University of Virginia Lacrosse Player Yeardley Love Severely Beaten, Court Docs Say

Police say Yeardley Love severly beaten, suffered blunt force trauma.

ByABC News via GMA logo
May 3, 2010, 2:33 PM

May 4, 2010— -- The University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing his girlfriend told police that he kicked in her door and shook her violently, repeatedly banging her head against the wall, according to court documents released today.

The body of Yeardley Love, 22, was found Monday after an early morning 911 call, face down on her pillow in a pool of blood. Her face was covered in scrapes and bruises, according to the warrant, and her right eye was swollen shut. A large bruise on the right side of her face "appears to have been caused by blunt force trauma," according to a police request for a search warrant.

Click here to read the search warrants in the case against George Huguely.

According to the documents, George Huguely, also 22, waived his Miranda rights and spoke with police, telling them how he kicked through a door on his way to Love's bedroom. Police reported that it looked like the door to her room had been punched through, with hairs still visible hear the hole.

Huguely had cuts on his leg, the document said.

Love, who was a varsity lacrosse player on the women's team, was already dead when police arrived, though rescue personnel tried to revive her.

He told police he and Love had broken up and that he had communicated with her through emails. Before leaving her room, Huguely told police according to the documents, he took her communications and "disposed of it." The police document says Huguely told investigators where to find Love's computer.

Huguely was charged with first-degree murder and held without bond. Huguely's lawyer said today during a bond hearing that Love's death was an "accident."

"We are confident that Ms. Love's death was not intended, but an accident with a tragic outcome," said Francis Lawrence, Huguely's lawyer.

Stephen Murman, central regional director for the Virgnia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told ABCNews.com that an autopsy was performed on Love's body this morning, the procedure attended by police officials. He did not release an official cause of death.

They expect to release the body to her family soon.

Huguely appeared at the hearing by videoconference wearing a gray-striped jail uniform. He spoke only at the end of the hearing to say, "Thank you your honor." His parents sat in the audience, but said nothing.They later left through a back entrance without talking to reporters.

Outside the court, Lawrence said Huguely had withdrawn from the university today, the last day of classes before finals.

"Until more information becomes available," he said, "it is our hope that no conclusions will be drawn or judgments made about George or his case."

The couple, both from well-to-do Maryland families, had been dating for about a year and a half. Their on and off relationship had grown volatile in the weeks before her death.

Friends said Huguely had a temper and problems with alcohol. The the 6'2" and 209 pound athlete had been convicted in the past of public intoxication and resisting arrest in 2009.