Jesse Matthew, who killed at least 2 young women in Charlottesville and tortured both of them, not to mention the hell that their parents and friends went through.  He attempted to rape another woman years ago in Northern Virginia, but she was rescued by a passerby.  His DNA (from fingernail scrapings) was kept in her case file although he was not identified at the time.  He drove a cab, and most likely that is how he took the first college student in Charlottesville when she was not allowed to re-enter a concert venue.  Her body was discovered by a farmer several months later when he saw her long blond hair blowing behind some rocks in his field.  

I know a lot about Jesse's crimes because my husband worked on the case.  Matthew had already gotten 2 life terms for the attempted rape in Northern Virginia, but up until the day before his hearing, no one knew how he would plead.  The evidence was overwhelming of his guilt.  Had he gone to trial he would have gotten the death penalty without any doubt.

The day before he plead guilty to the two murders, he gave a long deposition in which he described the events in gory detail.  This got him a total of 7 life sentences; he also was required to sign an unrevocable document in which he declined the right to apply for a parole even based on old age.  

Before the prosecutor could agree to this, the parents of the two dead girls were informed of all of their options and had veto power.  The devastated parents accepted the plea.  Not only did they acknowledge that his death would not bring their daughters back, they had no appetite for more death, but there was another point which I had never thought of.  I will explain it after this:

A murderer in Virginia was put to death recently.  His horrible crimes (which I will not go into, but trust me, no one would have sympathy for the POS) were committed in 1973.

When anyone gets the death penalty there are many many opportunities for appeal and hearings, every single time any of those things come up, reporters call the families of the deceased for comments.  The hell that they went through never ends; the phone rings at all hours, and the misery that they can never get over is pushed in their faces again.  

By agreeing to his plea, they can move forward, grieve privately, and never have to see, or be asked yet again to comment on that SOB, knowing that he will not live one day outside of prison; he will never kill another daughter.  I should add that at the end of this emotional hearing, one of the mothers approached Jesse Matthew's mother and hugged her.