The medical examiner in Virginia has provided some clarity to the nature of Hannah Graham's death, ruling it a homicide.
According to the Associated Press, the 18-year-old student at the University of Virginia (UVa) died of "homicidal violence," but the M.E. could not pinpoint the precise cause. The Albemarle County Police Department said Tuesday that a final autopsy had not been filed yet.
In order to "protect the integrity of the case," police and prosecutors said in their public statement on the findings that they would not answer questions or provide further information. Graham went missing on Sept. 12 and her remains were found more than a month later. Albemarle County Commonwealth Attorney Denise Lunsford said in a statement at that time that authorities would refocus the investigation on "what charges will be brought and the appropriate time to make those charges."
The main suspect in her disappearance, Jesse Matthew, 32, was charged with abduction with the intent to defile and arrested before Graham's remains were found. Since, he has been forensically linked to an abduction in 2009 and a sexual assault case from 2005.
James L. Camblos III, Matthew's attorney in both Graham's and the 2005 sexual assault cases, said the M.E. report's results "were not unexpected," the Washington Post reported.
Graham was seen on surveillance footage the night of Sept. 12 walking, and running at some points, after she had gone out to dinner and attended two parties off the UVa campus. She was last seen alive leaving a restaurant with Matthew after she indicated in a text message that she was lost in a downtown area.
Matthew was also enrolled at two different schools in Va. before abruptly dropping out after being accused of sexual assault in both instances. He wound up as a hospital worker at UVa.
