Matthew gets three life sentences for 2005 sexual assault

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FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - Jesse Matthew Jr., charged with the murders of college students Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington, has been sentenced to three life prison terms for a sexual assault on a woman a decade ago in northern Virginia.

The Charlottesville, Virginia, man was sentenced Friday in Fairfax for attempted capital murder and sexual assault of a woman in 2005. The judge ordered the sentences to be served consecutively at Friday's sentencing.

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DNA evidence collected from Matthew during last year's investigation of Graham's disappearance linked him to the Fairfax County case.

Matthew's family asked the judge for leniency, and a former girlfriend wrote a letter on Matthew's behalf saying he was raped as a child.

His trial in the Hannah Graham case is set for July. He faces a possible death sentence there.

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