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Waynesboro Police Sgt. Speaks on Next Steps in Graham Case

Posted: Updated: Sep 26, 2014 06:00 PM
Sgt. Brian Edwards talks with NBC29's Sean Cudahy Sgt. Brian Edwards talks with NBC29's Sean Cudahy

Once Charlottesville police get Jesse Matthew back in Virginia, they still might not get much information out of him. According to Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset, Matthew was booked out of Galveston County Jail Friday at 12:58 central time for extradition back to Virginia. Matthew is expected to be back in Virginia late Friday night or early Saturday night. 

Matthew is the prime suspect in the disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. Graham was last seen on September 13. Matthew faces an abduction with intent to defile charge in connection to the case. 

Up to this point, Matthew has been exercising his Fifth Amendment rights and not speaking to police. But experts we spoke to Friday say that won't stop the investigation from kicking into high gear once Matthew lands in Virginia.

We spoke with Sgt. Brian Edwards, a Waynesboro Police Department veteran, Friday about the case. Edwards says even though Matthew's is not likely to talk, and detectives probably won't learn much from questioning him, DNA is going to be a huge addition to the investigation once they can get Matthew in the Virginia system and look for matches.

"A DNA collection from the suspect is a requirement by state law, but also there's probably going to be search warrants for DNA because it is unlikely up to this point that there's been a comparison of DNA from the defendant. That will start in earnest once he's back in Virginia. So in the absence of not being able to get any statement from the defendant, you definitely start looking at the forensic evidence,” said Sgt. Brian Edwards with the Waynesboro Police Department.

Investigators may have swabbed some DNA while they searched Matthew's apartment, but Edwards says in order for them to truly be able to look at it as a possible reliable match, they'll need to actually take it directly from Matthew.

Edwards says between the DNA and getting Matthew into court in Virginia, you can expect this case to really hit the ground running once he arrives.

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