Fourth-year College student George Huguely — who was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of fourth-year College student Yeardley Love yesterday — admitted to police officials that “he shook Love and her head repeatedly hit the wall” during an altercation, according to an affidavit for a search warrant.
Huguely, a former member of the men’s lacrosse team, also admitted that he broke into Love’s bedroom by kicking his right foot through the door. He said the front door to the former women’s lacrosse player’s apartment was unlocked, according to the affidavit.
After the altercation, witnesses found Love face-down on her pillow with a pool of blood. She had a “large bruised contusion on the right said of her face which appears to have been caused by a blunt force trauma,” according to other affidavits. Her right eye was swollen shut, and her chin area was bruised and scraped, the affidavits stated.
Nevertheless, in a statement outside the Charlottesville General District Court this morning, Huguely’s lawyers said the death was accidental.
—compiled by Prateek Vasireddy
Editor’s note: The Cavalier Daily finished its regular production for the academic year last Friday, and therefore no additional print editions of the paper will appear during the final exam period. The editors will continue to follow the Yeardley Love homicide as the story develops, however, and update The Cavalier Daily’s website accordingly.
Documents courtesy of the Daily Progress
I would like to applaud the Cavalier Daily for not only getting these articles out during a non-press time, but also for redacting the roommate and her friend’s names, along with Huguely’s social security number. Other news sources have not followed suit. The case itself is appauling, and further entanglement need not be done. Thank you for providing up to date information and for upholding journalistic integrity and respect for other students’ privacy.
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Any chance he was on steroids?
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Roids rage is a myth with no scientific backing. But I would wager he was 10-20 drinks deep plus maybe a lil recreational stuff on the side.
No matter what the tox reports suggests, the actions described are those of a very disturbed and violent individual. Alcohol doesn’t make someone who is otherwise normal do something like this. Its sickening.
RIP and my prayers go out to both families
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That lawyer sounds like an idiot. Huguely, a real tough guy, kicked in the door, banged her head against the wall, probably punched her in the face and yet her death weas an “accident.” What does that mean, that he only wanted to teach her a lesson for dumping him and accidentally killed her. I hope he is convicted of first degree murder and after the inevitable lengthy appeals process is executed. He did confess to the murder and I am glad he did but he is obviously not the brightest bulb on the tree.
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Sick bastard. Thanks for getting the truth out. This is just too sad.
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Eye swollen shut, chin bruised … it would seem that “someone” beat her up and then returned to finish the job. Words can’t adequately describe …
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I am so shocked and angered by this killing, but also by the comments by the defense lawyers.
I graduated from UVA 5 years ago and I hope that this is a wake-up call to the community to raise awareness about abusive relationships and inter-partner violence. Clearly this man has admitted to breaking into his ex’s home and beating her savagely. What has possessed his lawyers to call this an accident? Just say no comment and let her family and community try to get through this ordeal. Calling it an accident is dodging the real issue of abuse that the whole community needs to come to terms with.
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To Leslie: The lawyer’s job is represent his client to the best of his abilities, and saying it was an accident is just that. He’s setting the situation up so that his client can plead to a lesser charge – probably manslaughter 1 or manslaughter 2.
The lawyer’s job is not to act as a moral compass of some sort, it is to represent his client. If lawyers actions reflect “what the community needs to come to terms with” and morality in general, then our justice system would be in shreds. We would have no one to defend terrorists and other murderers. The lawyer wasn’t dodging the real issue, he was representing his client in the best way that he could.
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Kudos to the Cav Daily for this writing and for posting these documents. It is first-rate work on one of the worst events in UVa history. I graduated from UVa also. The assailant appears to be a psychopath (Dr. Kent Kiehl was profiled in an article for the New Yorker in 2008, written by John Seabrook, on psychopathy; his description of the perp. sounds a lot like this guy).
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actually, i think the job of the legal system is to seek truth and morally just consequences.
they can make whatever argument they want in court, and back it up with evidence, but releasing a statement at this fragile time that it was an accident is asking everyone to stretch the boundaries of their mind to imagine in what dimension beating a woman to death can be labeled a true accident.
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Defher is 100% correct. For those of us who have been overseas I can tell you first hand that in many other places this dude would be taken out right now and shot. Too many have died for the rights we hold dear including the right to legal representation and due process no matter how frustrating that may be in cases like this one. I’m about as conservative as it can get (USMC Semper Fi!) but none of my friends died so that any citizen can be denied the rights given to them by law. It’s why we will prevail in the fight against extremists. It may take a while but justice will be served.
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Let us ponder what would have happened had the young woman not died. What if he had “merely” physically assaulted her? How would the University have handled this? I recall the Smith case, when one young student physically assaulted another. What criminal prosecution did he face? In the Allston/Sisk slaying, the UVA student killer received a sentence of three years and was out of jail in one.
There have been numerous sexual assaults perpetrated by UVA students against other UVA students that have resulted in absolutely zero criminal liability over the years.
Let us ponder the possibility that this young man did not intend to kill this young woman. Placed in the historical context of the above criminal happenstances, what would have led him to believe that he could get away with such an assault?
Have some UVA students learned that they can get away with such crimes or, if they are caught, that they will get a light sentence? Where would they have learned this lesson?
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Jimbi
Do you really think that this kid was weighing his options and assessing the possibility of getting off after assaulting her? He was drunk and high as a kite and raging out of control, smashing down doors and banging the victims head into the wall. He even took her computer and threw it in the woods as if that would someone make his threats via e-mail dissappear.
This wasn’t some late night drunken hookup full of gray area. It was an act of rage and savage violence.
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Lori, I think you’re smart enough to see my point.
UVA students have gotten away with crime after crime after crime. A culture of permissiveness has taken root. This young man felt entitled to do what he did.
Are you saying that the fact that so many UVA students have gotten away with criminal activity has no affect on how UVA students see their place in the world or the local community? Are you saying that it is proper and good for UVA students to have gotten away with so much criminal activity over the years?
A University is a place of learning. Are you saying that UVA student have learned nothing from the numerous examples set where there counterparts get away with crimes?
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oops…. should be “their” in the last sentence.
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and should be “effect” not “affect”….
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While describing Huguely as “a former member of the men’s lacrosse team” is technically accurate at this point, it just doesn’t sit well with me. We was very much a member of the team two days ago.
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more young cavaliers are going down in the future as long as jealous degenerate cops with badges & guns are conspicuosly worshiped & believed and the toadying landed gentry fail to defend their family sacred honor.
where is the ugly mug-shot pig photo of the female police officer who zealously hunted a tipsy vulnerable university male student pedestrian like a rabid government redneck with a personal vendetta?
an embellished eight week graduation degree in “criminal justice” exploitation from a piss ant police academy for delusional home wreckers is liberal law enforcement not education. why am i not surprised that most americans still proxy local “gun control” authority over to official low life mischievious miscreants?
effectively export democracy. send more pretty boys in uniform and stupid social workers into the very very dangerous land of allah because it is in the best interest of our children.
vive le war on terror aka the war on corrupt “protection order” cops.
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Another apparent case of an over-privileged UVA “gladitor” running amuck.
All we can do currently is to speculate about what really happened Sunday evening. However, you can confidently bet that Lord and Lady Huguely are currently conspiring with the good ole’ boys of the UVA Establishment to get their dear little George the Fifth off on a lesser charge with minimal or any incarceration time. I’m sure he’ll be decked out in his Eljo’s best when he faces the judge. After all, that’s how life works in lovely Cville.
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ABUSE IS NOT AN ACCIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jimbi
Maybe you speak some truth about UVa in general, although I don’t completely buy it. I personally view this as another example of domestic violence and violence towards women. This issue pervades all social classes, cultures(some more than others-see the middle east), and races. This could easily have happened on the other end of town with the only difference being the social status of the criminal and victim-and the media attention.
I hope that any woman out there in an abusive relationship will take this tragedy to heart and get out while they still can. Committing violence against a girlfriend/wife is never a one time “mistake”.
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Yes, Lori, that’s exactly what it is and what you’re saying doesn’t negate my point. I think we’re on the same side. Violence against women (or men) should be prevented and when it happens, the perpetrator should be punished.
My point is that this kind of violence has been swept under the rug countless times at UVA. This time, a young woman is dead as a result of this kind of violence.
This didn’t happen at the other end of town. Of course it “could have”, but it didn’t. Yes, other crimes have happened elsewhere. Those other crimes have their own set of circumstances. This crime has this set of circumstances. My comments pertain to this set of circumstances.
The University has taken a permissive approach to violent UVA students in the past. Rapists and those that would physically assault others have been shielded from criminal prosecution by the University of Virginia.
Look, all you have to do is “disagree” with my comment and it will be hidden. Is there a better example of how group thinking could take root on campus? Just hide the opinions you disagree with. I wonder what Thomas Jefferson would think about that?
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The decision to kick down a door and beat a girl to death is not one of entitlement or based upon privilege. Rich and poor both commit crimes such as this. George Huguely is a horrific person without value for the world and would be a horrific person without value for the world if he grew up on food stamps. His lawyer is merely doing his job by trying to protect his clients interest not the communities and not the victims. It is distasteful but that’s life. Obviously they are going to try to plead down the charges to something that will give their sweet George a second chance at life that his victim will never have. It would be terrible were that to happen and a joke. This is guy who should never see the streets again. Its important for the people who are outraged at this case to take meaningful action to see that this crime is prosecuted to the full extent of the law rather than venting online. Making snide comments about money or sports do nothing for the victim or justice. It serves only the commenter who receives a dose or moral superiority, aka “I may not have money, play sports, etc but I don’t do that” The students at UVA and members of the community have the tools to influence whether a plea deal is struck. Forming groups of students on facebook or other social networking sites against a plea deal has influence. I remember the dress code at the Jaberwoke that was removed after pressure from a small percentage of students. I’d assume 100% of students are against students murdering students. Do something meaningful by organizing yourselves for the purpose of demanding John Casteen, Leonard Sandridge and Craig Littlepage speak out publicly against a plea deal and for nothing less than a prosecution to the full extent of the law. These people have emails, let them know they can’t skirt this issue. If the students body, university administrators and community are demanding justice for this crime a plea deal for anything less than life in prison becomes impossible. If you’re outraged and you should be, do something meaningful and see that he is prosecuted for murder not pleading to manslaughter.
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UVA 02….well said! Hope they are listening!
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So Sorry to hear about this tragedy. I live in Chicago and we just had a horrific incident where some drunk and high boyfriend/girlfriend team nearly beat 2 University of Chicago grad students to death with a wooden bat just to rob them; almost like it was a game. They were then stupid enough to use their credit cards to fill up their car with gas and were caught quickly. One girl is likely to never walk nor talk again. The guy was a gang member with a multiple page rap sheet and shouldn’t have been anywhere but jail. Point is race, class, money, age, nor prestige do not provide any boundaries when it comes to senseless crimes like this. I hope Huguely faces the ultimate punishment allowed by law. And while it may be his attoney’s “job” to defend him, I just don’t understand how one can live with themselves defending a cold blooded murderer (by his own admission). I’d imagine it has to be somewhat hard to sleep at night with that on your mind. Condolences to the Love family.
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According to reports on the Today Show (video below), friends of the former couple say that Huguely tried to attack Love in public just weeks ago. Police are also investigating claims that Huguely may have threatened Love via text message.
Could not kill her in public so he killed her in her own room. This killer needs to be gone with!
Let see the lawyer say it was just an accident now! She did not have a chance.
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As a Darden alum, I was shocked to learn of this brutal crime.
However, after reading the accounts of the tragedy, I agree with Mr. DeGraf’s censored comments. There is signficant asymmetry between Ms. Love and Mr. Huguely in terms of power, prestige, influence and wealth.
As we painfully know from Andrew Alston’s 2004 cold blooded stabbing murder of Walter Sisk, the “UVA System” always favors the rich and powerful over ordinary people all of the time.
Can you really imagine John-Boy Casteen standing up for the rights of Mr. Sisk or Ms. Love in the face of overwhelming pressure from, as Mr. Degraf so eloquently stated, “Good ole UVA boys”. Do you really believe Lord and Lady Huguely haven’t already been badgering Senators Webb and Warner and others to intervene on their little dear’s behalf? In a pig’s eye!
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Get ready for the BIG news!
I guarantee you that this guy will get a light sentence: maybe 10 years at most. Why?
Name me one rich person in US history who has ever gotten a death sentence. It just doesn’t happen!
This guy’s father can afford the most skilled defense attorneys that money can buy. Compare that with the salaries that prosecutors make. This could be a long, long trial and the defense attorney will fill the jury with a combination of male ex-lacrosse players or women who think he looks like “their own son.”
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him walk away completely innocent! That’s the kind of “justice” you get when you’re young, white, and rich, right??!!!!
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As an alum, I was also shocked at this incident.
As someone who was at the Robert Morris game last Sat. and saw George Huguely and (I’m pretty sure) his father chatting away after the game while my son waited for another player’s autograph, I’m also confused at how someone who seemed so at ease and happy could have been this upset about a personal relationship gone bad.
As the parent of a second-year student who lives a stone’s throw away from the scene of all this, I’m obviously a trifle bit concerned about this on another level, and I offer the deepest condolences to Ms. Love’s family and friends. Truly one of a parent’s worst nightmares.
But the real shock to me in reading these comments is the level of hatred and animosity that seems to be flowing from those that apparently did not then, or perhaps do not now, “fit in” to what they perceive as some sort of homogeneous, wealthy, preppy background from which all but a few “token plebes” are selected for admission.
As someone who came from a much more modest background, I certainly found there were snobs when I was there (and I’ve been assured by my daughter that there are no lack of them now), but I don’t recall anything other than ambivalence towards them. I don’t think I can recall any social situation I’ve ever been in where there has been any kind of “Classless Harmony”. There were certainly plenty of “normal” types about and I don’t seem to recall feeling as if I was in some sort of oppressed minority. Perhaps being a toolie made it a bit different but I certainly don’t remember it as such, as I had plenty of friends in the College, and it most assuredly did not leave the bitter aftertaste that seems to color quite a few of these comments. Perhaps it’s a problem with one’s outlook on life, not the University’s administration or policies.
Grow up, see the world for what it is, and make the best of it. Or make it better. But the bitching about “The Elite” dumping on everyone else is as trite as harping on the Builderberg Group or the International Jewish/Communist Conspiracy or the Federal Reserve for the totality of the world’s problems. Conspiracy theories are grist to the tabloids and the wingnuts, but I’d hate to think that someone would consider themselves educated and fall for the slander that appears in some of these comments as holy writ.
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New details from AP (“Lacrosse killing suspect seemed to have it all”) and Washington Post (“Eight U-Va. lacrosse players have been charged with alcohol-related offenses during their careers at the school”):
WP, First Excerpt, indications of violence from the accused prior to the death:
“The fatal altercation between Huguely and Love early Monday in her Charlottesville apartment may not have been their first violent encounter. Two months before Love’s death, two current and one former University of North Carolina lacrosse players intervened to separate Huguely from Love at a party on the U-Va. campus in Charlottesville, according to two sources with knowledge of the incident. The UNC players were in Charlottesville visiting with friends. A reporter asked U-Va. President John T. Casteen III about the incident at a news conference Wednesday. Casteen said he knew nothing about it. Huguely’s attorney did not immediately reply to a phone message and e-mail seeking comment.Casteen also said that school officials were unaware of Huguely’s prior arrest and that officials, coaches and trainers had no indication of violence on his part. But Casteen acknowledged that “there are a number of gaps in this system that concern me.” He said the school would begin to screen students against public records before each semester.”
2nd Excerpt, WP: “Lexington police never notified administrators at U-Va. of their 2008 arrest of Huguely, Chief Al Thomas said Wednesday. He said most colleges require their students to report run-ins with the law, but he was unaware whether Huguely had done so. When the university learns of an athlete’s arrest, each case is treated individually, according to Carol Wood, a university spokeswoman. Some are referred to a student-run Judiciary Committee, which can recommend an array of actions as harsh as expulsion. In alcohol cases that involve dependent students, university officials notify parents.”
The AP story talks more about Huguely’s past. The accused really sounds like a very bad person.
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was she found nude?
was she sexually assaulted?
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I don’t blame the defense attorney for trying to defend his client. The law permits him to. I’m not an attorney. I’m 100% against what the male lacrosse player did. But he’s entitled to a defense. What do you expect his attorney to say? “My client is guilty and you should execute him as soon as possible!” ??
Defense attorneys never know what prosecutors are going to say. They have to be prepared to defend their clients. Until laws are passed that limit what defense attorneys can do or say, if you had killed someone, what would you want your defense attorney to say? “We have no defense, your honor. I think you should fry my client!”
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I personally hope he gets the full punishment if he is fully guilty.
My tactic would be something like, “My client shouldn’t even have been in this position. He should have been kicked off of the team after he was arrested in Lexington. He should have been thrown out of school after the Lexington incident. He’s a violent person. If the coach and school had done their jobs properly, he wouldn’t even have been in Charlottesville and near the campus!
It was up to the coach to know what his players are up to. His teammates knew that he had been arrested in Lexington: how come the coaching staff didn’t know? It was their resonsibility to know what their scholarship players were doing off of the field, not to just exploit these players in order to win games with them. This player has psychiatric problems and should have been under the care of a physician for his drinking problem. He proved in Lexington that he’s a violent person who had no business being on an athletic scholarship or a college student.”
Fortunately, his defense attorneys are not this good!
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“At a Wednesday evening news conference, Littlepage was asked if he was concerned that eight of the 41 players on UVa’s lacrosse team have been charged with alcohol-related offenses during their time at UVa. Littlepage said each of those incidents has been handled appropriately.”
Doesn’t look good.
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Is the honor code relevant here at all? I remember being very impressed with UVA when I applied to schools back in the ’80′s, in part b/c of the honor code. Just wondering why so many lax players were able to stay in school after apparently serious offenses.
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Stick a needle in his arm now!
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first off, i am just as shocked and saddened by this situation as the rest of the community. although i never knew yeardley, i have friends who did, and i cannot imagine what her family must be going through.
it has come to my attention that there have been various people in the media, such as law enforcement and FBI personnel, who in interviews have stated that star male college athletes have “problems because they feel like royalty” and that they “never develop empathy for others.” I am a college undergraduate female who grew up with a member of the UVA men’s lacrosse team, as well as with members of varsity men’s lacrosse players at other colleges. These friends of mine are amazing individuals with incredible self-discipline and some of the best personal integrity of anyone i know. I can say with complete confidence that they would never harm anyone and have always definitely had empathy for others.
I am not trying to take anything away from the magnitude of this situation, because it is a tragedy in every way. However, I feel that those who give statements to the media should think about what they are saying, because some of them are making untrue and unfair statements about my friends and about other male college athletes around the country.
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Has anyone seen or heard any comments yet from Dom Starsia on any of this? If so, could you post the sources. Thanks.
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While I don’t have an opinion on whether or not the assailant here was on steroids, I’m curious as to why the statement has been voted down without any conclusive proof.
I study psychopharmacology at UVA – the study of the impact of drugs with the brain. To Steiner and those with the same opinion that steroid induced rage is a myth, I will direct you to a 2008 study published in the American Journal of Public Health:
“A nationally representative sample of young adult males in the United States found an association between lifetime and past-year self-reported anabolic-androgenic steroid use and involvement in violent acts. Compared with individuals who did not use steroids, young adult males who used anabolic-androgenic steroids reported greater involvement in violent behaviors even after controlling for the effects of key demographic variables, previous violent behavior, and polydrug use.”
Former studies of “roid rage,” mostly done in the 90′s, did not account for people who turned in data where half the sheets were missing, typically counting an empty space as zero. Under reporting steroid use, you may imagine, tends to be the case in studies with athletes. Even when promised anonymity there is never a 100% guarantee the data won’t get lost (stolen or bought by the unscrupulous), and it’s the type of information that can ruin a career. A study that concentrates on athletes who no longer have to worry about being fired if their answers are connected to them somehow would have much more accurate results than the old tests done almost a decade ago.
So there is clear proof present that steroid use is correlated with instances of violence and rage. The question that bears repeating, that none of us can confirm or deny without the necessary tests, is whether the assailant was on them.
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hopefully he gets some prison love from the general population befor the needle.
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Thsi case is aweful in every way
I was surprised when UVA LAX team recruited then admitted one of Hugely classmates/teammates a young man who allegedly was involved in a steriod incident
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