Murder Charge in Hannah Graham Case
BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The man suspected in the death of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham has officially been charged. He is Jesse Matthew. And he's been indicted on first-degree murder and abduction charges. Hannah Graham disappeared in Charlottesville in the Downtown Mall area last September 13. Then her remains were found in October a couple miles outside of town. Police identified Jesse Matthew as the prime suspect based upon surveillance video and multiple witness accounts. He was taken into custody in Texas 11 days after Graham disappeared. Brian Todd is in Charlottesville today. And, Brian, we know the prosecutor is not pursuing the death penalty there in Virginia. Is that a surprise?</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was certainly a surprise to all of us in the room, Brooke, when the prosecutor announced that she would not be pursuing the death penalty, at least not for now. This was a horrible crime, as you know. Hannah Graham went missing on September 13. Her body was found more than a month later along a creek bed in an abandoned property. All that was left of her body was her skull and some bones. Jesse Matthew also -- these extenuating circumstances in this case -- he is linked to the 2009 disappearance and later the death of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington. She went missing in the fall of 2009. Her body was found a few months later. And Jesse Matthew has been charged with attempted capital murder and rape in a 2005 case in Fairfax, Virginia. He's pleaded not guilty to that. But there are these other cases that he is linked to. And many people did expect this to be a capital murder case in Albemarle County, but the prosecutor said that they are not seeking it for now. She did kind of give a hint as to why. We pressed her on why. She said that they had discussions with the Graham family as well as some others involved here, and one local analyst told me that they believe that he believes that maybe the Graham family might have implored the prosecutor not to seek the death penalty in this case. I asked the prosecutor if some deal was made with Jesse Matthew to avoid the death penalty, and she said they have had no discussions with him -- Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: So no death penalty on the table here. What about -- I think you alluded to this a second ago. He's connected to that sex assault case that's going to trial next month. That was from 2005. And then, you know, this same part of Virginia has seen multiple unsolved cases of young women being assaulted and abducted. Has he been tied to any of those?</s>TODD: Well, he has been tied to them only very loosely, in that they are investigating possible links, Brooke. The only one he's been tied to forensically, according to authorities, is that Morgan Harrington case. Again, she's a Virginia Tech student who went missing in the fall of 2009. Her body was found just after New Year's in 2010. He has been rumored and possibly linked to some other disappearances. And, as you have mentioned, there have been a lot of other disappearances and possible deaths of other young people in this kind of I-29 corridor between Charlottesville and the Washington, D.C., area over the past several years. He's been investigated in connection with those, but no definitive link has been made with those cases, Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: All right. Brian Todd, we will look for more of your reporting on THE SITUATION ROOM. Thank you, sir, in Charlottesville. Coming up next, in the fight to destroy, dismantle ISIS, is Syria getting information on what the U.S. is doing, even though the two don't actually work together? The Syrian president now saying yes. We have those details ahead. Also, the violence escalates in the standoff between Ukraine and Russia. In fact, we're just getting word President Obama and Vladimir Putin have just spoken. Hear what President Obama told him as he weighs sending lethal arms to Ukrainian soldiers. Stay here.