Former University of Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely is on trial for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love, in a case that has garnered national attention.
His first-degree murder trial included dramatic testimony Wednesday in Charlottesville, Virginia, from Love’s two roommates, serving as witnesses for the prosecution.
The saga is People’s cover story this week. What makes it so noteworthy?
The element of mystery surrounding the case, for one, and the fact that the accused is a Division I lacrosse star – who professes his innocence.
Caity Whiteley, who lived with Love and was on the lacrosse team with her, described returning to Love’s apartment to ask her to go out with them.
With Yeardley Love, 22, face down in bed, just as Whiteley had last seen her, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, at least at first.
“Her hair was all messed up and pulled aside,” Whiteley said, according to Charlottesville’s Daily Progress. “I moved her hair, and then that’s when I noticed.”
“There were cuts on her face, and it was just messed up.” Whiteley also testified that Love’s body was warm but that her feet were cold at the time.
On Thursday, when graphic photos of Love’s lifeless body were shown in court, her family sobbed, while George Huguely, 23, kept his head down.
Whiteley said that in the months before Love’s death her already on-again-off-again relationship with Huguely, had become even “more rocky than usual.”
Huguely reportedly was observed choking Love during a party.
Love and Whiteley’s other roommate, Kaitlin Duff, said oLove had become “very upset” in late April after she learned Huguely was with another woman.
Another witness was Anna Lehman, who lived in the apartment below Love. Describing a loud noise she heard from the floor above shortly before midnight, Lehman testified, “I thought that maybe like a stereo set had fallen, or a bookshelf.”
Right after that she saw a dark-haired man in a royal blue T-shirt leaving Love’s apartment. She described him as looking “like a male student.”
The defense reportedly does not dispute that Huguely was in the apartment that night. In opening statements Wednesday, Huguely’s lawyer said his client was very drunk the night Love died and was incapable of plotting to kill her.
Huguely has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, robbery, burglary, breaking and entering, grand larceny and murder in the commission of a felony.
According to an affidavit, Huguely admitted that he kicked in Love’s door and shook her, repeatedly hitting her head against a wall, back in May 2010.
Huguely’s attorney Francis Lawrence told reporters, “We are confident that Ms. Love’s death was not intended but an accident with a tragic outcome.”
Reports say that prosecutors said in court Wednesday that two days before Love’s death, Huguely accused her of having another relationship.
Prosecutor Dave Chapman told jurors Huguely assaulted Love and wrote to her saying he was upset because she had slept with someone else.
According to prosecutors, Huguely sent angry e-mails to Love, including one that said, “I should kill you.” When it came time for Huguely’s attorney Lawrence to address jurors, he reportedly relayed the rest of the e-mail’s message:
“I should have killed you. You should’ve killed me. You’re so [expletive] up.
Prosecutors also outlined Huguely’s pattern of violence against Love and said he intended to kill her and steal her laptop to destroy evidence.
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