48 Hours - Hannah Graham: Stalked by Evil - Encore

Episode Date: June 14, 2016

48 Hours goes inside the investigation of the death of the UVA student.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. There is a developing story out of Charlottesville. It was just a few hours after this picture was taken that Hannah Elizabeth Graham went missing. Hannah Graham had just started her second year at the University of Virginia.

We're going to continue to work relentlessly until we find Hannah Graham. The first thing that came to my mind was the name Morgan Harrington. Police are again desperate for details in the case of missing Morgan Harrington. Morgan was another college student that had gone to a concert one October 2009 night. The FBI is in day three of its search for Alexis Murphy and there's still no sign of her here you have High school student who leaves for the day to get some hair products Lexus if you can hear me This is your dad. I'm letting you know that I won't give up

I want you home Hannah Graham Morgan Harrington Alexis Murphy Why in this nice area are these young girls going missing? If Morgan is out there and hears us, please come home. If anybody knows anything, please let us know. We are trying to find you. We will never stop. All we want to do now is to bring Hannah home safely. They could track through the various video cameras where she had gone.

They knew that she had been at the University of Virginia at a bar, then she had been walking around a bar a mile away, then she had been downtown, then she just vanished. Somebody listening to me today either knows where Hannah is or knows someone who has that information. They didn't know if she was alive or dead. Everybody had their fears, but nobody knew.

Split them up, a couple guys on the right. You are basically swinging on a pendulum between hope and despair. If you attend the University of Virginia, if that young lady's touched your life in any way, you have the responsibility to help us find her. When Alexis was missing, I wanted the whole world looking for her. Over the weekend, 1,200 volunteers covered 85% of the city searching for additional clues. This is probably one of the greatest coordinated search efforts in the history of the Commonwealth. And now we have reason to believe she was inside of a bar on this mall with an individual.

Having done a little bit more investigating, that is when they started learning the name Jesse Matthew Jr. Jesse Matthew was the last person she was seen with before she vanished off the face of the earth. People have been trying to learn more about Jesse Matthew since they first heard his name. They search his apartment. They seize his car.

So certainly he is the focus of our investigation. And they're coming out with evidence. Police say forensic evidence also connects him to the death of Morgan Harrington. And I think that's when I started thinking, could this be the same person? Several hours later, while police were following Jesse Matthew, he took off from his grandmother's house.

And they lose him. Excuse me? They lose him. They really thought they had their suspect. And he's gone. We want to talk to Jesse Matthew. We want to talk about where Hannah Graham is. I'm Susan Spencer. Tonight on 48 Hours, Hannah Graham stalked by evil. In the Pacific Ocean,

halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn. And it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years,

I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge?

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It's just the best idea yet. The disappearance of Hannah Graham left the audience across the country hungry for every detail on Twitter. September 21st, 2014, a week after Hannah Graham went missing. And Jesse Matthew, the one person who may hold the key to her whereabouts, is missing as well. Matthew was last seen Saturday,

speeding away from police who were following him. I hope and pray that we might have an opportunity to talk to Jesse Matthew again, because I think he can help us find Hannah Graham. It was tense. It was already tense, and it was even tenser, because now we don't know where he is. WTVR reporter and 48 Hours consultant Laura French wasn't the only one speechless to learn that police had let their only suspect slip away. So Jesse Matthew is gone. Jesse Matthew is gone. I even joked with one of the investigators and said, you guys really know where he is. You're watching him. Surely. Here

are some serious accusations against this individual and you don't know where he is. here are some serious accusations against this individual, and you don't know where he is? He fled, and he fled far. Police have released this wanted poster of Jesse Leroy Matthew. He is the last person that was with Hannah, so certainly he is the focus of our investigation. Remarkably, four days after he fled, Jesse Matthew is spotted in, of all places, Galveston, Texas, on a near-empty beach 1,300

miles from Charlottesville. Fast forward to September 24th. We have a woman out on the beach looking just for a peaceful afternoon to watch the water. That woman was Karen Monk. His tent was about right here, close to the grass, and his car was parked on the other side. She's sitting in the back of her car, and she sees this man in a tent, you know, a few yards down from her. Doesn't think much of it until he drives by her. This car came in front of me and stopped, and the fellow that was sitting in the driver's seat, his windows were down, and he leans over and looks, kind of glares at me. Monk suddenly found herself face-to-face with one of the most wanted men in the country. When I looked up and I saw him, I mean, his facial features are unmistakable.

I just held my breath, just hoping he would just keep going. unmistakable. I just held my breath, just hoping he would just keep going. My heart literally probably stopped beating because I knew that was him. You mean to tell me that she recognized him on the beach from a wanted poster that she'd seen on television or what? From a mugshot. And she's like, okay, do I leave because I'm probably in danger or do I stay here so I can tell police exactly where he is? She not only stayed, she called every law enforcement agency she could think of, finally getting a response from the Galveston County Sheriff's Office. They found Jesse Matthew on the beach and arrested him without incident.

How does she view what she did? She's very humble. She views it as being in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing. We're here tonight to announce that Jesse Matthews was in custody in Galveston, Texas. And apparently he had bigger travel plans than Texas. A map of Mexico was found in his car. Now in custody, he was headed not south, but north, back to Charlottesville, Virginia. He was locked up in Galveston for 40-some hours. Charlottesville authorities came and flew him back here, and they had him by their side at all times. But Matthew quickly dashed any hope police had that he'd give them information about Hannah Graham.

He never cooperated with anybody as far as answering questions voluntarily. Never has. Never has. We have a person in custody, but there's a long road ahead of us, and that long road includes finding Hannah Graham. Now the search expanded out from Charlottesville and the university campus here to the surrounding countryside. And despite the growing odds against this having a good outcome, no one was giving up. In fact, the volunteers just kept on coming. I got three more for your team.

It wasn't clear whether she was alive or dead at this point. Neil Augenstein covered this story both for WTOP radio and online. He's also a 48 Hours consultant. As time went on, people were thinking more and more that she probably had died. This specialized team of trackers searched for Hannah Graham on Friday afternoon. The team, which includes a navigator, a dog, and a handler, is directing the dog off trail to find any trace of a human scent. Nice job. People wanted answers. People wanted closure. People wanted it now. But no one wanted the news that came on October 18th, 35 days after Hannah disappeared.

We're following a developing story out of Albemarle County. Sometime before noon today, a search team from the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Department was searching an abandoned property along Old Lynchburg Road in southern Albemarle County when they discovered what appears to be human remains. Where the human remains were found was behind a home that nobody was living in at the time. And this was within a few miles of a home where Jesse Matthew had grown up and spent time with his family. How far was this from Charlottesville? So this house was five, six, seven miles out of downtown Charlottesville.

What also intrigued investigators, the site where Morgan Harrington's remains had been found four years earlier, was only a few miles away. Late today, a mother and father's worst fear came true when a topsy report identified remains found last weekend in Virginia as those of their daughter. With the discovery of Hannah's body, the community that had searched so long and hard with John and Susan Graham now could only grieve with them. As a parent, my heart sank because it was final. There were fears that come to light, but at the same time, they were able to bring her home.

The focus turns now to the suspect in custody and charged with her abduction, 32-year-old Jesse Matthew. The next challenge, building a solid case against Jesse Matthew. He wasn't talking, but science was about to do the talking for him. I obtained a search warrant for Mr. Matthews for his DNA. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder?

Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list.

She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. I have a lot of friends that go to UVA. My initial reaction was, how could this be?

After a month of vigils and hopes and prayers for Hannah Graham, the reality of her murder was a horrific shock. This is our opportunity to create a silver lining in the tremendous cloud that Hannah's fate represented to us. When it comes to these sort of girl-gone-missing stories, there's always this barrier of ignorance where you don't know the person who's on the other side of the screen. And I did this time. Hannah's friend, Lila Nasser. It's something that's so overwhelming and so powerful

and you can't understand or fathom why anybody would do this. Law enforcement wanted to ask that very question to Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., who now sat in jail, formally charged with abduction with intent to defile Hannah Graham. He was not charged with murder. People have been calling for the death for Jesse Matthew before Hannah Graham's body was even found. This is showing the power of Twitter and not necessarily for good.

People were convinced of his guilt. While Matthew was behind bars in Charlottesville, a case 100 miles away in Fairfax, Virginia, ice cold for nearly 10 years, was about to heat up. I was getting ready to leave, go out of town to Georgia to a funeral. I was watching the video of Hannah Graham going through the mall down there. Detective Michael Boone had never stopped working that unsolved rape case from 2005

involving the victim known only as R.G. He'd had little to go on but the composite sketch of her rapist. Hey, we're searching for Hannah. But then, one day, he happened to glimpse news coverage of the Graham case. The person Charlottesville police most want to question is this man, Jesse Matthews. I saw the picture of Jesse Matthews and I saw the picture of the composite drawing. So, I mean, I knew they had the right person. You knew the second you saw his picture? Yeah. He had been looking at that composite for almost 10 years, and his gut told him that without question,

his rapist and Jesse Matthew were one in the same, that Matthew's DNA would match the unidentified DNA in his rape case. So Boone gets a search warrant and speeds off to Charlottesville to meet with his suspect. So you take this sample, and what did you do with the sample? I drove it to the Department of Forensic Science to the Citro lab in Richmond. A quick turnaround got an answer in a week. So the word was, look, you know, we need this. Well, they knew. They knew what we were dealing with. Yes.

What did you think you were dealing with? A very violent sexual offender. The results? A bombshell sexual offender. The results? A bombshell. Boone was right. Jesse Matthews' DNA matched that of the Fairfax rapist. I held out hope every year that he was going to get identified. It's just like, finally.

But there was more, because remember, the rapist's DNA matched DNA found on Morgan Harrington's t-shirt after her murder. Now, investigators knew whose DNA it was. Breaking news. We were able to confirm today that Jesse Matthew Jr. has been linked, forensic evidence has linked him to the Morgan Harrington case from 2009. Wow. You broke this. I did. We know that Jesse Matthew at some point made contact with Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington the night she disappeared and three months later was later found murdered. That's what we do know. It doesn't mean he did something. Fast forward to 2014 to Jesse Matthew and the Hannah Graham case. We know that police have forensic evidence that places her with him. What that is, we don't know.

We know she was with him. We know she was on tape with him. But the question is, did she leave in his car? That's what's not been made public. The key would be evidence showing what happened to Hannah after she was last seen at the restaurant with Matthew. Police searched his car within days of her disappearance and will say only that no blood was found. The state has in its possession a digital record from a cell tower from Hannah Grant's phone. possession, a digital record from a cell tower from Hannah Graham's phone. We also know that there's digital records from her Facebook account, Skype, Snapchat, Twitter, all those different

social media venues. But there's about 50 plus search warrants. So half of those we don't know about. But on October 20th, 2014, two days after Hannah Graham's remains were discovered, authorities indict Jesse Matthew, not for Hannah's murder, nor for Morgan's, but for the attempted capital murder, abduction, and sexual assault of the anonymous RG back in 2005, apparently feeling that the rape case was the strongest. It was bittersweet news for Jill and Dan Harrington. Why have there been no charges filed in Morgan's case? I think they're trying to, they want to finish prosecuting the Fairfax case.

So you fully expect that there will be? Yes, I do. To show their support, the Harringtons will be front and center at Jesse Matthews' upcoming rape trial. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, prosecutors are scrambling to build a solid case against Matthew for the murder of Hannah Graham. And pressure is building. Suspected killer Jesse Matthew was safely behind bars, but each passing day brought the question, when would he be charged with Hannah Graham's murder? On Monday, February 2, 2015, Jesse Matthew Jr. was indicted in Albemarle County for abduction and murder of Hannah Graham. It was five months after she vanished before prosecutors had the evidence they needed. What we don't know is what they found in his apartment. We can report this much, though.

In the second search of his apartment, police went in there for something very specific. And when asked if they got what they went in there for, they said, yes, we did. Those details presumably will come out in court. But relief that the Graham case was moving forward mixed with disappointment, especially, once again, in the Twitter sphere. When Jesse Matthew was first charged with first-degree murder, people were outraged.

Why weren't they going to go for the death penalty? Jesse Matthew Jr. was served that new indictment. That all changed three months later, when the Commonwealth attorney announced she would seek the death penalty after all. The Commonwealth received some additional forensic information in late February that led to this increase in charge. Was upping the charges to capital murder a strategic move or was that based on some bombshell evidence they may have had? They haven't told us. Charlottesville attorney Lloyd Snook

has been following the Graham case. Some other evidence. Maybe there's some DNA evidence that hadn't come back from the lab yet. In addition, there is a second analysis, and that is to weigh aggravating and mitigating circumstances. What would those be? Well, that's a long way of saying

that it was a really, really awful crime. Not just awful because all murders are awful, but something really, really bad. I want to see what happens when evil intersects with justice. Jill Harrington was at a pretrial hearing in Hannah Graham's case the day the change to the death penalty was announced. She supports the move. I really don't know what the justification for changing the charge is but some bad things happened. Lives were lost. As the years have gone by her daughter's case has seemed to be stalled despite that t-shirt DNA linking Matthew to Morgan. A trial for Morgan, we do want to have that day, but it really changes nothing in our lives.

Our lives are as empty. The pain that we'll have after a trial is the same pain that we have today. By spring of 2015, Matthew faced two trials, for the murder of Hannah Graham and for the 2005 abduction, sexual assault, and attempted capital murder of the woman known as R.G. And questions were raised about a Matthew connection to the Alexis Murphy case. Questions generated by attorneys for her convicted killer, Randy Taylor. They demanded evidence be tested for Matthew's DNA, just in case. We're fine with that. Let's say by the off chance they do find

Jesse Matthews' DNA in her car, it just means that he was also involved. It doesn't make Randy Taylor any less guilty than he is now. What do you think the odds of that are? Honestly, I think it's pretty slim. Trina Murphy, Alexis's aunt, was right. No DNA link with Matthew was found. You Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. Meanwhile, after nearly a decade, RG's case was moving forward. Attempt to kill RG in the commission. With hearings... How do you plead to that charge?

Not guilty. And finally, in June 2015, a trial with Jesse Matthews' fate depending on the DNA and on testimony from the anonymous victim, RG. She was hesitant. She was worried. Commonwealth attorney Ray Morrow. She is a very dignified woman from a different culture, very well educated, I might say brilliant, and she wanted her privacy. But at the same time, we tried to make sure she had the opportunity to get her voice heard. Since the rape, RG had moved back home to Asia to a new life. Seeking justice meant not only traveling halfway around the world,

but publicly reliving perhaps the most terrifying moments of her life. What do you think the specific impact was on her? The trauma, the trauma of it. It's just so violent. Detective Boone had always kept in touch with her, contacting RG with any news about the case. I picked her up at the airport, you know, I hadn't seen her in such a long time. She was nervous. She's going to see him in court and that's very stressful for a victim, very stressful. She did not want to be victimized again by some who might blame the victim. She didn't want people around her to know about it, and she didn't want it to define her.

She did nothing wrong. No, no. Here, we understand that, but some people don't. And the composite sketch RG helped put together back in 2005 posed a problem. The attack was at night. She was traumatized and predictably the defense insists that neither it nor an updated version looks anything like Jesse Matthew. So going into this then you have the sketch and you've got a victim you don't know how she's going to testify. Right. You're a little nervous as this starts? I try not to be nervous, but it's always a risk to have a jury trial. I was concerned. Justifiably so. We're moving along rather quickly, so that's a good thing. It was a move not many saw coming. The outcome of this trial, like everything else in these tangled cases, would defy everyone's predictions.

I'm kind of reeling. This wasn't just a rape case. This was a rape case that was tied to the Hannah Graham case. The trial of Jessie Matthew for attempted murder, abduction, and sexual assault takes place in the shadow of the Hannah Graham case. Although unlike Hannah, this victim, known only as RG, does survive. In June of 2015, she travels from her home in Asia here to Fairfax, Virginia for Matthew's trial, hoping to help put him behind bars and not just for herself. We thought about our victim in our case and Hannah and Morgan pretty much every day from the day that we found

out that this was our man. It strikes at your heart, you know, as a father myself, but just as a human being, I mean, I can't think of anything worse than attacking a woman or a child. Commonwealth attorney Ray Murrow was happy to have his case against Matthew go first, hoping to pave the way for future prosecutions for Hannah and for Morgan. I think every bit of testimony that was heard in this case, you were listening with the thought that could this somehow be related to these other cases? The judge allowed no cameras, but sketches and Neil Augenstein's tweets painted a vivid picture from the first moment R.G. walked into the courtroom. This was the first time that she was in the same room

with Jesse Matthew in 10 years. I and everyone else in the courtroom was looking to see who was making eye contact with who. Did she ever look at him? I never once saw her look at Jesse Matthew. Did he look at her? He looked at her the whole time. I think there was some expectation that at the trial she would sit there and go, you know, that's him.

Yeah, that was an issue. But she hadn't seen him in 10 years, so I wasn't going to press her on that. She came just a whisper from being murdered. And there in the courtroom, 20 feet from her, sits the man who tried to murder her. In a hushed voice, RG testified about that horrible night, saying her attacker picked her up from behind like a baby, and then she went on. He put me on the ground, and he sat on my legs, and he banged my head on he put me on the ground and he sat on my legs and he

banged my head on the grass on the ground he hit my face beat me I was screaming and yelling I think in first she was extremely nervous and admitted certain parts that she put in a part of her mind that she didn't want to bring back out but she knew she had to. I was punching him. I was trying to kick. He sealed my nose and my mouth with his hands, and he choked me. He was pulling my pants down. I was still struggling. She told the story. She didn't seek vengeance on the stand. He said, I will kill you. If you scream again, I'll twist your neck. Let me do this. I'll let you go.

The nightmare only ended, she said, when he dragged her into a ditch and ran off. RG was a very good witness. Also testifying was Mark Castro, the passerby who heard RG's cries that night. He found her confused and covered in blood. He got a neighbor to call 911 and stayed until the ambulance arrived. What did you feel was the most important thing that you needed to get across to the jury? Her condition. It was not a just a typical assault. This is attempted murder. She looked like somebody that was near dead. You wanted to be sure they understood how badly hurt she was. That's right. I'll look at the defendants to see if there's any emotion, expression.

There wasn't any from him. Unlike R.G., Michael Boone did look Jesse Matthew in the eye as the lead detective testified about how he got the vitally important sample of Matthew's DNA. I went through and explained to him how I collected it, put on gloves and then swabbed the inside of his mouth and took that back and submitted it to the Department of Forensic Science. DNA was pivotal to the trial.

Experts testified that the sample from Matthew matched what was found under RG's fingernail. How strong was the DNA evidence? What were the numbers? It was one in seven billion that it could have been anyone else but the defendant. So one in greater than the world's population. One in seven billion is pretty clear. That's a pretty good number. After two and a half days,

the prosecution rested and attention turned to the defense. The defense asked for a brief recess. The brief recess lasted longer and longer. What are you thinking during all this? At first, I just thought they were trying to decide whether they were going to put on a defense or not.

Then you see Jesse's family get taken in the back. Then you see them go back and forth. But then you see prosecutors just sitting there, so you're thinking there can't be a deal going on. Then you see his mom in tears. What's happening? It was at that point that Neil Augenstein, who at over six feet tall has a rather good vantage point,

noticed something else. I watched the prosecutors walking down the aisle, and I looked at the paperwork. It said Alford plea. So I went on Twitter and started tweeting that the defense and prosecution were handling printed copies of an Alford plea. Neal's tweets broke the story that there would be no jury verdict. Jesse Matthew would plead guilty, albeit a slightly qualified guilty.

They kind of threw the towel in on it, made a decision to plead Alford, which is a type of guilty plea where the defendant is allowed to say, the evidence against me is overwhelming, I'm pleading guilty, but I do not admit that I committed the crime. You did not offer this.

No, I never offered any plea agreement. You know, we wanted the jury to decide it. The only thing that he's gaining by doing an Alford plea here is not having to look at his mother in the eye and say, this is what I did. The plea stunned everyone, including Jill Harrington, who attended the trial to show support. RG is one exceptional human being. I applaud her courage and determination in finding her justice in this court building today.

The trial didn't end as expected, but the result was all that mattered. He's convicted, so we've done our job. He's off the street. We gave him no breaks. This is a good thing. In the end, the judge gave Matthew the maximum in this case. Three life sentences. For R.G., it was a difficult but triumphant trip. And before flying home, she had some business to attend to

with a man she had not seen since the night of the attack. She said, thank you for saving my life. Did you say anything else to her? I said, you're welcome. I just did what I thought was the best thing to do. RG also thanked Detective Boone, whose business card she kept in her wallet all these years. We went back into a conference room and she pulled it out and she said, I guess I should give this back to you now. And I told her to keep it. The RG case was closed, but suddenly justice for another victim was moving with shocking speed.

In your heart, did you think he'd be standing here today? Jesse! Yes. Jesse! Jesse! Reporters were stunned. He was sitting really close to the Harrington family and looked right at them as he left the courtroom. They're coming out right now. I gotta go.

Perhaps no one was more shocked than the Harringtons themselves at the Commonwealth attorney's blockbuster announcement. Missed indicted for first-degree murder and abduction with the intent to defile Morgan Harrington. It has been such a long journey. The charge is coming, finally, nearly six years after Morgan's death. It makes more real the fact that Morgan is dead and, yes, was murdered. He needs to know that justice is coming. To drive the point home, the Harringtons resolutely locked eyes with Jesse Matthew

as he walked past them in court. I wanted him to see this is the face of justice for Jesse Matthews because I've known and believed for some time that he killed our Morgan. Trina Murphy is there for support. God bless you Trinaina. I'm so sorry. The trial was set for October 2016 in the Harrington case. The maximum sentence in Harrington's murder is life in prison. If convicted for Hannah Graham's murder, Jesse Matthew could face the death penalty. The Hannah Graham murder trial was scheduled for July of 2016, a capital case with plenty of time for a plea. He can plead at any time up until he's found guilty. What's he got to lose? He's facing the death penalty.

That's a hard call. I will say he's got some good lawyers. You know, I think they'll fight it out. And with much of the evidence in the Hannah Graham case sealed, it's unclear how strong a case the state really has. We don't know what the evidence is, and they've actually been very careful in many ways to not put a lot of stuff out there. Based on what you do know, would you be surprised if this ever went to trial? Let's think about some of the circumstantial evidence issues here, okay?

What we think we know is that they were seen together, say, 1.30 at night, the night that she was last seen. Supposing the defense argues there's no evidence that he did anything to actually hurt her. That's a problem. Hannah's family has grieved in private, leaving comments about the case to others. Hannah's coach, Craig Maniglia. They're strong, and they will figure out a way to get around this. They won't get over it, but they'll go forward.

I can tell you the Grams want justice. As do friends like Lila Nassar. When you send your kids to college, you send them there to chase their dreams. Hannah didn't get that chance. Her last moments were at the mercy of a murderer, a monster. Hannah's dreams were on everyone's mind this past summer, when several of her UVA classmates took to the mountains, pausing on the majestic French Alps and the peaks of Tanzania to remember her.

We had dreamed of going to hike Mont Blanc, talked about this. 3,800 meters in the air. So we figured in a symbolic measure we would do this, bring her memorial there. This was on Kilimanjaro, a simple tribute, says Alan Kew, to an unquenchable spirit. She loved hiking, she loved skiing, so I always imagined her skiing through the clouds. Learning from these tragedies is of great importance to Jill Harrington. I think we are at a critical time.

There's a critical number of girls who have been killed or are missing from our area. Never let a friend leave an adventure. I will check on friends. To increase awareness, the Harringtons founded an organization, Help Save the Next Girl. We will help save the next girl. Jill believes that what happened to Hannah, Morgan, Alexis, and R.G. hits close to home for many young women.

That was always my intent, was to save the next girl. Unfortunately, we couldn't save Hannah Graham. Jill Harrington's crusade to protect young women continues. And as usual, Trina Murphy is at her side. From the day we found your story while following the Hannah Graham story, we have not ceased to grieve and pray for you.

Alexis's body still has not been found. It's now become bigger than just Alexis. And it's not about any one case or any one girl or guy. We have to unify. She is out there somewhere. And until we are able to bring her home, we don't have any closure. It's been 720 days, 1,051,000 minutes since the last time we got to see her beautiful face. In August 2015, the Murphys gathered for the second anniversary of Alexis' disappearance.

For her mother, it felt like yesterday. Just getting started in life. Hi. I never got pictures. I always wanted to see her dressed up to go to prom. I never got pictures. I always wanted to see her dressed up to go to prom. I'll never see that. Alright guys, it's 7-16 release! Families need to understand that you really have to work at keeping their story alive.

You just have to beat the drum, and it's the only way that we're going to ever affect change. This poem is called Metallic. Morgan Harrington's friend, Lindsay Crisp, found her own way to keep memories alive. See, she was supposed to be at a Metallica concert. In a raw and emotional piece, she wrote and shared at an open mic event. Do not let your girlfriends go out alone.

A few days after her video hit social media, Lindsay was reunited with Jill Harrington. Love you so much. I'm sorry it came to this, sweetie. On the Copley Bridge for the first time since Morgan's death. Last place where she was of her own volition. It's become kind of a memorial spot for us. So now the bridge is full of color and pictures and a sign that says justice. It felt good to be able to do something for her. And on the sidewalk, words of thanks to RG, the anonymous rape victim whose testimony and courage helped take a predator off the streets. She's the one that got away, and I'm sure she didn't feel like the lucky one, but thank God she did. She is the hero. I mean,

she came back from far, far away and relived this thing. She didn't have to do it, but at the end of the day, this was something she had to do for the next woman and also for herself as a woman, and we're all just so proud of her. But for those left behind without resolution, memories are tinged with heartache and with questions of what might have been. I really sort of thought Morgan would be an artist. I mean, she was just chock-a-block full of potential. I mean, she could just roll out of bed and be gorgeous.

Love to laugh. She was really, really funny. She achieved everything she could at the highest level she could achieve it. She was very smiley and silly too, which is what I want people to remember most of all. This warm, sunny, smiley girl full of life. We start tonight with breaking news in the Jesse Matthew case. A plea agreement reached. On March 2nd, 2016, just a few months before the Hannah Graham murder trial was to begin,

Jesse Matthew accepted a deal. Today, Jesse Matthew Jr. pled guilty to the first-degree murder of Hannah Graham. Guilty to the first-degree murder of Morgan Harrington. Morgan Harrington. In exchange for pleading guilty, Matthew no longer faced the death penalty. He will serve four consecutive life terms with no possibility of ever being released. Both the Harrington and the Graham families supported the plea agreement. I would say the primary emotion is relief. Finding justice for Morgan has been a burden on our family for six and a half years. Today's events do not bring Hannah back to us, of course. We miss her every day. At times like this, one has to draw comfort where one can. After the announcement, the Harringtons returned to the Copley Bridge,

this time to tie green ribbons on the railings as a symbol of new growth and going forward. Jill said it would be their final visit to the bridge where Morgan was last seen. You don't get over your daughter being murdered, but you can get past it, and we want to do that. Hannah's enduring gift to us all is that she enabled this wicked man to be apprehended and convicted. She did change the world, but at a terrible price. If alive today, Hannah Graham and Alexis Murphy would be 20 years old. Morgan Harrington would be 26. What do you think of the plea deal? Chat now on Twitter and Facebook. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

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