office released to the station. Read the full statement at WTVR.
However, Taylor's lawyer Hallahan wrote in a letter to the commonwealth's attorney that questions remain unanswered in the case - including unidentified DNA samples in Murphy's car. Hallahan reportedly said there was no physical evidence to tie Taylor to the car, though prosecutors argued he drove it to Charlottesville and took a cab home.
He also reportedly wrote that Murphy's family members and friends testified she may have been going on a date the evening she vanished, and speculated that she wouldn't have gone to Taylor's trailer alone.
Hallahan requested DNA testing and review of Matthew and Murphy's social media accounts to see if the two could have had contact, reports the station.
A bond review that had been set for Thursday for Matthew was canceled after his attorney said he will not ask for his client to be released on bond, reports WTVR. He is due in court for a preliminary hearing on the abduction charge in the Hannah Graham case Dec. 4.