Man charged in Virginia student's death indicted in second murder

FBI Agents escort Jesse Matthew from a plane at Charlottesville airport, in Charlottesville, Virgina, in this handout photo taken September 26, 2014, provided by the FBI. REUTERS/FBI/Handout

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former hospital worker already facing trial in the murder last year of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham was indicted on Tuesday in the killing of another college student who went missing in 2009.

Jesse Matthew Jr. was charged with first-degree murder and abduction with the intent to defile in connection with the death of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who disappeared after attending a Metallica concert in Charlottesville.

The 33-year-old suspect was expected to make an initial court appearance on the new charges on Wednesday, the Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney said in a written statement.

Matthew already faces a life sentence after entering a so-called Alford plea in the 2005 rape of a woman in Fairfax, Virginia. Under an Alford plea, a suspect concedes that there is enough evidence to convict but does not admit guilt.

The disappearance of Graham, an 18-year-old British-born sophomore at the University of Virginia, after a party stunned the campus and made nationwide headlines.

Matthew, the last person seen with Graham, was charged in February with first-degree murder and abduction with the intent to defile, and prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

(Reporting by John Clarke in Washington; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Eric Beech)