Jesse Matthew Tied Forensically to 2005 Sexual Assault Victim; Near-Certain DNA Match
ByNew forensic analysis has strongly suggests that Jesse Leroy Matthew is the only person in the world who could have had close contact with a 2005 sexual assault victim at the time of the attack.
According to the Washington Post, Virginia Department of Forensic Science compared Leroy's DNA with that from a sample taken from under the victim's fingernails after the attack. The odds that the DNA belonged to anyone but Matthew were placed at "1 in greater than 7.2 billion," essentially the world's population, according to the official report.
Matthew was indicted for the Sept. 24, 2005 sexual assault of a 26-year-old woman from Fairfax, Va. late last month, the Post reported. He was also the lead suspect in the abduction of Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia student who went missing in Sept. and was found dead about a month later.
Further, Matthew was also linked forensically to the 2009 abduction and murder of Morgan Harrington in Va. Multiple media outlets have also learned that Matthew left two schools in the state as an undergraduate student-athlete around the time he was accused of sexual assault at each institution.
Unnamed sources told the Post the sample from the 2005 sexual assault victim is consistent with how attack went. The sources said her assailant grabbed her unaware and dragged her to a wooded area where he sexually assaulted her, but she was able to scratch his face.
Unlike Graham and Harrington, this woman is from overseas, but several other details line up with the other cases. For example, Matthew's indictment in the 2005 case included charges of attempted capital murder, abduction with intent to defile and object sexual penetration.
Before Graham's remains were found, Matthew was charged with abduction with the intent to defile, meaning authorities had reason to believe he wanted to sexually assault her.
Matthew's next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 14 and it is for the 2005 sexual assault.