Jesse Matthew Jr., 34, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the murder and abduction of two Virginia college students.
According to Reuters, University of Virginia student Hannah Graham and Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington went missing in 2014 and 2009, respectively. Their disappearances gained national attention and led to some of the most extensive searches ever mounted in central Virginia.
Matthew will serve four consecutive life sentences for two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abduction with intent to defile. An imprisoned former hospital worker, Matthew had already pleaded guilty last year to a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax County, Virginia.
The parents of both victims were present in the courtroom when the pleas were entered. Susan Graham, Hannah’s mother, said during victim impact statements that Matthew disposed of Graham’s body “like a bag of garbage to be picked over by buzzards.” Matthew did not speak during the proceeding.
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