DNA evidence links Jesse Matthew to September 2005 attack
First trial of the man charged with attempted capital murder, abduction and sexual assault in the Fairfax case began Monday.
The 33 year-old Jesse Matthew 33 of Charlottesville was charged with sexual assault charges for the alleged 2005 September crime in Fairfax.
The trial began with testimony from the victim who suffered a brutal sexual assault. She flew back from India to give the account of the attack.
The alleged victim told jurors that she was returning from grocery shopping in September 2005 when Matthew grabbed her and pulled her out of sight.
She said, "He banged my head on the grass, on the ground. I was trying to push him away. I was punching him. He choked me and said, 'If you scream again, I will twist your neck. If you let me do this, I will let you go".
Prosecutors said that proving that DNA evidence that suggested that the crime was done by Matthew. He has also been charged with abducting and killing Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia sophomore, last year.
During opening arguments, the victim attorney, Raymond Morrogh told jurors that skin cells gathered from beneath the woman's fingernails after the assault were tested against Matthew's and the DNA was a matched.
The scientists and the detectives who conducted the DNA analysis and collected the evidence respectively are scheduled to testify in coming days.
However, defender Robert Frank, urged jurors to be cautious in evaluating DNA evidence as DNA can be transferred inadvertently by coming in contact with common objects.
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