After six years with the possible killer of Morgan Harrington, the Virginia Tech student and Metallica fan who disappeared following a Metallica concert in 2009 and was found murdered in January 2010, may have justice for their child.
According to CNN, prosecutors revealed that a grand jury has indicted Jesse L. Matthew and charged him with first-degree murder and abduction with the intent to defile in relation to Harrington’s case. Investigators believe that Matthew, a former cab driver, was also the last person to see Graham before she went missing. Matthew was expected to appear in court to face the charges in the Harrington case on Wednesday. Prosecutors did not detail what evidence led them to pursue charges against Matthew in the Harrington case.
Metallica got involved with the search for Morgan within days following her disappearance, offering up a reward for anyone with information about the whereabouts of Harrington. They remained consistent with their support in the intervening years in the search for Morgan and her killer. The band allowed ‘Enter Sandman’ to be used on Virginia Tech t-shirts that were used to start a Morgan Harrington Scholarship Fund at the university.
Gil Harrington, Morgan’s mother, told CNN affiliate WDBJ:
“That the person responsible will be brought to justice, there’s a lot of satisfaction in that. Something as heinous as taking someone’s life should have consequences. Today, finally, the domino cascade of consequences for Jesse Matthew for killing Morgan Harrington has started.”
A video report on the case by TV station WDBJ7 in Virginia can be seen here