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police said witnesses saw matthew abducted graham at a downtown mall
jesse l. matthew jr. , 33 , had been charged with first - degree murder in graham ’s slaying , and the charges were upgraded at a court hearing in this college town on tuesday .
albemarle county commonwealth ’s attorney denise lunsford initially did not seek a capital murder charge , saying she made that decision after consulting with graham ’s family and weighing the impact on the community .
matthew also is facing charges related to a sexual assault from nearly a decade ago .
in this nov. 14 , 2014 file photo jesse matthew jr. , right , looks toward the gallery while appearing in court in fairfax , va. ( bill o'leary the washington post ) — the man accused of abducting and killing university of virginia sophomore hannah graham last fall will now face a charge of capital murder in the case , meaning that if he is convicted he could face the death penalty .
campus weeks later , and matthew was charged with her killing .
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