Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford announced Tuesday, May 5, that Jesse Matthew will face a capital murder charge in addition to abduction and first degree murder charges for the 2014 death of West Potomac alumna Hannah Graham.
“The commonwealth received some additional forensic information in late February that led to this increase in charge,” Lunsford said in a press conference, “that further solidified and just basically made something an option that we didn’t feel was appropriate previous to that.”
Matthew was initially indicted by a grand jury in Albemarle County on Feb. 2 and was in court Tuesday for a new trial date to be set. Now the date is scheduled to be set on June 25.
Though Matthew can’t be convicted of both murder charges, “If this matter goes to trial, the Commonwealth will seek the death penalty,” Lunsford said.
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