Accused Murderer Gets Court Date in Second Case

FAIRFAX, Va. (CN) - The man accused of killing University of Virginia student will stand trial for an unrelated sexual assault on June 8.

Jesse Matthew Jr., who only last week was indicted on charges related to the disappearance and murder of UV student Hannah Graham, learned today that he will be tried in June on charges of abducting, sexually assaulting and trying to kill a Fairfax County woman in September 2005.

According the local CBS-TV affiliate WTVR, the victim, who remains unidentified, was assaulted on her way home from the grocery store. Matthew has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David S. Schnell set the June trial date after the prosecution and defense struggled to suggest one that worked for their key witnesses.

In setting the date, Judge Schnell rejected a defense request to transfer the trial to Albemarle County, Va., where he will be tried in the Hannah Graham case, but granted its motion asking that cameras not be allowed in the courtroom during the trial.

Matthew had been held in Fairfax County until recently, when he was moved to Albemarle County to be charged in the Graham case.

Graham, a University of Virginia sophomore, disappeared from Charlottesville, Va. in September. Her body was later found about 10 miles from the campus.

Matthew will next appear in court in Albemarle on February 18, when the court intends to establish counsel for the defendant and schedule future hearings in the Graham case.

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