UVA Abduction Suspect Jesse Matthew Waives Extradition in Texas Court
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Galveston County Sheriff’s Office(GALVESTON, Texas) — Jesse Matthew, the suspect in the abduction of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, waived extradition in a Texas court Thursday and agreed to return to Virginia to face charges.
Matthew, 32, is charged with abduction with intent to defile in connection with the disappearance of Graham nearly two weeks ago. The student is still missing.
It was to be Matthew’s second court appearance of the day. Earlier, he appeared confused on a after being arrested Wednesday on a nearby beach. He was not required to enter a plea.
He appeared before Galveston County Judge Mark Henry via video and was handcuffed, wearing dark green jail clothes. Matthew complained that the jail had taken away his clothing.
The magistrate asked Matthew to sign several papers indicating whether he was requesting a court-appointed lawyer and whether he was claiming he was not the person identified on the Virginia fugitive warrant.
“What does this mean?” Matthew asked at one point while looking at the paperwork.
As the magistrate explained what he was being asked to sign, Matthew interrupted him saying, “What? I’m sorry.”
When the magistrate finished his explanation, Matthew asked, “And if I sign it?”
Matthew eventually said he did not want a court-appointed attorney.
He asked if he could post bond to get out of jail, but that was denied at the request of the state of Virginia.
Galveston jail records show he was charged with “failure to identify fugitive intent to give false information” and had been denied bond because of a federal hold.
Matthew, who is 6’2″ and weighs 270 pounds, was charged earlier this week in connection with the disappearance of Graham, a sophomore who vanished nearly two weeks ago.
The suspect had not been seen since he left a Charlottesville, Virginia, police station Saturday and sped away so fast that officers who had been openly following him had to break off and let him go.
Matthew was taken into custody Wednesday on a beach in Galveston, Texas. The Galveston sheriff’s office said in a statement that investigators from Virginia were leaving Thursday for the Texas coastal city.
The surveillance video from a convenience store in Galveston showed Matthew buying Off!, said the store’s owner, Dave Paresh.
“He asked me the question if it’s safe to stay on the beach, so I told him yeah, it’s good there,” Paresh, told ABC News station KTRK in Houston.
While the search for Matthew has ended, police are still looking for Graham, and the reward for information that leads police to the student has been increased to $100,000.
“This case is nowhere near over,” Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said Wednesday at a news conference. “We have a person in custody but we have a long road ahead of us and that long road includes finding Hannah Graham.”
Police seized Matthew’s car, issued two search warrants for his apartment and examined bags of clothing they found inside. Results of the search warrants have not been released.
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