Court Documents: Case Against Jesse Matthew Centers on DNA

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Photo: Fairfax County Police Department

Court documents ordered unsealed Friday by a Fairfax judge have revealed details about the case against Jesse Matthew, the Charlottesville man charged with attempted murder and sexual assault of a Fairfax woman in 2005.

He also is charged in Albemarle County with the abduction and murder of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham in September. A trial date has not been set in that case.

The court documents reveal more about what prosecutors allege happened the night of Sept. 24, 2005, according to Richmond TV station WVIR. Prosecutors say Matthew choked the woman and sexually assaulted her with his hand.

One document says a sample of DNA found under the victim’s right fingernail links Matthew to the crime. The court has given Matthew’s defense team $2,000 to hire a DNA expert.

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Matthew also has been linked by DNA to the case of Morgan Harrington, the Virginia Tech student who disappeared in 2009 in Charlottesville, according to Richmond TV station WTVR. Charges have not been filed in that case.

Matthew is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. His jury trial in Fairfax is slated to start on June 8.