The wheels of justice may turn slowly – but, apparently, they keep on turning. And now, nine years after a young Fairfax woman was attacked in her own neighborhood by an unknown assailant, a suspect has been charged with the crime.
A Fairfax County grand jury on Monday indicted Jesse L. Matthew Jr., 32, on charges on attempted capital murder, abduction with intent to defile and object sexual penetration in connection with her case.
Already under scrutiny and garnering national attention for his possible role in the disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham, he’s currently being held in the Charlottesville jail on a charge of abduction with intent to defile.
But at a news conference on Monday, Oct. 20, outside City of Fairfax Police Headquarters, Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said he intends to seek a bench warrant (issued by a judge) this Thursday so Matthew may be brought to Fairfax County to stand trial.
“I am extremely proud of the investigative work that’s gone into this case,” said City of Fairfax Police Chief Carl Pardiny. “Even with the passing of nine years, our lead investigator never gave up – and we owed that to the victim; she was not forgotten. Our team devoted a tremendous amount of time and effort to bring this case to this stage, and I applaud the teamwork that’s been displayed by everyone involved in the case investigation.”
THE FAIRFAX CRIME occurred Sept. 24, 2005; the victim was 26 and had just finished grocery shopping. She left the Jermantown Road Giant Foods store with her arms full of groceries and headed home on foot.
According to City of Fairfax police, it was about 10 p.m. and the woman lived three or four blocks from the Giant, in the Oxford Row townhouses on Rock Garden Drive. She was walking down her street and had almost reached her steps when, said police, a man grabbed her from behind and carried to the park/swimming-pool area, where he choked and sexually assaulted her. He then fled and was last seen running south toward Fairhaven Court.
Police investigated, but time passed and, eventually, the trail grew cold. The case remained open, but nothing tangible happened until summer 2010, when a positive DNA match was made tying the murderer of a college student to the Fairfax woman’s assailant.
That student was 20-year-old Virginia Tech sophomore Morgan Harrington, who vanished outside a Metallica concert in Charlottesville in October 2009. Morgan’s body was found in a pasture, three months later; and in summer 2010, authorities linked her killer’s DNA to the person who abducted and sexually assaulted the Fairfax woman in September 2005.
On a Saturday afternoon in March 2012, Morgan’s mother, Gil Harrington, stood outside that same Giant Foods store in Fairfax, along with Kim Nelson – whose daughter Bethany was a GMU senior when she disappeared in January 2011. They were there together seeking information about what happened to their girls and doing what they could to prevent similar tragedies from befalling someone else’s child.
They distributed informational posters and brochures and warned residents that the 2005 perpetrator had never been caught and might still be in this area. They also shared their stories with anyone who stopped by their table, desperately hoping someone might know even the tiniest detail that might help them find this man.
“We know he has a habit of abduction, sexual assault and murder, and we don’t want these habits repeated,” said Harrington. “People need to know about him and to be cautious. My daughter’s dead, but we want to save other families from going through what we went through. And it makes the pain more tolerable to help someone else; you have to find a new life because the old one is broken.”
Accompanying Harrington and Nelson – whose daughter is still missing – was VT employee Kenny Jarels. Basically, he said, “We believe that, if we can find the missing link between the Fairfax and Charlottesville cases, then police can solve them both.”
NOW, POLICE AND PROSECUTORS hope they’ve done just that. “The City of Fairfax is a wonderful community and we’re fortunate to have a very low violent-crime rate,” said Pardiny. “Crimes of violence are shocking to the community and everyone involved, including the police. We’re trained to be focused and objective in our investigations, to uncover the facts and evidence of a case, and we’re devoted to keeping our community safe.
“Our mission is to prevent crime; but when it occurs, we mobilize quickly to find the perpetrator, so there’s not a lot of time to become emotionally involved,” he continued. “But later, once the dust settles, the human element kicks in and it makes us want to go home and hug our kids. I am proud of our department and the men and women who serve it.”