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EXCLUSIVE: LJ’s Timeline
The Hours Before LJ Met Hannah
“He kept trying to put his hands on my legs, above and below the knee,” the young woman says. “He’d been way too aggressive all night, putting his arm around me, picking me up, putting his hands on my legs. I looked at him and told him to keep his hands off of me.” They were in Tempo Restaurant on Fifth Street in downtown Charlottesville. It was shortly after midnight, in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 13.
The woman is a 25-year old resident of Charlottesville. The man is 32-year old Jesse “LJ” Matthew, who was arrested September 25 in Galveston, Texas on a charge of Abduction With Intent to Defile in the case involving the still-unexplained disappearance of second-year University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.
Hannah was last seen by an eye witness walking with LJ Matthew in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 13. She appeared heavily intoxicated, the witness told me, slouched against him, not quite able to walk on her own. They were seen together outside Tempo, the same restaurant where just about an hour before, another woman had told him to get his hands off of her. I ask that young woman what one thing she remembered most about that night. She thinks for a moment and says with a steady stare, “That he creeped me the fuck out.”
In the days since 18-year-old Hannah Graham went missing, investigators have managed to piece together a timeline of events that track her movements away from the University area, where she had socialized with friends, to Charlottesville’s popular Downtown Mall, a multi-block pedestrian thoroughfare, which is the heart of this small city of about 40,000. With the aid of eyewitness accounts, cell phone records, and surveillance video footage, we have been able to learn a great deal about where Hannah was that night in the hour or two before she was last seen.
What about LJ’s timeline? Where was he that night before a witness saw him with his arm around Hannah, heading off into the night? Using the information provided to me by a number of eyewitnesses, none of whom had yet spoken to any reporters— but all of whom had already talked with police in a timely manner — I have been able to piece together a partial timeline of events for LJ Matthew in the hours leading up to the disappearance of Hannah Graham.
What I have learned is this: throughout the night, LJ Matthew demonstrated a troubling lack of respect for the physical boundaries of women and men— or perhaps even a deeper lack of understanding that those boundaries exist.
Unprovoked, he suddenly grabbed a man in the Blue Light Grill and wrenched him into a wrestling hold so forcefully that he pulled the man’s hamstring, leaving this man limping for days. In the first few seconds of meeting two women for the first time, he yanked them up off the ground and threw them over his shoulders and laughed, making them uncomfortable and embarrassed. He continued to follow both these women, at the Blue Light and later at the Tempo restaurant, putting his arm around them, his face uncomfortably close to theirs, touching their backs, their hair, their faces, their legs— until one of them cursed at him to stop. After one of the women slipped off the boots she was wearing, LJ unexpectedly pulled off her socks, saying he wanted to see her toes. A friend of LJ’s for over nine years described him as a “prowler,” clarifying his use of the word by adding, “which is not to say he was looking for a victim, but looking for a girl who’s already compromised a little bit, maybe improve his chances.”
LJ Matthew’s behavior that evening— as reported by eyewitnesses and the people socializing with him— while quite troubling in light of the disappearance of Hannah Graham, the subsequent charges against him and his arrest, does not make him guilty of any crime with which he’s been charged. In fact, as one friend casually said to me during the course of my investigation, “He sounds like most men I run into when I’m out on a Friday night.”
3pm: The Hospital
Around 3pm Friday September 12, LJ Matthew wrapped up his working day at the University of Virginia Hospital, where he has been employed as a Patient Care Technician in the main operating room. One of his colleagues explained the job to me like this: “You are everyone’s assistant.” LJ was part of a team that was responsible for transporting patients throughout the facility, setting up and breaking down the main operating room for procedures. In several published media accounts, he has been described by those who know him personally as polite, quiet, helpful, respectful, and kind-hearted. One individual told me LJ always seemed like “a gentle giant.”
4-6pm: The Football Game
LJ was at the Covenant High School home football game on late Friday afternoon. A volunteer coach for the Covenant Eagles, LJ was cheering on the sidelines at that game, and watched his team crush Hargrave Military Academy 50-26, an exciting victory that included a thrilling third quarter in which the Eagles scored 24 points.
10pm: The Lazy Parrot Grill
LJ’s timeline picks up next at the Lazy Parrot in the Pantops Shopping Center, about a mile and a half from the Downtown Mall. Two witnesses confirmed that LJ came in at about 10pm that Friday night. They also confirmed that he is captured on an interior surveillance video camera, ordering one drink, and socializing with others in the bar. Eyewitnesses say he did not stay long. One said he was a regular, and that “he’s usually alone.”
11:45pm: The Blue Light Grill
Dave Johnson, a 33-year-old Charlottesville resident, has known and socialized with LJ Matthew for over nine years. He remembers going out that Friday night, September 12, and running into LJ at the Blue Light on the Downtown Mall.
“I went out with a big group of people that night,” Johnson says. “A couple of friends from out of town, friends from here, and some people I work with. There were about eight or 10 of us hanging out that night. We went to Fridays After Five, got some pizza, stopped by Sky Bar, and eventually ended up at the Blue Light around 11:30.
“LJ came into Blue Light by himself, I guess it was around 11:45. I recognized him coming in through the door.” LJ Matthew would be hard to miss at 6’2” tall, 270 pounds, with long dreadlocks. “I introduced him to my friends who were visiting, one of whom was a wrestler,” Johnson continues. “I knew LJ had wrestled in high school, so he would like that. Well, right away LJ shot in on the guy with a wrestling move, took him to the ground there in Blue Light. He pulled his head down to his leg into a standing cradle. My friend heard a pop and felt his hamstring go. So he was hobbling around all night, and for the rest of the weekend. It was an odd thing to do. It was an aggressive thing to do. It wasn’t really provoked. LJ just kind of did it.”
The Blue Light Grill, 11:55pm, Friday September 12. LJ Matthew is in the blue-and-white checked shirt.
Johnson raises his phone at 11:55pm and grabs a photo of the scene. In the image (at right) people are crowded around the Blue Light bar, and LJ Matthew is clearly visible from behind. According to eyewitnesses, he is wearing a checkered shirt over a burgundy tank top with baggy white cargo shorts and socks with Crocs.
Johnson also introduces LJ to two female friends, one of whom is an attractive, 25-year old African-American woman who has recently moved to Charlottesville.
“He immediately picked us both up and held us over his shoulders,” recalls Molly, who agreed to speak with me on the condition that I use a pseudonym. “I didn’t like that at all and told him to put me down. It was very strange. He put us down, and we sort of tried to move away from where he was. But he kept coming around, putting his arm around us and stuff like that.”
“He was being aggressive,” Johnson admits. “But it’s nothing I don’t expect from LJ.”
The Blue Light Grill, 12:05am, Saturday September 13. Jesse “LJ” Matthew is at right.
At 12:05am, Johnson captures another image on his phone (at left) which shows LJ standing with Molly. At that very moment, Hannah Graham is at a party with friends across town near the University.
Molly says she quickly grew tired of the uncomfortable advances from LJ. “I just didn’t like how he was grabbing my friend and I.” Hoping to leave him behind, Molly and her group of friends left Blue Light for Tempo. “But he followed us,” she says, despite the fact that no one in their group had invited him to come along. “But after we got to Tempo, he walked in the door right behind us.”
12:18am: Tempo Restaurant
Computer records at Tempo show that at 12:18am, LJ Matthew uses his Visa card to purchase three bourbon shots. He drank one and passed two to others at the bar, one of whom was Dave Johnson.
“There’s a range of his temperament,” Johnson replies when I ask about LJ’s behavior that night. “He was a little more aggressive that night than usual. But he’s been aggressive before. Sometimes he doesn’t know when to stop. He’s a pretty tough guy. Wrestling-wise, you’re not going to beat him. But it’s not something that you would ever extrapolate out and say that he’d have the propensity to rape or murder somebody.”
Molly recalls that she and a girlfriend sat at a table near the bar. “My friend had on cowboy boots, and they hurt her feet so she took her boots off. [LJ Matthew] walked over to her, took her socks off, and said “Let me look at your toes.” Molly says they didn’t know how to react to him, as he continued to be inappropriate.
“Then he came over to me and tried to touch my legs,” Molly says. “I told him no. He said, ‘I just want to see your feet, like her.’ I told him no. Don’t touch me, do not touch me. One time he reached above my knee, and the next time below my knee. I finally told him, don’t fucking touch me.”
Still concerned by LJ’s unwelcome behavior, and in a second attempt that night to leave him behind, Molly says she gathered up her friends, including Johnson, and they all left LJ there at Tempo to walk down the Mall to the Escafé restaurant on nearby Water Street. She remembers seeing LJ outside as they left, standing around a group of people near the front door. I ask if at some point he followed them. Did he show up at Escafé?
No, she says.
12:45am: Fifth Street, in front of Tempo
“I remember him dancing around out front,” Abby says. “He was being obnoxious, bumping into people. He seemed really out of place.” Abby, a 23-year old employee of Tempo who, like Molly, agreed to speak with me only if I used a pseudonym, was at the front door that night checking IDs beginning around 10pm. She remembers quite well interacting with LJ Matthew that night at Tempo.
“He came in alone,” she says. “He wasn’t really hanging out with any one group of people. He was dancing some. He was really sweaty. He kept coming out front to bum cigarettes from people who were smoking.”
“I was talking to this woman and her husband,” she continues. “I was talking with her about her hair, it was really short and pretty. I remember them because they had British accents. At one point, I remember [LJ Matthew] was dancing around outside, and he bumped into this British lady pretty hard, just as a way of getting her attention. He was kind of grabby with her, and asked her for a cigarette. Her husband was standing right there. He was like, ‘listen, you can’t treat people like that. You can’t just bump into someone. You need to ask politely if you want something.’ Someone finally gave him a cigarette, and I think he might have sat on the curb and had a few puffs before he got up and walked away. He was alone.”
That was a little before 1am. Hannah Graham was at that time walking up Market Street and turning onto Second Street in front of Fellini’s restaurant, where an eyewitness saw her and she was captured by surveillance video. She is walking quickly. She is only minutes away from meeting up with LJ Matthew.
1am: The Downtown Mall
LJ Matthew leaves Tempo by himself at about 1am. He walks up Fifth Street and turns left, heading west down the Mall. At about the same time, Hannah Graham has turned off of Second Street a few blocks away, and is walking east up the Mall in his direction.
Two surveillance cameras on the Mall, one at Sal’s Italian Restaurant and the other inside Tuel Jewelers, record what happens over the next few minutes.
In the Sal’s video, LJ is seen walking into view from the left just as two women are approaching from the opposite direction. He playfully high-fives one of them, and continues walking west. A few seconds later, Hannah appears in the same footage, walking east on the other side of the Mall. She is by herself.
Slightly off camera to the right, LJ crosses the Mall and merges in with a group of five people. He is walking east now, not too far behind Hannah. In the Tuel’s video a few seconds later, he can be seen walking directly next to Hannah, just to her right, and is keeping pace with her long stride.
An eyewitness reported seeing an African-American man walk up to Hannah about that time and throw his arm around her. I ask LJ’s long-time friend Dave Johnson if he believes LJ knew Hannah before that night. Did he ever mention her? Did he speak of her? Was she a known person among your circle of friends?
“No, not at all, not at all. I don’t know her,” Dave answers. “He never mentioned her. I don’t think he knew her. In fact, I’m fairly certain of it, because he walked up and threw his arm around her. That’s what he did to women when he was hitting on them. If he threw his arm around a woman like that, that was not usually a sign that he knew her. That was a sign that he didn’t. If Hannah knew him, she wouldn’t let him put his arm around her.”
According to investigators, LJ Matthew and Hannah Graham walked up the Mall together, turned right down Fifth Street and headed to Tempo. Within minutes, LJ was back at the Tempo bar, ordering two drinks.
1:10am: Back at Tempo
Abby, who had been checking IDs at the door since about 10pm, does not remember seeing LJ come back to Tempo just after 1am, which would have been only a few minutes after he’d left. Nor does she recall Hannah coming up to the door or asking to come inside. “I don’t remember her,” she says. “Not then. I saw her later.”
Tempo Owner and Chef Brice Cunningham disagrees with those who contend that Hannah Graham was inside his restaurant that night. “I have great respect for the Charlottesville Police,” he says. “I want to do everything I can do to help find Hannah. Everyone at Tempo feels the same way. We are all so upset about this. We want to help find her. But some people have been saying that they saw Hannah here at Tempo. No one I have spoken with, not my guests or my staff, remembers her being here that night.”
Chris Gallagher, who works with Brice to promote the popular dance events that are held at Tempo on Friday nights, agrees. “I never saw her here,” he tells me. “No one I know who was here that night remembers seeing her inside. I know Abby saw her outside after last call. Maybe she was outside waiting for LJ. I don’t know.”
Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo has said publicly that a single witness saw LJ Matthew and Hannah Graham together inside Tempo drinking together.
“It’s possible some people were confused,” Gallagher says. “Because most of the night there was a woman here with friends, sitting at the end of the bar, wearing a sequined crop top. But it wasn’t Hannah. It was a woman a few years older than Hannah, and she was shorter and chubbier. My guess is some people remember seeing that other woman here, and because they were dressed similarly, maybe they think that was Hannah. I’ve asked around. I haven’t talked to anyone who was here that night who remembers seeing Hannah inside drinking.”
What is not contested is the fact that LJ Matthew used his Visa a second time that evening at Tempo. According to the records that were shared with me by Cunningham, LJ ordered two drinks at 1:09am and paid for them exactly one minute later. The bartender rang them up at $7 a piece. Witnesses with whom I spoke do not recall whether they were beers or mixed drinks or one of each. And no one I spoke with recalls watching LJ drink one or both of those drinks. Nor does anyone recall him taking them outside to share with someone.
1:45am: Last Call
Abby does remember quite well seeing LJ Matthew and Hannah Graham walking away outside about a half hour later. “A lot of people were outside then,” she says. “It was a typical, crowded Friday night. I guess it was about 1:40 or closer to 1:45. I remember because it was definitely after last call.”
“He came out the side door,” she says of LJ Matthew. “I saw him come walking by and I thought, there’s that obnoxious guy from before. I noticed he had his arm around a girl. She was wearing a crop top.” Abby says it was days later, after she’d seen some video images on the news, that she recognized the girl. She learned that that same girl she’d seen on the Mall was a second-year University of Virginia student named Hannah Graham.
“When I saw her that night,” Abby says, “I remember thinking, she’s really drunk. She couldn’t walk well. She was slouched into him, leaning against him, like she was having difficulty standing up. He was talking to her, and his right arm was around her, not over her shoulder, not at the waist, but around her back and holding her right arm. He was holding her close, like he was almost holding her up. They walked away together up the street towards the Mall.”
That was about 1:45am on Saturday, September 13. That was the last time anyone remembers seeing Hannah Graham.
Coy Barefoot is a best-selling and award-winning author and investigative journalist. He is the host and producer of Inside Charlottesville, a radio and TV program. He also teaches history at the University of Virginia. You can learn more at coybarefoot.com.
Very good article!
The personality is a far cry from ‘The shy Gentle Giant’ that has been written about in other news reporting.
Thank You, A
The liberal media is trying to cover up for some more Black project scum like they always do.. He is nothing more then a Fat black Punk…
In Charlottesville there was a 17 year old African American girl abducted and murdered last fall by a white male, who is currently in prison for that crime.
Any race-baiting by you white supremacists will fall on deaf ears in the local area, as we have witnessed how white males prey on African American women.
What you white-supremacists will undoubtedly fail to mention is the fact that in all of these cases it is men preying on women. I’d love to hear you jump to a conclusion regarding that fact.
So true. Its out of control.
I blame her friends for letting him be near this beast.
@THE TRUTH Yeah yeah, blame it on the liberal media and perpetuate your cancerous racism, asshole. He’s no gentle giant but you look to be a waste of space just like him.
That is the truth. How could her friends let her walk off with some strange black man… and nobody wants to say the truth because they don’t want riots.
And you are nothing but a dumb inbred racist. What about the endless list of white serial killers in the books? Should we just focus on them being white??
Not to mention all of this guy’s reporting is based on what some drunk girls told him when he was fishing for something to write. Not real journalism when it can’t be confirmed.
That’s not very nice. You shouldn’t put people in pigeonholes. What if the media called you son or your brother a “FAT BLACK PUNK”…..No necessary to start the namecalling thing when you have no access to the real evidence of what really happened that night. Be nice. People on both sides are hurting horribly.
no. why don’t we stick to facts and evidence and let them fall where they may. it may be a fact that many people found LJ pleasant and a gentle giant. but if you’re printing that you need to also print the counter factual – and more relevant info – such as his behavior reported above, his rape accusation at Liberty, road rage assault, etc. why don’t you ditch the labels and deal with facts and evidence.
i grew up and went to school with numerous black project kids – and they were neither fat nor punks. your prejudice adds nothing relevant to the Jesse Matthew case – and in fact it may further entrench misguided folks who are defending him despite the known facts. let’s find out if he is a murderer, and put out all the facts that help us find that out.
Great investigative reporting and details of his behavior put this guy’s character in perspective. Any substance to the cover up of his attempted rape while at Liberty Univ.?
Wonder if the creep slipped her a date rape drug in a drink.
Juries will not hear any of this stuff unless they have some evidence to support that he raped Hannah. Right now – they really don’t have anything at all. That’s why trials do not occur in the media – or even blogs.
we don’t know what they have right now. and nobody is conducting a trial. these witness reports as to the disturbing behavior of the suspect on the night when he was the last person to be seen with Hannah Graham alive – are quite instructive. quite valuable. This “Blog” might be the most instructive thing on the case any of us have read yet.
If Liberty would have done their job correctly (watch them come out to cover their tails later on), none of this would have happened. This murderer who is no more than sewage sludge would have been on the radar as a sex offender and would have been nailed right after the rape in Fairfax. Morgan would be alive. Hannah would be alive. And maybe many others.
What did Liberty fail to do? The local Police and DA investigated and decided that there was nothing to Prosecute. Matthew lfet the school within two months a disciplanry hearing and a decision that he needed to move on?
Nice write-up, Coy. Thanks.
Yes. Good write-up. It sounds like the guy is a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who’s trigger maybe alcohol. I knew a dude who was quiet and shy, a real introvert, around guys and girls. But when he got drunk, he became obnoxiously aggressive with women and rambunctious around guys. It happened on multiple occasions. Was the strangest thing.
I believe you are right….alcohol really shows true colors
Odd, everyone has such great recollection until it comes to the question of whether or not Hannah was in Tempo.
Convenient that they don’t have any cameras. They must not be afraid of getting robbed, unlike other businesses in the area, and the students living off campus.
Perhaps Tempo is covering their back side by claiming she wasn’t in the bar—she was only 18. If she had a drink inside the bar, that wouldn’t bode well for Tempo.
Exactly. Everyone has great memories of everything except the actual details of that night. Sounds like a couple of girls who just want to be part of the story rather then actually providing any real experiences.
You sound like an apologist for a serial killer.
True journalist. Thank you..
The Washington Post is reporting that “he wasn’t aggressive, he wasn’t unpleasant.” I wish they’d talked to the women you did. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/bond-denied-for-man-accused-in-case-of-missing-u-va-student-hannah-graham/2014/09/25/f32b10cc-44b1-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html
Thanks Coy for assembling this and it say much about You that people will speak with you instead of others.
Certainly Tempo won’t admit an 18 year old was drinking in there! No surprise there.
Great Work
Hannah’s erratic behavior and her compliance with LJ seems like that of a girl who might have been Roofied (Rohypnol). Perhaps that is why she left the.frat party alone and ran all over town disoriented? Symptoms of this drug aren’t always just sleepiness. It causes intensified sensation of drunkeness, euphoria, dreamlike state and confusion.
I completely agree. Or could be drug Molly which can have other horrible things in it. I was also thinking she may have been in a drunk blackout…and perhaps drank red Bull or had recreational ritalin. She was too amped up to have it just be alcohol. In black outs, u don’t necessarily behave like u normally would.
yep. I have thought since watching the various video clips of her walking/running around that she seemed out of it, all right, but not in a “drunk” way. more like somebody slipped her something weird earlier in the evening. “extremely drunk” does not fit how she appeared, moved, and acted prior to encountering Messe Matthews. it’s off, all right, but “extremely intoxicated” isn’t it.
The party she went to should have never let her leave alone in that Condition.. When i was at a party or a bar a women like this had to be taken home by another person and made sure she was safe…. Women that are so called out of it can not be out on any street that late at night…. When she text her friend she was lost and not far from where she lived the next thing that should have been done is a 911 call and find her.. What a big mistake not finding her right then…
The symptoms also resemble drunkenness, which is by far the more likely scenario here. In four years on UVA’s social scene, I never encountered rohypnol nor heard any substantial story involving it. There’s plenty of booze around grounds though, and Graham was reported drinking throughout the night, so I would lean towards alcohol as the substance at hand here, rather than making an unsubstantiated leap to another substance that isn’t 1% as common around UVA.
I’ll banter here, as another UVA person I did encounter rohypnol twice. Once in a cup of a hot chocolate given out a dorm by someone I knew and once at a frat party. There’s no bad ending to those stories (thankfully), I was in a tight friend circle who were on top of things and very aggressive to anyone who showed up to our residence. I also was an RA and it was something we watched for and was something the campus was aware of and working to prevent.
I was in my last year when Morgan Harrington went missing and participated in the search parties. For this article, I really appreciate the journalism that has gone into it, framing things with sources while not accusing. I’ll definitely visit inside cville again since this isn’t “sensational news”, but actual investigation.
Or like the state of someone who has been banging down alcohol.
The best reporting I’ve read so far on this sad case. Thank you.
But the Tempo people say she was waiting outside for him while he was inside drinking. Why would a drunk girl who was just texting her friends about finding another party wait outside for this guy if she didn’t know him?
Keep in mind that she was 18 and not 21, and legally should not have been allowed to drink inside a bar. In one of the camera videos she is seen being turned away by at least one pub owner/bouncer. It seems like she had already been drinking at the party she attended and may have been inebriated. We will have to wait until December to learn more about what the C’ville police have in this case. Relying on the unofficial testimony of people who were partying that night won’t be as persuasive as any concrete evidence that may have been located.
In the meanwhile, send best wishes to the families who are struggling at this time. This is a personal nightmare for them and not just another blip on the news.
It’s pretty sad and disappointing how the owners and management of Tempo are on a mission to keep anyone from thinking that Hannah was in their restaurant that night, when it’s quite obvious that she was there. They’d rather avoid the uncomfortable scenario of an underage UVA student drinking in their bar, and leaving their establishment intoxicated, than do the right thing and help the police.
I totally agree Paul.
Serving underage persons a drink is not a felony. Probably just a fine. And, if she left with someone, why should they feel obligated to help? If she went in with him and left with him – then why should the restaurant think that she was in danger? No one else seemed to think so. You are going from the present to the past. Go from the past to the present with the information the people had at the time.
That Bar would get much more then a fine if it is proven she had been inside and drank alcohol… it would get shut down Im sure…
And they could face a civil liability suit from the family. They’re trying to cover their asses.
Actually, you often just get a fine for a single violation like this. It takes numerous violations over an extended period of time to get shut down.
I think the social stigma would go a lot farther than any legal consequences here. If it came out for certain that she was drinking there underage and then left with a killer Tempo would shut down simply from lack of patronage, which I suspect is going to happen anyway.
What’s more unfortunate than the Tempo staff’s CYA efforts? That they are not even necessary, but they do prevent the police from getting an accurate timeline on both of their movements. Why are they not necessary — anyone can get past an ID check with a fake ID. And, as for serving HG alcohol — they didn’t. As every credible eyewitness states — LJ bought the drinks himself at the bar.
Coy, thank you for tracking down all of these people (potential witnesses) and building this insightful timeline. Your reporting is succinct and concise.
This is assault. Let me repeat that – this is ASSAULT.
Grabbing a man in a wrestling hold and tearing his hamstring? That’s assault. Fondling women’s feet and legs? That’s assault. Taking young women and throwing them over your shoulder? That’s assault.
People might say no, this is just people out drinking and rough housing. Alcohol or no, if I walked into Chik-Fil A, Target, or Best Buy and put someone in wrestling hold, fondled women’s legs, or threw people over my shoulder – I would be charged with assault, and in jail.
Call it “groping” or “mauling” if you want (pretty it up and excuse it with any alcohol fueled description that suits you) – it is still ASSAULT!
Any nobody put a stop to it. They all stood there and did NOTHING to defuse this, except for the one guy who said “Listen, you can’t treat people like that. You can’t just bump into someone. You need to ask politely if you want something.” Dave Johnson who claims he is LJ’s “long-time friend”, did nothing. It would have been so easy for him to shut everything down, take LJ aside and say “You’ve had to much to drink Jesse, you need to go home, sleep it off, and go to church tomorrow”. The entire night and series of events could have been defused if someone had been brave enough to talk this guy down. But nobody did a goddamn thing. Nobody…
Actually, it’s battery. Assault is something different under Virginia law. But I see your point.
Totally agree with this comment. It is this EXACT scenario, this drunken debauchery, the aggressive “drink till you black out” culture which isn’t challenged at UVA that creates the environment perfect for these types of crimes. Is there no honor code with these students? Sounds like a bunch of slobs to me.
And yes, I know UVA isn’t unique but on the heels of Yardley Love…who would have benefited by someone with a moral compass speaking up…it sickens me.
Chris, you are EXACTLY right. As a young woman who has spent her fair share of nights out at the bars in Charlottesville, I cannot tell you how many men have thought that it was okay for them to touch me or one of my friends the second they met us. I can’t tell you how many guys have just come up to me and put their arm around me just like LJ did with Hannah. People need to be taught that this is NOT okay! It doesn’t matter where you are, how much you’ve had to drink, whether the person you are touching is male or female. It’s NOT okay. And when guys act like that, their friends just watch, stand there, sometimes even laugh. “Oh that’s just typical Joe right there, always going after the ladies.” That’s always the attitude they have as they watch their friend harass someone. Not once have I ever seen a guy tell his friend not to touch other people while they were drinking. A complete stranger will do it sometimes, but not the friends.
Reading this is making me sick, having had my share of nights out, and being a bigger man myself, 6”3 215. This is the type of guy who bullies people and needs to be either grabbed by the throat while doing this stuff or put in his place, this behavior that he exhibited inside the bars this night was nothing new, and he has done it before!!! (How many times)! I am a father and a husband and this story about Hannah is horrifying!!! I pray for her and her family..
This bully didn’t run to Texas for no reason!!!! Great report!!! If someone did something about his behavior ever before maybe we would not be here!!! He feels because of his size he can do whatever he wants the bar should have thrown him out the minute he grabbed that girls feet!!! Shame on them!!!!!! And shame on his buddy Dave for doing NOTHING, I know if one of my friends was being a creep, I would say something!!!!!
I agree. When I was reading about this chain of events, I kept thinking how strange it was that no one said anything more forcefully to him. Clearly, this obnoxious, invasive behavior is part of his personality, and not just an anomaly.
“In fact, as one friend casually said to me during the course of my investigation, “He sounds like most men I run into when I’m out on a Friday night.””
No one said or did anything because this kind of behavior is common, any woman that has ever been to a bar has experienced men acting this way.
It’s accepted.
Sad but true.
i havent seen many guys like that…. If I did he was quickly put in his place and thrown the F-out….
You must be blind or isolated from “The Truth”.
I am a 56 year old woman and I have witnessed this kind of behavior by men all my life, often in the best establishments by well-off and educated men.
And no one “puts him in his place and throws him the F-out”.
It is accepted, usually laughed about or ignored but never confronted by self styled heroes like yourself.
Many men would even say women are “asking for” that kind of attention when they dress nice and go out drinking.
A truer statement was never typed. That behavior is far too common and definitely contributes to rape culture. Overstepping women’s personal space and physical boundaries is so normalized in certain settings that people act as if you are the one behavely poorly when you object. So sad but true.
I agree this is the best article I have read so far on this heart wrenching story. I also agree with Chris we need to be there more for others. Jesse should have been held accountable with his actions early that night. I wonder how Hannah’s friends feel now? I would hate to think that I texted my friends that I was lost at night,alone and no one helped!
I couldn’t agree more. Assaulting that many people in one night takes a narcissistic, sociopathic, personality. No regard for others. No regard for proper boundaries.
Exactly, Chris. Where the hell were the many other people who could have put a stop to his behavior? Responsible bar owners intervene when their customers are being harassed. Friends stick together and watch out for one another. Especially when there is such a disparity between physical size and strength, real men don’t allow women to be treated in such a disgusting manner-whether it’s a girlfriend,acquaintance,or a complete stranger. A lot of people messed up here.
Maybe there was a lot of Guys Like Bill Clinton in those Bar’s that night…. Only after one thing and cares about nobody….
You right wing p.o.s.
It’s nice to see a right winger standing up against rape culture, unfortunately the only guys they seem to care about are those politically opposed to them.
They don’t vote for equal pay or VAWA, but they think calling out Bill Clinton always adds to the debate.
The majority of women continue to vote for their own best interests while old white guys are stuck in the past and don’t understand why they can’t win a national election.
Unless they figure out how to gerrymander the entire country, the changing demographics are going to put them out of business.
Actually, I had already read about these people in a major newspaper.
Grabbing the random man in a wrestling hold is battery, not assault, and battery is worse than assault.
LJ sounds like a predator. It’s sad that so many women go to college with absolutely no street smarts. It’s a shame LJ was finally captured as he may be as serial rapist/murderer.
Unfortunately I think what this comes down to is discomfort and even fear. LJ made people uncomfortable and they simply did their best to avoid dealing with him. It’s clear that this “Dave” person wasn’t really his friend, but an acquaintance at best. His group left two establishments in order to avoid LJ. I think we’ve all encountered guys like this. They’re usually on the outskirts of any community or group, socially awkward and inappropriate. Most people would much rather just avoid him instead of getting involved. Let’s be honest for a moment. Taking the time to sit someone down and tell them to “cool it, go home, etc…” requires a certain amount of personal investment in someone. People will usually only step in when they see malice. If he just seemed to be trying to have a good time, no matter how inconsiderately he was doing it, his intentions didn’t trigger anyone’s alarm bells. There really ARE tons of guys that come across just like this in bars across the world every night. LJ was a big guy. It’s going to take something pretty obviously violent for people to step to him.
What a stunning piece of reporting. Thank you, Coy, for doing all this legwork and pulling it together so expertly. This gives us a pretty precise time when she was last seen–much different from “about 1:15 or so.” And more than that, of course, we now see how Matthew was acting that night. How he has acted otherwise–even earlier that day–is immaterial. And that’s what your report reminds us of.
Lest anyone make fun, by “pretty precise” I mean perhaps not precise to the minute, but much closer to exact than “sometime after 1:15 p.m.”
Great journalistic investigating and writing! Thank you.
Coy,
This is outstanding work. If you are taking requests, can you verify whether Hannah’s last text was at 1:06 am or 1:20 am? Both have been reported.
If it was 1:06 am, then it was right when we see her at Sal’s (maybe right after, giving Jesse the chance to catch up). The text that she is lost at 14th and Wertland would reinforce how inebriated she was at that time.
If it was at 1:20 a.m. then it was after Jesse bought the two beers at Tempo but before they left together. Perhaps it was Jesse sending the text on her phone to throw a red herring across the trail of anyone trying to figure out where Hannah went missing.
I wondered if she had keyed in that text earlier when she was was actually in the 14th and Wertland area at one of the two parties she attended, but then found the venue and never hit send. She could have been trying to text at 1:20 but couldn’t manage it and accidentally hit the ‘send’ button. Just an idea.
But if she found the party she was looking for then why didn’t she go to it? Instead she went to Tempo with Jesse Matthew and the Tempo people claim that she waited outside for him while he was inside having drinks, then when he left she went with him. Very strange.
Really good job uncovering details and providing much needed context. I agree that Mathew was far from the “gentle giant” (really tired of that phrase), that others have described. He seems to have been obnoxious and boorish, especially with women, and there are many indications that it would have been better if these issues had been confronted long ago. Perhaps an example of Political Correctness run amok… Again?
What I don’t understand in the comments is the desire to paint Tempo as part of the problem. I was there that night, and it was just as described: a small crowd at the bar and on the dance floor, a young woman at the door checking ID’s. I left a little early and did not see either Mathew or Hannah and have spoken with no one who did.
Perhaps the commentators have never been there: Tempo is an upscale and fairly pricey French influenced restaurant with exquisite food, and Is a beautiful, boutique place to drink and dance. It is hardly targeting the undergraduate crowd. You just don’t see them there, and everyone is ID’d.
Pardon our confusion. In my experience, “restaurants” don’t card at the front door. They allow everyone in (including children) and card at the table prior to serving alcohol. “Upscale” restaurants or bars don’t promote congregating or groups of smokers at their front door and they certainly wouldn’t allow patrons outside their establishment to continually be accosted by a large, drunk idiot bumming cigarettes. They ask the idiot to leave or call the police. Which is more likely, that Hannah (in her clearly incapacitated condition) waited outside with this group of people without anyone seeing or interacting with her or that she was in the bar and drank the second drink that LJ purchased? It is just not logical that she was headed to join her friends and was at one point running, but now she waits 10, 20 or more minutes while someone she’s never met is inside drinking. The Tempo owners motivation is clearly to prevent lost business or a wrongful death or similar lawsuit. If he continues these public statements hopefully it backfires.
Not at night after the kitchen closes. Then they card. Same thing with all the restaurant bars I know.
Ok, so if tempo is such an “upscale, boutique” restaurant and bar, why did they let a clearly intoxicated Hannah in? That is not a sign of a classy place. The owner of Tempo is a liar. He starts out his open letter about the events of the night by stating Hannah’s name wrong (“Heather Graham”!), really? He can’t even get her name right? Then, there are eye witnesses who were at the bar at the the time between 1 and 2 am, who SAW Hannah inside the bar. That makes sense given the credit card receipts from LJ saying that he bought 2 drinks at that time. Only a fool would think he bought them for himself. So sad that the tempo owner is trying to hide his shady business practices and thus keeping the police and public from finding out what really happened that night! Shameful.
I agree, I was also at Tempo that night…I love going there, its a fun place to hang out. In fact I know almost all of the people in this article (even the people with a pseudonym). No I did see not Hannah, but people need to stop blaming Tempo. I was ID’d and I’m 40 years old, they did their job.
No matter how careful Tempo may have been checking IDs, if Hannah drank there, they would certainly lose their license.
Methinks Quicksilver works at Tempo.
Did he change clothes before he was seen in the Sal’s video? Or is it too hard to tell from the b/w footage?
I agree – I thought the outfit was all white, and in the earlier picture he has a maroon undershirt and green and white collared shirt.
Mike — that is what I was wondering. He is wearing different shirts in the picture in this story than in the video from the downtown mall.
I wondered the same as it looks like a different shirt and the tshirt underneath is dark.
It looks like a white shirt in the surveillance videos.
How do we know that it’s the same guy in those two videos? They are definitely wearing completely different clothes, and in one report (not Coy’s), the suspect was being described as being a bald or shaved head man with a goatee then we discover that Matthew is the suspect–and he has a head full of long dreadlocks. In the Washington Post article another local man said others kept coming to him saying that he looked like Matthew. The only thing those two had in common is that they were both black men with dreadlocks. All blacks don’t look alike, contrary to what others may think.
He appears to have made a shirt change from the time he was at Blue Light earlier trying to pickup women his own age to no avail. The snap shows him in a blue and white checked shirt, but later in all white when he is seen in the video at Downtown Mall. Wouldn’t it be just like a hospital employee to get into his scrubs before getting messy?
Tempo said he was there 2x that night, where is the Tempo footage? it would be interesting to see if he did in fact do a wardrobe change and it appears on the second Tempo video. I read on CBS that they do indeed have footage of them leaving together though I have not seen it anywhere.
I also suspect he was at Grady’s earlier when Hannah ran by and tried to get in.
Surveillance camera images are in black & white, the grainy images make his blue & white checkered shirt appear white on the video.
This is excellent reporting. Perhaps the follow up piece should be Jesse Matthew’s timeline between the morning of September 13 until he showed up at the Police station a week later. A timeline of his whereabouts during this period might provide some clues about where to look for Hannah Graham.
In all honesty, if this guy went out and saved a family in a burning house or won a $10M scratch-off ticket at 2:00 a.m., I bet the interview with the girls from the bar would have said he was the most charming guy of all time. But when you’re asking what someone thinks of the suspect for a murder, obviously the perception of him is going to shift. While comprehensive, this reflection of the night’s events feel sensationalized. As do the dropped assault charges, which sound like maybe the lawyer was more than just an innocent random victim.
THIS IS SOME GREAT REPORTING. I, HAVING BEEN AN ABC AGENT FOR MANY YEARS, UNDERSTAND WHY TEMPO DOESNT WANT TO ADMIT THAT HANNAH WAS IN THEIR PLACE. DID JESSIE ORDER TWO BEERS OR TWO MIXED DRINKS. $7.00 EACH FOR BEER SEEMS A LITTLE HIGH. I BELIEVE HANNAH WAS IN THERE WITH HIM AND HE ORDERED HER A MIXED DRINK. ALSO I WOULD HOPE THE POLICE ARE CHECKING INTO THE FRAT PARTY SHE ATTENDED EARLIER. IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE GOT HER DRUNK THERE OR DRUGED HER.
It’s just a case of water bottles. Please don’t shoot. And for goodness sakes stop yelling.
In all honesty, if this guy went out and saved a family in a burning house or won a $10M scratch-off ticket at 2:00 a.m., I bet the interview with the girls from the bar would have said he was the most charming guy of all time. But when you’re asking what someone thinks of the suspect for a murder, obviously the perception of him is going to shift, likely dramatically. While I really appreciate the comprehensive timeline, this reflection of the night’s events feels sensationalized. Ditto the dropped assault charges, which sound like maybe the lawyer was more than just an innocent random victim.
Even so, it sounds like he was a guy who needed to see a psychologist, but for over a decade friends and family let him drift from star athlete to 32-y.o. loaner who was expelled from college. Those around him watch him fall into despair and apparently did nothing.
I know someone who knows someone who knows Jesse M., and word is that he does come across like a nice guy. Note that the timeline has him start drinking at 10 p.m., and who knows if he started earlier? My guess is that he is a straight-up alcoholic who is a “bad drunk.” He could have been the one in a blackout state that night. Maybe he doesn’t even know what he did, just that he did something.
Great post. One of the few rational people who can recognize Barefoot’s article is not “reporting” its a blog post based on what some random girls told him, that also can’t be confirmed.
The ‘girls’ are eyewitnesses who are adult women and who confirm each other’s stories. Additionally, the men in the bars are also eyewitnesses who are adult men who confirm what they and others saw that night.
Great article, Coy. It’s very insightful.
I love how this “Abby” character saw how drunk and disorientated Hannah was, yet chose to do nothing about it. She let Hannah walk away with the same man who she earlier described as “obnoxious”, “alone”, and “really out of place”.
Just because she was 18, and they don’t want to take heat for serving a minor alcohol, they chose to not intervene, when they could have possibly stopped all of this from happening. This “Abby” should be ashamed of herself, and the entire city of Charlottesville should be boycotting Tempo for their lack of concern of Hannah Graham.
Coy, I have been following your show on the radio in this regard and find you to have some of the most compelling guests who are sharing information that we have heard nowhere else. Thank you for staying on top of this story in a way that gets to the heart of what may really have happened without being afraid to step on some toes to deliver it. Thank you for your honest reporting.
Not to excuse LJ’s behavior, but I sort of wonder if he had enough head injury in his admittedly brief football career to cause this impulsiveness and aggression?
It seems to me that the bar is lieing about Hannah being inside when she was seen leaving. Seems they are trying to cover there butt on serving her alcohol when she was under age and already very intoxicated. The comment about the girl at the end of the bar wearing to same type of shirt but she was older. They need to tell the truth. Finding Hannah is the most important thing right now not worried about getting in trouble.
I’m sorry, was this article written by a high school girl? Because that’s what it seems like. It’s pretty pathetic that no one is allowing the police to just do their jobs, without adding their worthless two cents and speculations. The media has nearly destroyed any hope of Hannah’s family getting justice with their premature convictions of this man. Let the police do their jobs, and learn to write an article that is more than just mean girl gossip. Imagine how this man’s family is feeling, I hope you feel good about adding insult to their injury.
Your statement is ridiculous, this article provided more information than anything else I have read to date. The police are BEGGING for any bit of information from the public to help solve this case. The timeline of LJ Matthew’s movements and interactions the day leading up to his meeting Hannah Graham is the kind of background information we all need to know to put together the pieces of the puzzle — what kind of man he is, his history around town by people who know him, the way he behaved with other people this particular night. The fact that the last time anyone saw her before she disappeared off the face of the earth was when she was seen staggering off into the night with this man is important information. He should be cooperating in every way possible, detailing every minute of his interaction with her, including an explanation of how he parted ways with this young woman who could not even stand up on her own, let alone get back to the safety of her home! Call it premature conviction, but an innocent man does not flee the police and end up on the border if he has nothing to hide. Finally, can’t believe anyone is “feeling good” about adding insult toward his family’s “injury”. While surely they must be feeling terribly sick in their gut about now, after all, they know this oft described creep better than anyone else, the real injury being suffered is by the family of Hannah Graham.
Two references in this comment to “reporting like a girl” are just the kind of sexism that is unhelpful here. Totally agreed that the police need to be allowed to do their jobs but I don’t see how Coy’s article is preventing that in any way.
Timeline article scrutinizing the prime suspect, and any suspicions deduced from the community, is compelling information for anyone seeking the truth about what happened. Don’t see anything wrong with readers expressing honest conjecture of the events of that day, though something does seem wrong with the demeaning sexist comments.
It’s always really hard on the rapists and murderers families.
Poor dude bro.
Most detailed reporting of the events thus far that has been released to the public. His demeanor is very important to this case. Excellent job! I just wish he would come forward and tell them what he knows. This is heartbreaking. Thanks.
Was her cell phone turned off and if so at what time? I assume so since they have not located it. I am so sorry for this child and her family.
Excellent portrayal of a predator grown arrogant by unchecked outrageous behavior. I am curious about Matthew’s whereabouts subsequent to the 1-something sighting at the D.T.M. Did he show up for his next scheduled shift at work? When was that? When was he first seen by the reported “roommates” at his apartment on Saturday morning? When did anyone at the apartment complex first see the car, post midnight on Saturday a.m.?
Those are all really good points and I was very curious as to what the whole ordeal was with his “roommates”. I was thinking this because when Morgan Harrington disappeared two witnesses said they saw her in the car with 3 guys (and he had two roommates). It seems to coincidental for his two roommates to have NO clue what is going on and also the fact that if the two guys with him in the car with Harrington were his roommates, if they were so “innocent” the second they knew she was missing you don’t think they would have come forward and said they were with her that night? I think Jesse Matthew is the culprit especially in Hannah Graham’s case but I find it very unsettling that his two roommates haven’t been aggressively pursued as well (or maybe they have)and that they immediately up and moved out likely breaking lease agreements.
I’m curious about his roommates, too. Where were they during all this?
I agree that it seems that that text she sent that she was “lost” would have possibly/probably fakely sent by the abductor as a way to throw the friends off her path.
Excellent journalism on this. The one thing (well, actually the whole thing is bizarre) that has confused me from the beginning about this case is that in the surveillance videos there seem to be a lot of people on the mall at the time Ms. Graham is there. Have you been able to find anyone that was either in the Tempo restaurant or outside that spoke to her or can at least describe her condition? If they were spotted leaving together at 1:45, then that means she was in a well populated area for close to 30 minutes. Somebody must have noticed her!
I will second the request from MIKED.
Does anyone know more about those texts that supposedly came from her phone in the 1am-1:30am timeframe? That’s very confusing and could be interpreted many different ways.
Gentle giant is the perfect way to describe him actually. When family members and myself read this today and later discussed we found that the actions everyone portrayed were very much LJ. The problem is that if you dont know him them you dont know his intentions. I remember as a teen my dad wearing a cowboys sweatshirt and LJ playfully punching him in the belly. The action meant to be be funny took the wind out of my dad. Lj had no intention of hurting my dad, did so without realizing the strength behind what he did. Im not down playing how uncomfortable these ladies said he made them feel but all of us girls were like thats what he does to us everytime he sees us. Throws his arm around us, over the top bear hugs and tosses us over his shoulder. He can be a bit much aandoften people dont know how to tale him but he does not do these things out of disrespect. They are done out of playfulness and a lack of common sense.
That comment was Bullshit.. you know when your hurting someone.. You can see it on your face…
I agree that people should know, but they will only know if they bother to pay attention to how the person is reacting. But sadly – plenty of people don’t pay any attention to how they are affecting the other person. Just like when a person says to leave them alone – the person should stop. Way too many people who have no concept of personal boundaries – either having them or respect them.
No, not everyone knows that. Some people are socially oblivious like that. I think it’s possible this guy was the type that had 2 very different personalities when drunk vs. sober. Sober, he was probably playful and sometimes, unintentionally a little rough, but overall able to socialize/get along in society. Drunk, on the other hand, his playfulness turned to aggression and his social obliviousness turned into unwanted sexual advances and possible aggression when rejected.
It does seem like there is something wrong here – a guy maybe non too bright who can’t recognize normal social cues, whose personality gets amped in a violent, aggressive way when combined with alcohol. I knew an alcoholic guy in HS like this – sweet and gentle when sober, but scary at parties and social gatherings when drunk. And blackouts are a definite possibility.
Sounds like he really WAS like Lennie in “of mice and men”.
Gentle people do NOT punch other people.
Coy,
Thank you for caring and being persistent in your investigative journalism.
I’ve never been to Tempo but is it possible that Jesse went into Tempo and could let Hannah in through the side door? As said, he apparently left through the side door. I just can’t believe that he would walk with Hannah to Tempo and just leave her outside while he goes in and has 2 drinks and then is seen leaving holding Hannah up as they walk away leaving there. From seeing her walk and run just fine before Tempo (in the surveillance videos) to leaving barely being able to walk as said by witnesses, something majorly happened in that time being at Tempo.
He said he bought her drinks there. I believe she went in with him to get acholol since she was turned down at the Grady bar
What kind of respectable “Bar” lets a guy order two ($7.00 expensive) mixed drinks without the other person being present? Especially at last call?
I think he took one to Hannah and laced it beforehand. It would be easy to hide a substance in a mixed drink rather than a beer? This is why the door girl notices he was “holding her up by her arm” not around her waist.
He was already turned down and rejected by women his own age and Hannah was an easy target.
Where are the cameras at Tempo? Inside or Outside? Was Jesse Matthews at Grady’s earlier? She looks like she running to meet a hook up? LJ? Maybe drugs.
He probably promised her something (weed or aderral?) and gave her way more than she bargained for. My heart goes out to Hannah’s parents.
Coy, Thank you for all your excellent reporting. I am glued to your station and value your insights and investigative reporting. I feel much more informed and able to understand the complexities of this tragic experience.
I strongly agree with Mary Dillon that Hannah’s behavior and the fact that she was out there in that condition on her own, sounds very much like someone who had been “roofied”. I have thought that since the first descriptions of her disappearance. I hope that the people who were with her at the party are being looked at closely. If someone besides herself is responsible for her inability to properly defend herself, I think that person is as guilty as whoever was the last person with her.
Coy, your article was excellent. Now, please do the same type of investigation into Hannah’s timeline before and during the party. Who were those people who let her try to get home alone in that suspiciously incapacitated condition and what were they thinking?
Thank you for delivering the truth about this suspect. There must be a lot of women out there who have information on this asshole. He groped his way through Charlottesville, and embarrassed or not, women need to come forward and talk about their encounter with him. He is not a gentle giant. He is a violent, aggressive man who may be a murderer.
I agree with the “roofie” thought. That takes away inhibitions and allows people not only to behave uncharacteristically, but also causes memory loss. How else do you explain a smart young woman being disoriented and lost but still able RUN a straight line down Preston Ave (if you are “really drunk” you cannot WALK a straight line), and then allow an obviously drunk/inappropriate man to put his arm around her and take her to a bar?
Coy, great job putting together this timeline. I believe many have had doubts how this “gentle giant” could do such a horrible thing. These doubts fade after reading this article.
My question, Coy, is what did LJ do from Saturday morning until the time he was identified as a person of interest? Did he go to church Sunday morning? Did he go to work at UVA on Monday through Thursday? Did he hang with his friends? Did he volunteer at Covenant football practice? What do his roommates have to say about his behavior? Seems if you killed someone, your behavior would be off somehow (at least I hope so).
Looking forward to you filling in these gaps!
I hope they are checking dumpsters, since he was so strong, and it was very early in the morning when most people are asleep.
Thanks for the detailed filling in of some of the gaps. Much needed. Hope you are talking to the police.
thought the same about the clothes the videos from the mall looks like a white shirt!
I’m also confused about the clothes. The dark tank top and plaid collared shirt in the pictures don’t seem to match at all what I see on the surveillance video. Did the Tempo folks notice if he changed clothing?
I find it interesting “Molly” took a picture with Matthews yet felt “creeped the f— out” by him. If someone had been touching my friends and me inappropriately all night and threw me over his shoulder just moments before, I’m not sure I’d be up close with him and taking pictures.
You’re ASSUMING the picture was taken after that. I’ll bet you anything the picture was taken BEFORE he got really inappropriate.
Hannah’s erratic behavior is consistent with being drugged. It seems that rohypnol may have been slipped into her drink while she was at the party at Cambridge. The effects kick in about 30 minutes and while it is a depressant, it can excitability (especially in an athlete or active individuals). This would explain her running on Preston Ave to Market Street and entering the Downtown Mall near Fillleni’s. I believe most of us would enter the Downtown Mall near the Omni if coming from Preston. Also the text confirms her confusion.
I believe she left with Matthew in his car and probably aspirated and expired while sitting (slumped) in the car. Matthew panicked and left Hannah somewhere ????
This would also explain Matthew’s visit to the police department last Saturday as he was going to tell the police that she expired but it wasnt his fault. He lawyered up!! The lawyer probably scared him and he ran.
Forensics probably has her DNA ( from vomiting) in the car and possible transfer onto Matthew.
Matthew is probably a binge drinker. While sober he is well liked a “gentle giant” and works in a hospital, but after a couple of drinks all inhibitions gone.
Friend of mine says that area of Preston is notorious as a place where people gather for drugs. Like the police said earlier, she may have seen a group of people there and instinctively ran to get out of that area quickly. If only her instincts had been working on the downtown mall.
Talk about sheer speculation and fantasy.
Great article. Very revealing as to his behavior, lack of insight and remorse for any of his aggressive and inappropriate behavior. I do have one question for you unrelated to the article. Has anyone said when LJ was first seen AFTER hat night?? From the time he was last seen with Hannah to the time he was first reported as seen by anyone else gives info as to how long he would have had to potential dispose of her….if he was seen by a roommate, for instance, at 10am the next day, them he had approx. 8 hours……if it was later, he would have had longer and could have taken her farther away……I haven’t heard anyone mention this aspect. Thanks!!
I try not to be too critical, but was surprised to learn that not only is the author of this article an investigative reporter, but also a history professor. A person with this degree of education should not be making the type of grammatical error that has been made in this article. The past tense of “ask” is “asked.” It was incorrectly used more than once here. When grammatical errors are printed in an investigative article, it appears unprofessional, and unfortunately, causes one to question the validity and credentials of the author. An editor would have caught this – I’d suggest having one to review the content prior to posting.
actually, the use of ‘ask’ is intentional. you will note that the other verbs in those sentences are also in the present tense. this is a common method of telling a story with more vividness than casting everything in the past tense. it even has a name: the historical present.
“I try not to be too critical, but…” I will be ridiculously critical of a meaningless, supposed grammar error.
So, there is a 35 minute window of time that can not be pieced together? At 1:10 am, he buys 2 drinks in Tempo. Around 1:45 am, he and Hannah are reportedly seen leaving Tempo together. So we are to believe that she waited outside for 35 minutes for a strange man? And no one saw her waiting? No one offered to help this young, intoxicated, vulnerable girl find her way home?
I’m so sick and tired of reading in the paper everyday about another girl being groped, molested, or raped. As the father of a 10 year old daughter I’m constantly asking myself what kind of world did I bring my child into. I’m sick to my stomach about this case and everything else I read about crimes like this. It’s obvious this guy set out to prey on an unsuspecting female that night. If there were ever a reason to utilize “entrapment” to bait these sick people and have them locked up before another poor girl get’s killed, it’s this. If this type of journalism get’s us any closer to finding this girl and putting the guy who did it away for the rest of his life then keep up the great work Coy.
-Distraught Dad
As a Mom I agree with your post, reading details of the suffering Morgan Harrington went through makes me weep. Whoever did that has to be caught. I’m traumatized and I don’t even know her. Peace to her and her parents. Now there is Hannah……..
I feel exactly the way you do being the mother of two girls. It’s made me seriously question my trust in men in general. I know that most of you guys out there are decent and respectful, but it seems like every day there are several Facebook posts or news stories about local men being arrested for being predators or molesters. And that’s just locally – the thought of that many unstable men nationwide makes my head reel. My husband tells our girls everyday that boys are bad. And I think sadly he’s right.
We live in an overly sexualized culture that simultaneously breeds a sense of entitlement in men. This is a very dangerous mixture. Most men would be shocked to spend just one day as an attractive woman. They would quickly understand that the leering, off color jokes (all in fun of course) and constantly being told to “smile” isn’t flattering at all, but creepy and invasive. Do you tell other dudes to smile, as if they are somehow required to present a happy face for your amusement regardless of how they might be feeling? You’d likely get punched in the face of you did. I’m constantly alarmed and surprised myself at the way men seem to feel we women “owe” them our attention and access to our bodies. Just look at Elliott Roger in CA and other men who’ve committed vile crimes. Time and again they spew words of misogyny and hate due to having been “denied” what they think they are entitled to from women. We’ll see fewer of these kinds of crimes when men stop looking at us as though we are “things” to entertain themselves with and start recognizing us as fellow people. Sadly, we are not there yet.
The only way to discover the truth is to look for the truth. Thank you
I live near where he was found. What ties does he have to this area? Understandably, maybe none. However, seems an odd place to camp out.
It does seem very odd for someone who has seemingly never been far from VA to make a beeline for a particular obscure beach in Texas. Rank speculation: 1) his “Facebook friend” from Houston steered him there; 2) current news reports say the area was used by an infamous 1970’s serial killer. Seems far-fetched that this suspect would be a researcher. He seems to more impulsive than calculating.
Perhaps heading to Mexico
you can tell this write is not a regular reporter…to objective in letting facts speak for themselves without the usual twisting/clipping that makes most articles useless to spread truth
I am willing to bet that this aggressive, socially inappropriate behavior was typical of Mr. Matthew, but since Mr. Barefoot did not interview any of Mr. Matthew’s friends, former teachers, pastors, or coworkers, we will never know. What if Mr. Matthew has the mental capacity of a much younger person? Most of his behavior is consistent with the behavior of a middle school football player. In an interview in the UK’s Daily Mail, a teammate describes Mr. Matthew as “awkward around people and kind of weird”. I don’t think Mr. Matthew knew how to act. That doesn’t make him a killer. In fact, when he was charged with assault and aggravated grand larceny in 2009 while working as a taxi driver, he drove the man he punched in the face to the hospital- he drove him to the hospital. The guy who was punched said that Mr. Matthew was very remorseful. This man was comfortable enough to get in a car with the man who just punched him and let that man drive him to the hospital. Think about it. Its within the realm of possibility that Mr. Matthew went back inside Tempo after Hannah told him to get lost. When he left Tempo, she was still outside and still lost, so he offered to give her a ride. He left her at the Corner, where she sent her last text and then fell victim to the same person who raped one of both of the the two girls who were raped in that neighborhood that night or she fell victim to the person responsible for the disappearance of one or several of the girls who have disappeared from the area in the last five years. Even if the Cville police have evidence that puts Hannah in Mr. Matthew’s car, it means nothing beyond the fact that Hannah was in Mr. Matthew’s car. I don’t know who killed Hannah Graham but neither do any of you internet experts.
I agree. I don’t think he did it. Someone else did or she is somewhere on campus dead from drug related causes.
What say you now? Also a coincidence there’s a forensics link to Harrington?
Barefoot never asked anyone who knew him in high school. I would have happily shared my experiences with a gently giant, a polite, thoughtful, student who was always helpful…in fact, went out of hi way to be helpful. I am sorry he didn’t search out any of us (and there are over 130 of who he could have spoken to…..infortunatley, that would have skewed his article and the point he was trying to make, which is one sided
What frat house was Hannah at? That warrants publishing and they deserve scrutiny. She appears black-out drunk and possibly on drugs (willingly or snuck into her drink) long before she ever comes in contact with Mr. Matthew. The beginning of the school is high time for frats to take advantage of underage non-Greek girls.
Excellent article. Excellent investigative work. Very refreshing to hear someone is getting to the real truth here. Praying that in a few days Jesse’s buccal swab is a perfect match for Morgan Harrington’s case in CODIS. Long time speculation that her sadistic killer – who broke every bone in her body- was a cab driver. It looks like the pieces are coming together. Fingers crossed.
He obviously didn’t have time to change clothes. The B/W cameras typically used as surveillance cameras are low enough resolution that two bright colors (blue and white) would wash together and appear as white. Perhaps the police should release the photo of him that night from the article and emphasize his clothing, it might jog some memories. They have been very clear what Hannah was wearing, but not LJ.
Where were the two Mall beat cops who are supposed to patrol the Mall until the bars close? Why hasn’t Longo been asked about the police presence on the Mall that night? Several years ago, I was assaulted on the Mall about 11pm on a Saturday night and there was not a cop to be seen. After my wife called 911, one arrived well after the assailant had fled. The Mall is too important to the vitality of downtown and all of the businesses to have such poor police presence.
This is the best reporting on this story thus far. I hope that other media will start report the full story on Jesse Matthew. At present, they seem to be fixated on the “gentle giant’ spin.
Please stay on it.
I do not know what happened in this case, but I do know that the cops have to prove that he committed a crime. He does not have to prove that he did not.
Unless they have some serious evidence, they will not know he took her in the car. Abduction — I suspect they are saying he “abducted” her when he took her to the bar while she couldn’t resist. Weak. They have no evidence that she went in his car. Even if they found hair in the car – witnesses say he was holding her up. That’s an easy way to transfer DNA.
Without a body or any other DNA indicating death, they can’t even charge him with a homicide. Why am I putting this out there – because people often forget the tough legal standards our constitution imposes upon the government. Instead, the convict by media.
I think that poor Hannah was so inebriated, she was just leaning against the Tempo building, barely conscious. JM was probably surprised that she was still there after last call and closing time. Bad luck would have it that yet again, no one helped this clearly “in trouble” girl and that creep dragged her off into the night.
The video tapes showed her running TOWARD something, not AWAY. She was running and not excessively drunk. She even RAN past the Gas station. Try that when you’re super drunk and I think you might change your mind about alcolhol. Drugs seems more likely based on the behaviors I could see.
There is a DNA match linking Morgan and another victim who was abducted and brutally raped in Fairfax VA in 2005 I.e. The same male carried out both horrific crimes. FACT. There is an artists drawing of the attacker in the Fairfax crime online. Check it out.
Surely DNA could prove if the man they have held is the criminal responsible for the murder of Morgan, the brutal rape of the woman from Fairfax and maybe others?
It would be interesting to see a picture of Matthew from 2005.
The DNA connection is NOT a fact yet — it’s a leak from the police, and they called what they have “forensic” evidence, not DNA. We don’t have all the information in this case. We shouldn’t claim facts unless the evidence is presented to us and we are allowed to evaluate it. This is still speculation, no matter how damning it may seem.
To ME…my post stated that it’s a fact DNA connects the male to the Fairfax case to the Morgan case. I never stated the male was JL Matthews. I then went on to state that the match in the Morgan and Fairfax case could be tested to see if there is a match to the man held in the Hannah case. I wasn’t claiming facts at all. My original post went on this blog before the media announced a forensics connection. Wish the posts here had date/time of posting.
The date your comment is posted is on the icon in the square next to your name.
It’s very likely a frat boy drugged her at the party she left at 12:15 a.m. Beginning of the semester is HIGH TIME for frats taking advantaged of naive underaged girls.
EITHER WAY, each and every person that served her alcohol that night needs to be held accountable. From approx. 9:00 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. she drank enough to be what I’d characterize as black out drunk, *before* meeting Mr. Matthew. All of those involved contributed to the delinquency of a minor, at the very least.
Great piece of writing! Someone on another message board gave people info on where to find this particular article. I wish I could find his post again. I’d like to thank him for directing me here. Very informative, like someone else said: true journalist!
The pictures of LJ have him wearing a blue checkered short with a burgundy tank under. The video in front of Sals shows a man in all white or light colors? Are they saying he had a wardrobe change between Blue Light and running into Hannah?!
It is so interesting to see this timeline and the story looked from another point of view as so many articles just repeat the same information from one article to another. Your work offers some possible insight to what took place that night. A review of the tape of Jesse on the mall shows his shirt appears to be darker than this shorts, so perhaps the checks are washed out causing the shirt to appear white. From when I first saw footage of Hannah weeks ago, I thought that girl may have been drinking but seemed to have been drugged. Despite possibly being scared and confused, she may have tried to act like she knew where she was going or told herself she could find her way when she could not. Keep digging, Coy.
Two things: 1. what exactly did Hannah’s last-known text say and where was it sent from? I’m wondering if she confused 14th Street (where she said she was lost, in her text) with 4th Street (where Tempo is located, at the intersection of 4th St. and Water St.) If she thought she was walking from 2nd St (where she entered the Mall) and was now at 4th St. (outside Tempo) she might have thought she was actually going in the right direction. That would explain why she was walking so briskly (unfortunately in the wrong direction). 2. Has anyone noticed that the other crimes POTENTIALLY linked to this one all occurred in September and October? Eg. the Lynchburg “alleged rape,” the DC rape with DNA linked to Morgan, the Morgan murder, and now Hannah? Was there anything in LJ’s history that would make Sept/Oct significant?
I was wondering the same thing. Dates 9.13 significance?
I wonder if Human Trafficking comes into play here? LJ had a history of financial troubles.
Our daughter almost got involved in a site “Model Mayhem” there was lots of desensitizing going on from a group of friends and/ or what they call “handlers”. Pics, etc with girlfriends in skimpy outfits. Handsome guy about 24yrs prompting them 17 yrs to kiss each other, it was creepy….we called the police.
Is there a link between any of these girls and Model Mayhem?
2009: 20-year-old Morgan Harrington
2010: 19-year-old Samantha Clarke
2011: 20-year-old Lauren Smith
2012: 19-year-old Dashad Sage
2013: 17-year-old Alexis Murphy
2014: 18-year-old Hannah Graham
There are a lot more if you research a little deeper
I am assuming your monitoring the underground blog sites? Like Fair Fax Underground? If it wasn’t Jesse Matthews the perp will show up on a blog somewhere I would think.
Don’t serial killers like to brag and taunt law enforcement? Just thinking and trying to help. 🙁
I sent she sent that text to get her friends off her trail. If you were meeting someone to sneak into bars of buy drugs or illegal alcohol, the text that she was one street over would have put her friends at ease about her location and they could go to sleeep without worrying aboout her
@ MST What a strange post. I sent ….she sent? sleeeeep
This is a very good show of what happened the night Hannah disappeared. If he was innocent, he would care to help find his new friend….. Very sad indeed. To continue the timeline, LJ checked into Lumberton State Park in NC on Monday using a false name – only staying for 2 hours…. Sadly I do not think they will find Hannah alive. I am eager to see if his DNA is matched to the 2005 Fairfax rape and 2010 Morgan Harrington rape/murder.
Where have there been any reports to LJ Matthews checking into Lumberton State Park in NC under a false name? I have seen no reports of this at all.
Where did you get the info that he checked into Lumberton State Park?!
He was seen in Village Creek State Park, Lumberton, TX, on 9/22. Not Lumberton, NC.
http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/09/25/jesse-matthew-spotted-in-lumberton-monday/16231403/
Anchorage farm where Morgan Harringtons body was found is only a couple of miles from Red Hill Elementary the grade school attended by Jesse L Matthews and the area he grew up….coincidence?
Forensics are what will solve and possibly link some of these unsolved cases…RIP and love to all these women who have suffered unimaginable pain❤
Today, September 29th there is an update in the media. Forensics have linked these crimes. Hannah…
Coy, superior reporting! As opposed to the dearth of facts coming from the redundant mass media. Now will you please tell readers what were Jesse Matthew’s movements on that weekend. Saturday and Sunday Sept. 13 and 14th.
Again, SUPERIOR REPORTING!!!! CONGRATULATIONS. Still, I am convinced Jesse did not kill Hannah Graham. Two other women were attacked that weekend. I think the Serial Killer is back in town.
Great article. I also found your site from comments on another site. Best I read on this case. I, too, am thinking he may be responsible for the death of Morgan Harrington. Hope they can find Hannah.
Today’s breaking news about forensic evidence linking Jesse Matthew with Morgan Harrington is a welcome relief. I really hope he’s the guy responsible for all of this evil and it can finally all end.
As mentioned by someone above ,LJ was wearing blue checkered shirt with Maroon Tshirt inside,as shown in the above article,with a pic.Now the guy walking beside Hannah seems to be wearing all white and the man of interest also witnessed that the man with Hannah was wearing jean with white shirt
I think something is missing here.There is someone else involved with or without LJ.
Maybe LJ is innocent or he is covering up for the person who shared the crime with him.
great observation!!!
http://apmobile.worldnow.com/story/26550918/wl-public-safety-notifies-students-about-morgan-harrington-suspect-sighting Maybe this guy showed up in Lexington Virginia right after Hannah went missing – and Hannah is somewhere between Charlottesville and Lexington (heart-breaking to say). My prayers for Hannah’s family.
They have linked by forensic evidence the cases of Hannah, Morgan and the woman in Fairfax County. I am so relieved this person will never walk the streets again….Love and peace to these young women (there will be more of them)and their families. I just cannot imagine how they carry on…..
What if rather than being really drunk and leaning into the guy, the guy had her around the back was squeezing her arm and pulling him into her side and rushing her up the street?
There was a lot of speculation when Morgan Harrington was found as to how somebody could carry somebody that far from a paved road and put them in a hayfield. If the dude could pick up a girl and hold him over his head there’s your answer.
Interesting the guy went to Liberty U, and apparently was somewhat religious. Perhaps trying to fight against his darker impulses??
And his tip on the bar bill(s)?
I found this article on a website from London. This case is attracting worldwide attention.
It looks obvious that LJ took this young woman who was drunk and did away with her.
There is really no other logical explanation.
Why did he run to Texas? He was scared racist cops would frame him? That will be his defense, no doubt. especially if they cannot find Heather’s body.
I try to keep my mind clear. There is no specific evidence. He was accused of rape in his past. He has bad social skills. But he shows up to work every day as a nurse. He’s not drunk or on drugs. He keeps his act together in general.
So many of these cases are the “monsters among us”.
They work and walk around in front of you. BTK. Ted Bundy. They exist.
To be honest, I have a bad feeling about this one.
Hope I am wrong.
I am just not feeling the “gentle giant” stories.
Thanks for great reporting.
Many prayers to Heather & her family in this time. We all hope she is OK somewhere…somehow..
Her name is Hannah.
Thanks Coy for this timeline & valuable information, IT’S SO IMPORTANT! My prayers are going & STAYING up for all that’s involved and the many other missing people and their families as well.
Excellent piece Coy, thank you.
One issue that left me wondering though is that his clothing at Blue Light is different from what Matthew appears to be wearing in the surveillance video. Any explanation for this?
I personally would like to know if these employees in the Downtown Mall area noticed the white guy in the videos that appears to be following the two around at times. It is my understanding that he spoke with law enforcement officers, however he seems to follow these two around and is seen in more than one video. I definitely would like to know if the folks at Tempo, and/or this Abby, saw that man and what his demeanor was. Seemed pretty sketchy to me…
Great round up of information. Question — is the suspect in Sal’s video wearing the same shirt as the pictures of him at the club? In the photos he’s wearing a blue/white checked shirt but in Sal’s video it’s different. Is that the camera/lights or did he change shirts? Any thoughts?
He appears to have made a shirt change from the time he was at Tempo earlier trying to pickup women his own age to no avail. The snap shows him in a blue and white checked shirt, but later in all white when he is seen in the video at Downtown Mall. Wouldn’t it be just like a hospital employee to get into his scrubs before getting messy?
Tempo said he was there 2x that night, where is the Tempo footage? it would be interesting to see if he did in fact do a wardrobe change and it appears on the second Tempo video. I read on CBS that they do indeed have footage of them leaving together though I have not seen it anywhere.
I also suspect he was at Grady’s earlier when Hannah ran by and tried to get in.
Correction – Blue Light was where the 1st snap was taken in the checked shirt.
http://www.wset.com/story/25332756/update-investigators-jamisha-gilbert-died-of-hypothermia-no-charges-will-be-filed
Comment
I just want to verify that LJ was a polite, thoughtful, gentle and helfpul teenager during his high school years. He played football, did his work in class and was an interested learner during class. First, I hate to see anyone in this country not be considered innocent until proven guilty. Those of his friends who got the message we sent out and were able to help, even a little, to his defense fund, were regaled with threats against thier lives and the lives of their children. So because we are not convinced that he was responsible and we set up a fund to help the family and LJ pay his lawyer, we received threats against our selves. but more importantly against our innocent children. The Defense Fund was not removed because of any evidence (which we don’t even know what that is is), but rather because of threats on our lives of people trying to help an old friend be able to defend himself legally against these charges to which he is , by law, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and by his peers”. How said that those who don’t support LJ would stoop so low as to physically threaten the families of those who wanted to help out an old friend.
What is strange is the police are reporting that there is a DNA link between Morgan Harrington and a 2005 rape case, but they have known that since 2011 (2 years after Harrington was killed). And they are saying they found a “forensic link” between Jesse Matthew and Harrington, but they aren’t saying whether or not its DNA or anything about what that link is. But if it was a DNA link they would say he was linked to both Harrington and the 2005 case, but they are not saying he is linked to the 2005 case so that implies it isn’t DNA.
Also, the 2005 rape victim is the one who provided the description for the police sketch that has been on TV. If Matthew was the guy wouldn’t she be able to now confirm if that was him or not?? It is all very strange. It sounds like a lot is being thrown out there with no basis in fact.
“What is strange is the police are reporting that there is a DNA link between Morgan Harrington and a 2005 rape case, but they have known that since 2011 (2 years after Harrington was killed).”
What is strange about what? They reported that information at the time, it was all over the news.
All evidence the police have will come out in due time. Meanwhile continue your desperate and confused attempt to defend LJ’s innocence.
Route 29 Serial Killer – 4 more women missing in VA near UVA and Anchorage Farms. All near Route 29. Good Article found on “the conservativetreehouse” regarding similarities on the “burnt orange car” “maps” etc.. see below:
2009: 23-year old Cassandra Morton (body found one week prior to Morgan Harrington)
2009: 20-year-old Morgan Harrington (google suspect photo) (body found)
2010: 19-year-old Samantha Clarke
2010: 19-year old Bonnie Santiago
2011: 20-year-old Lauren Smith
2012: 19-year-old Dashad Sage
2012: 22-year-old Heather Hodges
2013: 17-year-old Alexis Murphy
2013: 18-year-old Jamisha Gilbert
2013: 18-year-old Alexis Murphy
2013: 21-year-old Bethany Decker
2014: 18-year-old Hannah Graham (google suspect photo)
Coy, update please?
Hey Coy – can you wake up and reply to some of these questions/comments?
Who owns 1864 Anchorage Farms? Google map it. 6 bedrooms 6 baths 6 miles from Red Hill Elementary? Recently up for sale?
Do you mind if I ask why do you suggest this? Your request is quite specific. Much more so than mine. Please write back I am curious anyone else who just knows things. stephanyjacour@gmail.com
Not intended as a comment on your article, but does this site have permission to reprint it?
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2014/09/25/exceptional-journalist-research-constructs-the-timeline-of-jesse-lj-matthew-and-hannah-graham-encounter/
He can be a gentle giant and the exact opposite. Human complexity. Washington Post ran an article today about the suspect’s lighter side. Not liberal media – it’s media needs to keep digging. My hunch is that those who look into it thoroughly – this blog’s author, Washington Post journalists, Daily Progress, and of course the various police forces – the more everyone will see that complexity. Someone can be nice and a bastard and be the same person.
What kind of respectable “Bar” lets a guy order two ($7.00 expensive) mixed drinks without the other person being present? Especially at last call?
I think he took one to Hannah and laced it beforehand. It would be easy to hide a substance in a mixed drink rather than a beer? This is why the door girl notices he was “holding her up by her arm” not around her waist.
He was already turned down and rejected by women his own age and Hannah was an easy target.
Where are the cameras at Tempo? Inside or Outside? Was Jesse Matthews at Grady’s earlier? She looks like she running to meet a hook up? LJ? Maybe drugs.
He probably promised her something (weed or aderral?) and gave her way more than she bargained for. My heart goes out to Hannah’s parents.
Also does anyone know where her last text came from? They should be able to locate that location with todays technology. Who received that text? Did they do anything?
It might not hurt to seek another with psychic.I did dream about this before it happened. Suggestion Check back at his work or the restaurant – Check out back trash compactorsssomeone named Rachel is covering something she saw. She may know.
Very thorough reporting Mr. Barefoot, important timeline information, would urge you to keep to the facts and not include so much conjecture or hearsay however. undermines the case and feeds those predisposed to prejudice which in another era would have already led to mob hysteria and lynching. in america we are all innocent until proven guilty right? although the case does seem to be growing stronger against LJ now is the time to take the high road to justice, not the low one.
Hi Coy.. can you check this out and comment?
Scary Timeline Found for JLM / Football Wins and Losses / Location / Demographics / Other potential victims of Jesse Mathew.
Google key words – “websleuths JLM other possible victims shutterbug timeline page 40” this should take you to the article.
It’s hard to find but well worth the reading. Great work by Shutterbug, in-depth research. The authorities should have a look at this one.
Updated list of women missing in VA near UVA / Virginia Tech / Anchorage Farms / Corridor 29. I have validated all of the ages/names on google and the missing persons database. Hope this helps … 🙁 .
2000: 23-year old Hope Curry
2002: 20-year old La-Teasha LaMone Brooks
2002: 33-year old Sharon Jones
2003: 19-year old Julie Marie Fraser
2003: 24-year old Autumn Wind Day
2003: 39- year old Sophia May Rivera
2005: 31-year old Vestora Leatrise Spriggs
2005: 34-year old Kathleen Hulderman
2007: 16-year old Ivonne Biviano
2007: 36-year old Sereda McGlothin
2008: 29-year old Gracie MacCord
2009: 17- year old Latonia Smith
2009: 18 and 19-year old Heidi Childs & David Metzler
2009: 23-year old Cassandra Morton (body found one week prior to Morgan Harrington)
2009: 20-year-old Morgan Harrington (google suspect photo) (body found) ) ( shirt found @ corner of 15th St & Grady Ave outside apt building)
2010: 19-year-old Samantha Clarke
2010: 20-year old Arianna Davis
2011: 20-year-old Lauren Smith
2012: 19-year-old Dashad Sage
2012: 22-year-old Heather Hodges
2013: 17-year-old Alexis Murphy
2013: 18-year-old Jamisha Gilbert
2013: 18-year-old Alexis Murphy
2013: 21-year-old Bethany Decker
2014: 18-year-old Hannah Graham (google suspect photo)
Reply
Where does Aleisha Showalter Reynolds fall on that timeline. Her body was found, but no suspect & still unsolved.
Thanks for putting together this timeline, must have taken many hours to pull together. In reviewing and reporting the facts of this case I hope that members of the public as well as journalists will suspend judgment and let the legal system proceed with a presumption of innocence for the accused. Let’s not forget the past excesses of prejudice that has led to lynch mob hysteria in Virginia. Let’s resolve to take the high road to justice in this case.
He worked in the operating room of the hospital. Hospitals are always getting rid of body parts, not to mention bodies. The suspect would have knowledge of the body disposal practice and may have developed a sinister method of putting the system to his own use. Have the police looked carefully at hospital videos for the time frame of interest for any evidence of the suspect being there.
Has anyone spoken to JLM’s hospital co-workers on the logistics of what he did there? I am sure LE would already have questioned the UVA Hospital staff. I am also sure he was used to dealing with blood and death. And, unfortunately JLM was probably very familiar with the clean up process.
It’s great to leave a reply, but Coy, where are the answers?
Did jesse matthew report to work at the hospital the next day, 13th ?
I’ve been following this story since it happened and have a question I wondered if anyone can answer? Several reports stated Hannah was wearing a black pullback top earlier in the evening. The video stills of her show her in what I would consider a fairly trampy green top. If she supposedly had a black top on earlier what happened? Did she leave her friends, change into more provocative clothing and go out looking for this? Not that I’m justifying the actions of “LJ”. He sounds like a typical, overaggressive, undereducated, disrespectful, “hood rat”. You have it easy down there. Up north he would have not wasted time with buying her a drink. He would have went straight for the heroin and then had his way with her. This whole event is not uncommon at all. This time it just ended poorly for this girl. The problem is nobody pays enough attention or turns a blind eye to it because we don’t want to be so called racists! I think we should start by placing the initial blame on her parents for sheltering her from the black men and making her want them more. Then we can move on to her friends who let her go off alone. It seems to me Hannah went looking for something, found it and it didn’t work out so well for her.
What it’s like to be “roofied”. Here is my first hand experience with the “date rape” drug. Popular at Fraternities and University parties. Thank God I had someone there who took care of me until the ordeal passed. This is what it is like.
” It was a feeling of being outside my body with no control to speak or ask for help. The only way my friend knew I was in trouble was “through my eyes pleading for help”. Call the hospital I tried to say, but nothing came out. A man came in the room and tried to kiss and rape me and my friend pushed him off me. I was completely helpless”. It took about 4 hours to feel somewhat normal again. 🙁
If these girls had been drugged it would be so easy for someone to rape them, take them somewhere, sell them. I believe Hannah is either in the woods somewhere, you’ll probably find her skull and bones (signature of …) , like they did with Morgan Harrington or has been human trafficked after a night of fun by her perp. Hence no body.
I pray she is found alive.
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I sent my comment not sure why it didnt post..??????
Ok thanks…