The man convicted rapist and killer of the two Virginia college students pleaded guilty over the deaths of the students on Wednesday. The said man was charged of abducting and murdering a Virginia Tech student in 2009 and a student from the University of Virginia in 2014.
The WUSA9 reported, Jesse Matthew, 34 years old entered guilty plea to first degree murder and abduction with intent to defile the University of Virginia student, Hannah Graham and first degree murder and abduction with intent to defile Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student.
According to Matthew's defense lawyer said on the court, his client was remorseful on the crime and "he loves his family very much," USA Today College reported. Matthew is currently serving a prison term of three consecutive life sentences for sexually assaulting a woman in Fairfax County in 2005. On Graham's death, he is charged with capital murder, which makes him eligible to death penalty.
The mother of Harrington, Gil Harrington says, Matthew will "never be a threat to (the) community" and will die in prison". The convicted accepted the plea deal which also the victim's parents agreed too. According to ABC News, Hannah's father, John Graham said they agreed to the said plea in order to avoid, "re-traumatization" of trial. "Our over-riding priority was that Matthew would never be able again to be able to inflict his depravity on young women," Graham added.
Hannah Graham, 18 year old at the time she was abducted, vanished after having dinner and attending parties off campus in 2014. She was captured on surveillance video walking unsteadily, and sometimes running, past a service station and a restaurant. She texted her friend to inform her she lost her way. She was last seen with Matthew leaving a restaurant, with his arms around her.
While Harrington, 20 years old on disappeared in 2009, after she stepped out of a University of Virginia arena during a Metallica concert. She didn't return since then. Authorities named Matthew a person of interest in Graham's disappearance case. He tried to flee and was later arrested on a beach in southeast Texas. He was charged with abduction with intent to defile, a felony that empowered police to swab his cheek for a DNA sample.
