Bail hearing postponed for suspect in Virginia student's disappearance

Reuters

(Reuters) - A bail hearing for the suspect charged in the disappearance of 18-year-old University of Virginia sophomore Hannah Graham was rescheduled for Dec. 4, his attorney said on Wednesday. Jesse Matthew, 32, was initially scheduled to appear before the Charlottesville General District Court on Thursday through a video link. His attorney, Jim Camblos, said he requested the postponement. Police in Charlottesville, Virginia, have charged Matthew in the disappearance of Graham, who was last seen with him on Sept. 13. The case has shaken the college town in central Virginia and drawn national attention. Matthew has been recently linked to another woman's disappearance. Forensic evidence belonging to Matthew matched evidence collected during the investigation into the 2009 disappearance of a Virginia Tech student, CBS affiliate WTVR reported on Monday, quoting sources close to the investigation. Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, 20, disappeared in October 2009. Her remains were found in January 2010 on a farm in Albemarle County, Virginia. In a statement emailed to Reuters, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Matthew's arrest last week "provided a significant break in this (Harrington's) case with a new forensic link for state police investigators to pursue." WTVR also reported on Wednesday that Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia opened a disciplinary file against Matthew for an alleged sexual assault while he was a student and football player at the school in 2003, citing a school spokeswoman. Matthew was also the main suspect in a campus rape investigation the prior year while attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 2002, Mike Doucette, Lynchburg Commonwealth's attorney, said last week. The woman told authorities she had not consented to sex, but decided not to pursue the case. No charges were filed against Matthew, he said. (Reporting by John Clarke in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Eric Walsh)