Jesse Matthew, Jr Gets Three Life Prison Terms

A man accused of the murder of a British-born student has been sentenced to life in prison for the sexual assault of another woman.

As the Commonwealth discussed said childhood rape, Matthew rested his head on his hand.

After the sentence was announced, Matthew’s mother screamed, “No, No, no!”

On Tuesday, a former girlfriend of Matthew’s claimed in a letter that Matthew had been raped as a child.

During the June trial, the victim testified against her attacker in a chilling account that gained much media attention, saying she was just steps away from her front door when he picked her up and dragged her to a grassy patch nearby. He also said that Matthew refused to cooperate with his probation officer for the sentencing report and that details were omitted, such as rape allegations at two universities he left.

Matthew entered an Alford plea to three charges in this case earlier this year.

“He was hunting free from conscience – no restraint”, Morrogh told the court, describing the night Matthew attacked his victim. “He seeks empathy, but he is heartless”.

The families of Morgan Harrington and Hannah Graham are in the courtroom, WNEW’s Cameron Thompson reports. Matthew was eventually arrested in Texas and charged with Graham’s murder.

DNA evidence collected from Matthew during last year’s investigation of British-born Hannah Graham’s disappearance linked him to the Fairfax County case. Morgan Harrington’s death had gone unsolved since 2009, when the Virginia Tech student disappeared after attending a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. But whatever happens there, he now looks set to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Gil Harrington said after Friday’s hearing she was pleased with the sentence handed down but took no joy from it. “It would be the most merciful to all the families involved”, she said.