Slain UVa player may have been threatened

Associated Press

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.

Investigators are looking into whether a University of Virginia lacrosse player found dead in her apartment Monday had been threatened some time before the killing, a police official said Tuesday.

Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo said investigators had recovered a computer that belonged to the slain woman and are checking it for evidence.

Men’s lacrosse team player George Huguely, 22, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Yeardley Love, also 22.

Documents say Huguely told police he kicked in Love’s bedroom door early Monday, then shook her and hit her head repeatedly against a wall. He also told police that he had communicated with Love by email and took her computer, according to an affidavit filed with a search warrant. Later he told police where to find it, the affidavit says.

Longo said police are interviewing friends, relatives and teammates of the pair “to see to what extent there’s truth to” reports that Huguely may have threatened Love.

The chief said there are no police reports of prior incidents involving the two.

The affidavit said police found Love face down in her bedroom early Monday with a pool of blood on her pillow, a large bruise on her face and one eye swollen shut. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Huguely told them he had an altercation with Love.

“Huguely stated that he and Love had been in a relationship and that the relationship had ended,” the document said.

His lawyer, Francis Lawrence, said he was confident the death was not intentional.