On Feb. 29, it was reported on the WTVR CBS 6 Richmond website that Jesse Matthew, who was a suspect in the murders of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington will enter a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Graham was murdered in September of 2014, while Harrington was murdered in October of 2009. After further investigation, Matthew was charged with first degree murder on September 15, 2015. This story has been followed by many other different media outlets such as CNN, Fox News, NBC News, along with newspapers such as the New York Daily News.
In the article on the CBS 6 website about Jesse Matthew, there were tweets shown in the article from one of the authors of the article, Laura French breaking the news that Matthew will enter a plea deal. Other tweets from French include a picture that shows the date of the hearing from the Commonwealth’s attorney’s office, along with French tweeting that plea talks had been in the works for a few weeks. Also written in the article was the fact that the plea deal came as a surprise to many people and that both families of the victims support the plea agreements. In the article, there is a video of French reporting outside the courtroom that was broadcasted on CBS 6.
This story was also written about on CNN’s website under the title Jesse Matthew expected to enter plea agreement, prosecutor says. This article differentiates from the CBS 6 article as it includes quotes from the Albermarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci. The CNN article also mentions Matthew’s former occupation of being a cab driver, as well as the fact that Matthew was sentenced to three life sentences by a judge in 2015 for sexually assaulting a woman in 2005. This information was not mentioned in the CBS 6 article. The article on CNN also shows pictures of Graham and Harrington, and also includes reaction from Harrington’s mother where she said that “There are no winners here.” Below the photo of Morgan Harrington, there are details of how she was a 20-year-old who was a junior at Virginia Tech. And how she disappeared from a concert on October 17, 2009. Her body was discovered on January 26, 2010 and her death was ruled a homicide.
This story appears in the New York Daily News under the title Jesse Matthew to plead guilty to murders of U. Va. coeds Hannah Graham, Morgan Harrington in deal to avoid death penalty. The story on the Daily News website is from the Associated Press. This article mentions the fact that not only was Matthew a former cab driver, but he used to work in a hospital at the University of Virginia. This article goes into detail of how Graham disappeared in September of 2014, and discusses how she was seen on surveillance camera walking unsteadily with Matthew walking with her. Also mentioned is that her body was found on an abandoned property five weeks after she disappeared.
While the article on CNN discusses how Harrington and Graham disappeared, the Daily News article elaborates on that and states that Graham’s body was found six miles away from where Harrington’s body was found in 2010. That is what led investigators to believe that Matthew was connected to both murders. The Daily News article also mentions that after police named Matthew a person of interest in Graham’s murder, Matthew disappeared but was found by police on a beach in Texas.
The three websites that wrote articles on this story had some similarities and differences. There was no bias involved since nobody would be disputing the fact that Matthew should be going to prison for life for what he has done. The articles published on the CNN website and the New York Daily News focuses on Matthew’s past as he committed other crimes such as sexual assault and was also accused of rape. The two articles also mention details of how both Graham and Harrington disappeared. While the article on CBS 6 does touch on Matthew’s past. The article mainly focuses on the initial reaction of Matthew taking the plea just to avoid the death penalty. This story will continued to be followed as the hearing where Matthew is scheduled to enter a plea deal is on Mar. 2.
Sources: French, Laura. "Jesse Matthew Likely to Enter Plea Deal in Graham, Harrington Cases to Avoid Death Penalty." WTVRcom. CBS 6, 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
Shoichet, Catherine E. "Jesse Matthew Expected to Enter Plea Agreement." CNN. Cable News Network, 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
"Jesse Matthew Will Plead Guilty to Murders of U. Va. Coeds." NY Daily News. Associated Press, 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/jesse-matthew-plead-guilty-murders-u-va-coeds-article-1.2548070?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Fblogs%2Ffantasyhuddle+%28Blogs%2FFantasy+Huddle%29
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