Details Emerge in UVA Murder: Violent Arguments Days Before Love Died

Aug. 19, 2010 — -- In the days before University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love was brutally murdered, arguments between her and her on-and-off boyfriend had escalated to the point that Love clubbed him over the head with her purse, according to newly released court documents.

Love, 22, was found face down and bloodied in her Charlottesville, Va., apartment in the early morning hours of May 3. Fellow lacrosse player and romantic interest George Huguely, 23, was charged with her murder.

Because of last year's violence, students arriving on campus this weekend will find new policies and a renewed emphasis on safety.

Details of what happened between the young lovers is finally coming to light, suggesting that just three days before Love was found dead she had lashed out against Huguely, according to two search warrant affidavits.

One of Love's sorority sister's told authorities that she witnessed an "altercation" between her friend and Huguely during which "Love hit Huguely with her purse" hard enough to cause all of its contents to be strewn about his apartment.

Later, the friend told police Love realized that her cellphone and camera were missing and that she "believed it was still at Huguely's apartment." Love recovered the camera, but never got her cellphone back, according to the statement.

Days later, Love was dead and Huguely was faced with a first-degree murder charge.

A redacted e-mail exchange between Love and Huguely is also included in the court documents and is believed to have discussed the couple's recent breakup.

Huguely's attorney has long argued that Love's murder was a tragic mistake, and Huguely at the time waved his Miranda rights and told authorities exactly what had happened the night she was killed.

Huguely confessed to police, according to search warrants in the case, that in the early morning hours Monday, he kicked in the door to Yeardley Love's bedroom and shook her violently, repeatedly banging her head against the wall.

Love's body was found later 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.

UVA Changes Disclosure Policy for Students With Criminal Records

With the school year beginning, students arriving at the University of Virginia will notice a difference in the way they are expected to inform the school of any run-ins with the law.

Now students will be prompted the first time they log on to the university's internal website whether they have been arrested or convicted of a crime since they were accepted into the university.

Dean of Students Allen Groves told ABC News that the university researched how to improve campus security following Love's death last spring.

"What we discovered is we had a policy in place since 2004 requiring students to self-disclose issues they had with the law," said Groves. "But we know, for example, in the case of Mr. Huguely there was no self-disclosure."

"What we don't know is whether the large array of students are fully aware of the policy and whether he was. I don't know," he said.

"We decided to take an active rather than passive approach to educating students on the policy," said Groves.

Groves said that he has addressed the emergency contact system with parents and incoming students during information sessions this summer, but has only fielded a handful of questions specifically referring to Love's murder.

A new program, known as "Get Grounded," will focus on bystander safety, or guidelines on when friends should step in when they see their peers getting into trouble. Groves said a session specifically directed toward the fraternities and sororoities, of which Love had been a member, is also scheduled.

In the days following the gruesome discovery of Love's body, the campus community was shocked to learn of Huguely's prior arrests, including a domestic dispute with his own father on the family's enormous yacht a mile off shore from the glamourous Ritz Carlton Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla.

In addition, Huguely was arrested in 2008 after wrestling a Lexington, Va., female police officer to the ground while resisting his arrest for public intoxication.

The officer said she was forced to use a Taser on the 6'2" and 209 pound Huguely after he hurled racial and sexual obscenities at her and threatened her life, telling the officer, "I'll kill you. I'll kill all of y'all. I'm not going to jail."

And in September 2007 he was booked for reckless driving after speeding at 70 mph in a 55 mph zone. In November 2007, he was arrested for possession of alcohol as a minor when he was 19.

Huguely is being held without bond in the Albermarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.