<p>I just want to answer the honor question since people outside UVa sometimes don’t understand the difference between the Honor Committee and UJC. Someone who breaks the law would be held accountable by the authorities and by the [University</a> Judiciary Committee](<a href=“http://www.student.virginia.edu/~judic/]University”>http://www.student.virginia.edu/~judic/). </p>
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<p>Breaking a local, state, or federal law is against the Standards of Conduct.</p>
<p>Silicon raises a good question. Did she know Jesse Matthew? Most people when they are lost, stop, look at street signs, ask people directions…She was walking rather purposefully down the mall as if she knew where she was going. Then doesn’t he put his arm around her. She doesn’t flinch or scream, as you would expect if the person is a stranger. Was she looking for him and why? It’s hard to imagine any connection between a 32 year old who worked as a nursing assistant at the UVa hospital and a sophomore. Maybe a drug dealer? Is that why he didn’t come forward earlier when she was reported missing? Afraid he’d have to admit he was dealing? </p>
<p>All of her friends have said they do not know of any connection between Hannah and this person of interest. The police captain is clearly frustrated that this guy will not talk to them. At minimum. he has been identified as the last known person to have contact with her. Apparently, he claims they went separate ways after Tempo Bar but won’t provide any more info. So, you went separate ways, which way did you go, which way did she go, what was her state of mind, where did she say she was headed,etc. </p>
<p>While I understand the distinction between the Honor Committee and the UJC I am not sure of the relevance to this case. Is anyone contending that universities regularly and consistently bring students up for review for underage drinking? </p>
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It isn’t relevant. I wanted to inform those who were discussing the Honor Code in comments 111 and 115.</p>
<p>It seems to me that police departments in these cases could use external assistance from the equivalent of big time criminal lawyers. I had thought that the police were doing pretty well, but I saw a clip (from the news conference?..not sure) that had the chief seeming to lose his composure a bit. You have the risk that they feel they are certain about what must have happened, but don’t have any proof of it. That is not where you want to be, and you need to keep your composure and not be “distracted” by the media attention on the case. I think I might announce that I wasn’t holding any more news conferences, period.</p>
<p>He was definitely steamed at Jesse Mathew. It was odd.</p>
<p>Could be he thinks Matthews knows what happened.</p>
<p>He acknowledged that he KNOWS the interaction did not end when they left the bar and he THINKS she was in his car. And, he’s just generally mad about whatever happened at the police station yesterday.</p>
<p>Flossy, I thought the police statement was odd too. He seems personally angry at Jesse Matthew, which is not typical behavior for a cop still looking for clues in a case. It seems as though they maybe suspect him strongly, but have nowhere near enough evidence to even charge him.</p>
<p>So the question becomes…how did they know each other, and why would he kill her?</p>
<p>I thought the statement from Hannah’s father was incredibly brave and levelheaded.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/21/us/virginia-missing-student-hannah-graham/index.html?hpt=hp_t1”>http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/21/us/virginia-missing-student-hannah-graham/index.html?hpt=hp_t1</a></p>
<p>He’s mad because he knows this guy has more information and he feels that if he truly has nothing to do with her disappearance , he should tell everything he knows. That he has a responsibility to say what he knows . He’s lawyered up and is out there somewhere. My fear is they’ll never find out what he knows . The police, emergency response people are clearly emotionally drained and very invested in this. It is hard to see all these images and not be moved. It is rare to have so much footage available to be played over and over again of a missing person. It’s bringing up a lot of emotional responses in people. But, I agree that the police have to be cautious with getting so emotionally caught up in this that it potentially jeopardizes the investigation.</p>
<p>Well, of course he’s “lawyered up.” A person–especially a black man, let’s face it–would have to be crazy not to be. IMHO, that says nothing whatever about his guilt or innocence. Jesse Matthew could have harmed her…or he could be totally innocent. He could have already told everything he knows. Maybe all he knows is that he bought her a drink and then they went their separate ways. Maybe he’s lying. But no matter what, people are going to start baying for his blood.</p>
<p>Since the police executed a warrant and examined his apartment and car, they will soon know if there is any evidence of her presence. </p>
<p>This reminds me of the Lauren Speirer case. People complained that the young men got lawyers. Wouldn’t you want YOUR kid to have a lawyer in those circumstances? Are people really so naive as to think that if you are innocent, you have nothing to worry about? The cars of those young men were examined, and there was no evidence that she was ever there. It is more likely that she was snatched by someone driving by, trolling the college area. Yet plenty of people on this forum continued to insist that they MUST be guilty.</p>
<p>I cannot imagine the feelings of the parents in these cases. It is completely heartbreaking. </p>
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<p>That’s my read, but you need ice water in your veins to catch someone who does something like this. There is a chance that the guy didn’t do anything. We don’t know. But its also true that those who get involved in these situations have that inate? skill? like the Dutch kid from aruba to sidestep problems. If, if the guy is guilty of something, its as though the police are like corporate IT people matched up against young hackers. The hackers are brighter and more clever, as a whole, than are the police. </p>
<p>I don’t see a problem with him getting a lawyer. With the Lauren Speirer case , ,did the friends with her immediately get lawyers or was it after they had initially at least given initial statements and still felt they were under suspicion? </p>
<p>I’m surprised his car has not been processed yet to potentially rule him out. The police captain said if they don’t have feedback from forensics by tomorrow afternoon, they will try to get that expedited.</p>
<p>Why now? Why this girl? This guy has been living in Cville for a long time. </p>
<p>Do the police seem to think there is a connection to this case and the other disappearances of young women in the area (five over the past few years, only one body found)?</p>
<p>Jesse Mathew led police on a high speed chase away from the police station after being appointed a lawyer. That is just strange behavior. The police aren’t saying much about what they know but they did say they believe he’s the last person to have see her alive. Which kind of says it all, really.</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t you want your kid to have a lawyer”. Yes. But if my kid was missing, I would also want the police to do everything they could to get info from the last person my kid was known to be seen with.</p>
<p>If I were being interrogated by the police and being considered a “person of interest” in a major crime I might drive erratically too–whether I did anything illegal or not.</p>
<p>As much as I think his behavior is not exactly helpful, I wouldn’t say “it says it all”–right now he is simply the last person KNOWN to have seen her alive. We still don’t know the “why” in this case.</p>
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<p>They really aren’t brighter than the police. The main difference between the police and the actual guilty party in this case is that the guilty party knows exactly what happened already and the police don’t. They’re not brighter or more clever, they just have a head start. </p>
<p>I read that about the chase…but think if he were that important they wouldn’t have abandoned that chase? And I agree, getting a lawyer is not a suspicious thing to do in this situation.</p>