June 3, 2025 • 21 mins
She was a star athlete, weeks away from graduating from the University of Virginia. He was her ex-boyfriend, a fellow lacrosse player, and increasingly volatile. Then, on May 3, 2010, Yeardley Love was found brutally beaten in her campus apartment.
In this episode of Murder U, we examine the violent murder that shocked the collegiate sports world and sparked national conversations about dating violence, toxic masculinity, and institutional blind spots. We explore the disturbing behavior of George Huguely leading up to the killing, the warning signs that were ignored, and the heartbreaking aftermath for Yeardley’s family and community.
We also reflect on how this high-profile case changed policies on campus safety and inspired a nationwide push to better protect student-athletes from intimate partner violence.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
In this episode of Murder U, we examine the violent murder that shocked the collegiate sports world and sparked national conversations about dating violence, toxic masculinity, and institutional blind spots. We explore the disturbing behavior of George Huguely leading up to the killing, the warning signs that were ignored, and the heartbreaking aftermath for Yeardley’s family and community.
We also reflect on how this high-profile case changed policies on campus safety and inspired a nationwide push to better protect student-athletes from intimate partner violence.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Abnormia. From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and
the sanctity of their homes, These once secure spaces have
transformed into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict
harm on the unsuspecting. Join me Maddie each week as
we delve into the bone chilling stories of senseless murders
(00:26):
occurring in and around our centers of education. Welcome to
Murder You, an Abnormia original. Welcome to this episode of
(00:59):
Murder You. I'm your host, Mattie, and the story I
have for you today is about the murder of a
University of Virginia lacrosse player named Yardley Love. If you
don't know this story, the twenty ten case became a
widershed moment that highlighted the problem of domestic violence on
college campuses. It also prompted calls for increased action to
identify and prevent these kinds of tragedies from happening. We've
(01:22):
seen it before, a young man's violent alcohol field behavior
goes unchecked until it costs someone their life. The fact
that happened on the campus of a major university also
raised a lot of questions about campus security and how
much responsibility colleges bear in protecting their students, who are,
of course adults now. The University of Virginia and Charlottesville
(01:44):
is one of the finest public schools in the US.
Founded in eighteen nineteen, it's routinely ranked in the top
five by US News and World Report and in the
top thirty for all national universities if you place a
lot of stock in those rankings, but by any standard,
it's a great school and features one of the most
beautiful campuses in the country. It's one of the only
(02:07):
World Heritage Site universities in the country, and that's because
it has a historic campus designed by Thomas Jefferson. There's
a long standing tradition of fostering an environment of lifelong learning.
The school doesn't have freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior designations.
UVA students are known as first year, second year, third year,
and fourth year students. This is due to the belief
(02:30):
that learning is a lifelong journey and should therefore continue
long past one's senior status. In her senior year of
high school, Yardley Love was recruited by UVa's top ranked
women's lacrosse team. With such a rich tradition and picturesque campus.
It's no wonder that lev chose to attend Virginia, but
(02:51):
that peaceful, safe haven of higher learning was shattered on
May third, twenty ten. Yardley's story got a ton of
media coverage at the time, and one of the things
that drove public interest was the fact that it involved
a fellow lacrosse player named George Hugly. George was Yardley's
on again, off again boyfriend for years, but after some
(03:12):
escalating abuse, love finally broke it off for good sometime
in the spring of that year. There seemed to be
plenty of red flags with Hugly. The young lacrosse player
was arrested for public drunkenness in two thousand and eight.
He also punched a sleeping lacrosse player in two thousand
and nine in a jealous fit of rage after being
told the guy had kissed his girlfriend. He even once
(03:35):
attacked and choked Yardly in an incident that went unreported
to authorities. George became even more abusive when he drank heavily,
which by all accounts was practically every day. So on
May second, Huglely spent the entire day drinking. It is
believed he had been drinking consistently for thirty hours. He
(03:58):
started tossing down beers in the morning at a father
son golf outing, and like many of his shots that day,
it went downhill from there. In George's case, his drinking
may have encouraged him to escalate to anger, aggression, and abuse.
It's this sort of unchecked behavior that can lead to
intimate partner violence. In the most extreme instances, it can
(04:21):
also lead to murder, and that's precisely what happened. In
the early morning hours of May third, at around two am,
Love's roommate called nine one one after finding her unresponsive.
She initially told the dispatcher that Yardley might have died
from alcohol poisoning, but when officers arrived, they immediately saw
(04:41):
blood spatter and the signs of a struggle. When investigators
learned Yardley's ex boyfriend lived next door, they brought Hugely
in for questioning. It's hard to say if George knew
Yardley was dead, but he must have suspected it. He
seemed genuinely astonished when investigators told him that she was deceased,
but it was likely an act to set up his
(05:03):
drunken accident defense. In a one hour recorded conversation, George admitted,
we were just going to talk. It was not at
all a good conversation. We were wrestling. I pushed her
on to the bed and left. Yeah, you heard that right.
He claimed they were just wrestling. So Hugly's idea of
(05:25):
wrestling is repeatedly smashing someone's head into a wall and
then tossing their lifeless body. Aside, I've never heard that
definition of wrestling. Never mind the fact that he also
broke through her bedroom door before this brutal attack. Officers
interviewing George also noticed he had bruised knuckles and several
fresh cuts on his arms. He denied that he killed
(05:48):
Yardly and said he just told her to chill out
and shook her a little. However, the evidence told a
different story. But before we go deeper into Love's death,
let me tell you about her life. Yardley was born
to John in Sharon Love on July seventeenth, nineteen eighty seven,
in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in Cockeysville, Maryland, with
(06:10):
her older sister, Lexi, whom she adored and looked up to.
Yardley started playing lacrosse with her father when she was
just five years old. By fourth grade, she played on
organized teams and the sport became a true passion. She
loved competing and became an elite high school athlete, recruited
by several universities. Yardley's father passed away while she was
(06:32):
in high school, and she put a lacrosse stick in
his casket before he was laid to rest. It shows
you how important the sport was to her and her
father and how strong their bond was. Yardley was an
extremely positive person who was active in her church and community,
donating her time to worthy charities and causes. She was
a star on the team, and her teammates loved her
(06:53):
spirit and tenacity. She was small, standing five foot six
and weighing one hundred and fifteen pounds. She was fierce
on defense and quite the competitor. Team captain Hagerman Willox
told ESPN she was like a pitfoll out there. She
was so strong that you were like, how are you
even doing that? She held her own in every instance
(07:14):
because she was so speedy and feisty. When researching Yardley's story,
I got the impression she was a kind and positive person.
But when she stepped out onto that lacrosse field, it
was game on. She was described as an accomplished student
who had a bright future ahead of her, that is
until she met Hughgley. George Hugley the Fifth was born
(07:37):
into a wealthy Southern family. ABC News reported that his
great grandfather found it a highly successful construction supply company
called Gallagher and Hughgley in nineteen twelve in the Washington,
d c. Area. The family later invested in property and racehorses.
George's dad was a self employed investor, and his mom
had been a model at Sacks Fifth Avenue when she
(07:58):
was younger. Yardley met Hugely during her freshman year at
the University of Virginia. As I said before, they had
an on again, off again relationship over the years, most
likely because of George's out of control behavior and excessive drinking.
When Love finally broke off the relationship for good, George
sent her threatening emails. He lashed out at her, and
(08:20):
in one of the last emails, he wrote, I should
have killed you. The statement shows Hugely's mindset in the
days before he viciously attacked Love. I'm sure Yardley took
these threats seriously, as she had experienced George's violence firsthand,
but often with intimate partner violence, leaving is the most
dangerous period of time, which feeds into the power and
(08:42):
control of the abuser, making it more difficult to end
the cycle. She experienced some awful abuse, but I doubt
she or anyone else fully realized how depraved and out
of control Hugly was until it was too late. Ending
a relationship with someone who's physically abusive and unpredictable can
(09:02):
be dangerous, and of course alcohol doesn't help the situation.
Aside from the red flags, Hugley was racking up a
police record well before he killed Yardley. In two thousand
and eight, George was intoxicated near Washington and Lee University
in Lexington, Virginia. A female police officer told him he
needed to get a ride home or she would arrest him.
(09:25):
George reportedly threatened the officer, yelling racist and sexist things
at her. At one point, he even screamed, I'll kill
all you bitches. Officer Rebecca Moss went to handcuff George,
and he resisted arrest. Eventually she had to taser him.
Of course, he later claimed to be blackout drunk with
(09:45):
no memory of that night, a seemingly convenient excuse for
someone trying to avoid legal repercussions for their actions. George
obviously had a drinking problem and pleaded guilty to resisting
arrest and public intoxication. He was fined with a whopping
one hundred bucks and given a slap on the wrist,
with only six months probation, community service and a requirement
(10:08):
to enter a substance abuse program. If Hugly had faced
more consequences for his actions, it's possible he wouldn't have
escalated to murder and yard they might still be alive.
Had the school known about this, he would have been
suspended from the Lcross team, but George failed to notify
them of his arrest. As per the conditions of his
(10:28):
plea agreement, he might have been expelled from school, but
let's face it probably not. He had gotten away with
bad behavior his entire life, and even threatening the life
of a female police officer wasn't enough to land him
in serious trouble. We see this time and again where
somebody isn't punished for their bad behavior until something truly
(10:49):
catastrophic happens. Hugly's parents were able to send George to
all the best private schools. He enrolled in the elite
land In School for the ninth grade. He was on
the football and lacrosse teams and got a reputation as
a boisterous prankster. One incident involved stealing his lacrosse coaches
car keys and driving his vehicle onto the lacrosse field.
(11:12):
The one thing these schools didn't seem to provide was
any sort of discipline or punishment for George's bad behavior.
In high school, he had already had a reputation for drunkenness, anger,
and aggression, usually all at once, and in that order.
He was the star of the lacrosse team, which perhaps
allowed him to get away with more. By the time
(11:32):
he reached college, George had plenty of experience coasting through
life by avoiding any sort of punishment for his actions.
In two thousand and eight, the same year he threatened
a cop with racial and sexistlers, Huglily got into a
fight with his father aboard their yacht in Palm Beach.
Hugily dove off the boat into the water and swam
to shore. The authorities were called, but he was never arrested,
(11:56):
though he received a light punishment for his altercations with
the female police officer, who was forced to use a
taser to subdue him. One of the court ordered stipulations
was that George was required to inform the school of
his arrest, but of course he failed to do so.
I don't know why the courts don't just send a
letter to the school. What they're operating on the honor
(12:17):
system with criminals. Despite his past behavior, the University of
Virginia had no system for identifying students who could pose
a danger to others on campus, so George was never
held accountable for his off campus behavior, and the school
took no steps to protect Yardley because they were unaware
of what was happening. So what happened to the night
(12:39):
of May second and early hours of May third, According
to his teammates, Hugally spent all day drinking. After shooting
a drunken round of golf, the lacrosse players hit the
country club bar to continue drinking. The UVA men's team
was celebrating being ranked number one in the nation and
they were about to play in the NCAA tournament, so
(13:03):
you can imagine George was tossing him back at this point,
but his friends didn't have to imagine. They recalled Hugly
was wasted. That afternoon, George and two teammates went to
dinner with Huglely's father. That night, the drinking continued and
George was so belligerent that the dinner ended early. Hugly's
(13:24):
teammates were embarrassed and refused to hang out with him
any longer. We all have that friend who drinks too
much and becomes an embarrassment, but George took it to
a new level. Around ten thirty pm, Hugly returned to
his apartment. What does he do when he gets home?
You guessed it. He kept drinking, his roommates said. They
(13:44):
went to the store around eleven thirty pm. They were
out for twenty minutes, and when they got home, George
was gone. His roommates worried he would get arrested again
for public intoxication, but they never dreamed of the nightmare
that was about to unfold. The roommates were relieved when
George returned it around twelve fifteen am. That is until
(14:06):
they noticed something was wrong with Hugely. They described him
as having a blank stare. They asked him what was up,
but he didn't respond. Now, keep in mind that Yardley
lived one apartment over, so what happened in that fateful
forty five minutes. In the taped conversation with investigators, George
(14:28):
admits he went to Yardley sometime after midnight that morning.
The front door was unlocked, so George entered the apartment.
There was just one problem. Yardley's room was locked. George
asked her to let him in, but she refused, and
Hugely admitted to kicking a giant hole through the bedroom
door so he could enter her room. Now, one thing
(14:51):
that does make me question whether George knew Yardley was
dead is the fact that he's admitting to all of this.
He clearly didn't really how much trouble he was in.
George told police that once he broke into the room,
Yardley started, quote freaking out, Hello, you smashed through her
door like Jack Nicholson in the Shining. Anyone would be
(15:13):
freaking out at that point. Hugly claims Yardly got aggressive
with him. We can all agree that it was self
defense and not misplaced aggression. George said that Yardley shoved
him and screamed at him to get out, and when
he didn't, she went to the corner of the room
and started banging her head against the wall. Seems like
the opposite response to someone attacking you in your own room.
(15:37):
Aside from that story being bizarre and unbelievable, Love had
numerous wounds aside from the crushing head trauma. The investigator
asked George if he choked her or punched Yardley in
the neck. I may have grabbed her a bit by
the neck, but I never strangled her, Hughughly said, before
adding we were wrestling. I pushed her onto the bed
(15:58):
and left. She told the police he had had over
twenty drinks that day, as if that excused his actions.
Then came the most tense moment of the interview. Detective
Lisa Reeves leaned in and said, I have to tell
you something. She's dead. You killed her. George seemed genuinely
(16:20):
floored by the bombshell. But I grew up in Los
Angeles and some people are really good actors. She's dead,
Hugley said, how is she dead? Please? Please tell me
she's not dead, George. I wish I could, but I
can't do that. She's twenty two years old and the
life's gone out of her. Reeves responded. For the first
(16:42):
time in his life, George seemed to realize he was
in significant trouble. In this case, many people focus on
whether George knew if he had killed Yardley, and I
feel that's beside the point. When Ugly left Yardley's apartment
that morning, he had to have known she was at
(17:04):
least horribly injured, if not deceased, and he still chose
to leave her there. According to his roommates, when he
arrived back at his apartment, something seemed off about his demeanor. Meanwhile,
Love is less than one hundred yards away, lying on
her bedroom floor, battered and bleeding profusely. He either thought
(17:25):
she was dead or worse, he knew she was severely
wounded and didn't call nine one one. Even if you
can't call it premeditated murder, his actions after the fact
show a level of malice and disregard for Yardley's well
being that's just astounding. After assaulting Love, his only concern
was for himself. George claimed he didn't realize what he'd done,
(17:49):
but admitted he left her bleeding and didn't call nine
one one. Anyway you look at it, this was a
brutal murder. When the coroner examined Love's body. He discovered
bruises on her chest, knuckles, forearms, lower back, buttocks, and
upper thigh area. The coroner later testified that bruising found
(18:09):
under Love's chin and abrasions on her cheek could be
consistent with smothering. He said the hemorrhaging of tissue found
under Yardley's neck could reflect pressure, which could have led
to death, but ultimately he decided the cause of death
was due to blunt force trauma. Georgie was charged with
first degree murder, felony murder, robbery, burglary, statutory burglary, and
(18:33):
grand larceny. He went on trial in twenty twelve and
was convicted of second degree murder and the jury recommended
he served twenty six years. The judge ultimately sentenced George
to twenty three years in prison, meaning he will be
released in his early forties and free to live his life,
while Yardley's family remains forever devastated by this crime. As
(18:56):
tragic as this case is, some positive things did come
about because of Yardley's story. Victims of intimate partner violence
often face uphill battles in our legal system, but in
the wake of Love's murder, Virginia passed a House bill
that expanded access to protective orders. The bill expanded and
made it easier to obtain a restraining protective order. Yardley's
(19:18):
family has been active in keeping her memory alive and
trying to affect change. Yardley's mother and sisters started a
foundation soon after Yardley's death that focused on scholarships for
inner city lacrosse players. They founded the One Love Foundation
two in the words of Yardley's mother's Sharon, Love do
for domestic violence what mothers against drunk drivers did for
(19:39):
drunk driving. The foundation focuses on sixteen to twenty four
year olds, which is a prevalent age group for relationship violence.
Of course, Yardley was just twenty two when her life
was cut short. As reported by ESPN, the mission of
One Love is to arm the young people with the
knowledge to identify and avoid abusive relationlationships, as women in
(20:01):
that age range are at a three times greater risk
than any other demographic. The Loves have a fantastic family,
which is one reason why Yardley with such an amazing
person who touched so many lives in such a short time.
Her memory lives on through the people who loved her,
and out of tragedy we can find a ray of
hope that leads to positive change. That's it for this
(20:25):
episode of Murder You, and please remember advocates that the
National Domestic Violence Hotline are available to talk confidentially with
anyone in the United States who is experiencing domestic violence,
seeking resources or information, or questioning unhealthy aspects of their relationship.
Call one eight hundred seven ninety nine Safe one eight
(20:46):
hundred seven ninety nine seven two three three. Be sure
to liken subscribe to Murder You on Spotify, Apple Music,
Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Abnormia. From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and
the sanctity of their homes, These once secure spaces have
transformed into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict
harm on the unsuspecting. Join me Maddie each week as
we delve into the bone chilling stories of senseless murders
(00:26):
occurring in and around our centers of education. Welcome to
Murder You, an Abnormia original. Welcome to this episode of
(00:59):
Murder You. I'm your host, Mattie, and the story I
have for you today is about the murder of a
University of Virginia lacrosse player named Yardley Love. If you
don't know this story, the twenty ten case became a
widershed moment that highlighted the problem of domestic violence on
college campuses. It also prompted calls for increased action to
identify and prevent these kinds of tragedies from happening. We've
(01:22):
seen it before, a young man's violent alcohol field behavior
goes unchecked until it costs someone their life. The fact
that happened on the campus of a major university also
raised a lot of questions about campus security and how
much responsibility colleges bear in protecting their students, who are,
of course adults now. The University of Virginia and Charlottesville
(01:44):
is one of the finest public schools in the US.
Founded in eighteen nineteen, it's routinely ranked in the top
five by US News and World Report and in the
top thirty for all national universities if you place a
lot of stock in those rankings, but by any standard,
it's a great school and features one of the most
beautiful campuses in the country. It's one of the only
(02:07):
World Heritage Site universities in the country, and that's because
it has a historic campus designed by Thomas Jefferson. There's
a long standing tradition of fostering an environment of lifelong learning.
The school doesn't have freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior designations.
UVA students are known as first year, second year, third year,
and fourth year students. This is due to the belief
(02:30):
that learning is a lifelong journey and should therefore continue
long past one's senior status. In her senior year of
high school, Yardley Love was recruited by UVa's top ranked
women's lacrosse team. With such a rich tradition and picturesque campus.
It's no wonder that lev chose to attend Virginia, but
(02:51):
that peaceful, safe haven of higher learning was shattered on
May third, twenty ten. Yardley's story got a ton of
media coverage at the time, and one of the things
that drove public interest was the fact that it involved
a fellow lacrosse player named George Hugly. George was Yardley's
on again, off again boyfriend for years, but after some
(03:12):
escalating abuse, love finally broke it off for good sometime
in the spring of that year. There seemed to be
plenty of red flags with Hugly. The young lacrosse player
was arrested for public drunkenness in two thousand and eight.
He also punched a sleeping lacrosse player in two thousand
and nine in a jealous fit of rage after being
told the guy had kissed his girlfriend. He even once
(03:35):
attacked and choked Yardly in an incident that went unreported
to authorities. George became even more abusive when he drank heavily,
which by all accounts was practically every day. So on
May second, Huglely spent the entire day drinking. It is
believed he had been drinking consistently for thirty hours. He
(03:58):
started tossing down beers in the morning at a father
son golf outing, and like many of his shots that day,
it went downhill from there. In George's case, his drinking
may have encouraged him to escalate to anger, aggression, and abuse.
It's this sort of unchecked behavior that can lead to
intimate partner violence. In the most extreme instances, it can
(04:21):
also lead to murder, and that's precisely what happened. In
the early morning hours of May third, at around two am,
Love's roommate called nine one one after finding her unresponsive.
She initially told the dispatcher that Yardley might have died
from alcohol poisoning, but when officers arrived, they immediately saw
(04:41):
blood spatter and the signs of a struggle. When investigators
learned Yardley's ex boyfriend lived next door, they brought Hugely
in for questioning. It's hard to say if George knew
Yardley was dead, but he must have suspected it. He
seemed genuinely astonished when investigators told him that she was deceased,
but it was likely an act to set up his
(05:03):
drunken accident defense. In a one hour recorded conversation, George admitted,
we were just going to talk. It was not at
all a good conversation. We were wrestling. I pushed her
on to the bed and left. Yeah, you heard that right.
He claimed they were just wrestling. So Hugly's idea of
(05:25):
wrestling is repeatedly smashing someone's head into a wall and
then tossing their lifeless body. Aside, I've never heard that
definition of wrestling. Never mind the fact that he also
broke through her bedroom door before this brutal attack. Officers
interviewing George also noticed he had bruised knuckles and several
fresh cuts on his arms. He denied that he killed
(05:48):
Yardly and said he just told her to chill out
and shook her a little. However, the evidence told a
different story. But before we go deeper into Love's death,
let me tell you about her life. Yardley was born
to John in Sharon Love on July seventeenth, nineteen eighty seven,
in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in Cockeysville, Maryland, with
(06:10):
her older sister, Lexi, whom she adored and looked up to.
Yardley started playing lacrosse with her father when she was
just five years old. By fourth grade, she played on
organized teams and the sport became a true passion. She
loved competing and became an elite high school athlete, recruited
by several universities. Yardley's father passed away while she was
(06:32):
in high school, and she put a lacrosse stick in
his casket before he was laid to rest. It shows
you how important the sport was to her and her
father and how strong their bond was. Yardley was an
extremely positive person who was active in her church and community,
donating her time to worthy charities and causes. She was
a star on the team, and her teammates loved her
(06:53):
spirit and tenacity. She was small, standing five foot six
and weighing one hundred and fifteen pounds. She was fierce
on defense and quite the competitor. Team captain Hagerman Willox
told ESPN she was like a pitfoll out there. She
was so strong that you were like, how are you
even doing that? She held her own in every instance
(07:14):
because she was so speedy and feisty. When researching Yardley's story,
I got the impression she was a kind and positive person.
But when she stepped out onto that lacrosse field, it
was game on. She was described as an accomplished student
who had a bright future ahead of her, that is
until she met Hughgley. George Hugley the Fifth was born
(07:37):
into a wealthy Southern family. ABC News reported that his
great grandfather found it a highly successful construction supply company
called Gallagher and Hughgley in nineteen twelve in the Washington,
d c. Area. The family later invested in property and racehorses.
George's dad was a self employed investor, and his mom
had been a model at Sacks Fifth Avenue when she
(07:58):
was younger. Yardley met Hugely during her freshman year at
the University of Virginia. As I said before, they had
an on again, off again relationship over the years, most
likely because of George's out of control behavior and excessive drinking.
When Love finally broke off the relationship for good, George
sent her threatening emails. He lashed out at her, and
(08:20):
in one of the last emails, he wrote, I should
have killed you. The statement shows Hugely's mindset in the
days before he viciously attacked Love. I'm sure Yardley took
these threats seriously, as she had experienced George's violence firsthand,
but often with intimate partner violence, leaving is the most
dangerous period of time, which feeds into the power and
(08:42):
control of the abuser, making it more difficult to end
the cycle. She experienced some awful abuse, but I doubt
she or anyone else fully realized how depraved and out
of control Hugly was until it was too late. Ending
a relationship with someone who's physically abusive and unpredictable can
(09:02):
be dangerous, and of course alcohol doesn't help the situation.
Aside from the red flags, Hugley was racking up a
police record well before he killed Yardley. In two thousand
and eight, George was intoxicated near Washington and Lee University
in Lexington, Virginia. A female police officer told him he
needed to get a ride home or she would arrest him.
(09:25):
George reportedly threatened the officer, yelling racist and sexist things
at her. At one point, he even screamed, I'll kill
all you bitches. Officer Rebecca Moss went to handcuff George,
and he resisted arrest. Eventually she had to taser him.
Of course, he later claimed to be blackout drunk with
(09:45):
no memory of that night, a seemingly convenient excuse for
someone trying to avoid legal repercussions for their actions. George
obviously had a drinking problem and pleaded guilty to resisting
arrest and public intoxication. He was fined with a whopping
one hundred bucks and given a slap on the wrist,
with only six months probation, community service and a requirement
(10:08):
to enter a substance abuse program. If Hugly had faced
more consequences for his actions, it's possible he wouldn't have
escalated to murder and yard they might still be alive.
Had the school known about this, he would have been
suspended from the Lcross team, but George failed to notify
them of his arrest. As per the conditions of his
(10:28):
plea agreement, he might have been expelled from school, but
let's face it probably not. He had gotten away with
bad behavior his entire life, and even threatening the life
of a female police officer wasn't enough to land him
in serious trouble. We see this time and again where
somebody isn't punished for their bad behavior until something truly
(10:49):
catastrophic happens. Hugly's parents were able to send George to
all the best private schools. He enrolled in the elite
land In School for the ninth grade. He was on
the football and lacrosse teams and got a reputation as
a boisterous prankster. One incident involved stealing his lacrosse coaches
car keys and driving his vehicle onto the lacrosse field.
(11:12):
The one thing these schools didn't seem to provide was
any sort of discipline or punishment for George's bad behavior.
In high school, he had already had a reputation for drunkenness, anger,
and aggression, usually all at once, and in that order.
He was the star of the lacrosse team, which perhaps
allowed him to get away with more. By the time
(11:32):
he reached college, George had plenty of experience coasting through
life by avoiding any sort of punishment for his actions.
In two thousand and eight, the same year he threatened
a cop with racial and sexistlers, Huglily got into a
fight with his father aboard their yacht in Palm Beach.
Hugily dove off the boat into the water and swam
to shore. The authorities were called, but he was never arrested,
(11:56):
though he received a light punishment for his altercations with
the female police officer, who was forced to use a
taser to subdue him. One of the court ordered stipulations
was that George was required to inform the school of
his arrest, but of course he failed to do so.
I don't know why the courts don't just send a
letter to the school. What they're operating on the honor
(12:17):
system with criminals. Despite his past behavior, the University of
Virginia had no system for identifying students who could pose
a danger to others on campus, so George was never
held accountable for his off campus behavior, and the school
took no steps to protect Yardley because they were unaware
of what was happening. So what happened to the night
(12:39):
of May second and early hours of May third, According
to his teammates, Hugally spent all day drinking. After shooting
a drunken round of golf, the lacrosse players hit the
country club bar to continue drinking. The UVA men's team
was celebrating being ranked number one in the nation and
they were about to play in the NCAA tournament, so
(13:03):
you can imagine George was tossing him back at this point,
but his friends didn't have to imagine. They recalled Hugly
was wasted. That afternoon, George and two teammates went to
dinner with Huglely's father. That night, the drinking continued and
George was so belligerent that the dinner ended early. Hugly's
(13:24):
teammates were embarrassed and refused to hang out with him
any longer. We all have that friend who drinks too
much and becomes an embarrassment, but George took it to
a new level. Around ten thirty pm, Hugly returned to
his apartment. What does he do when he gets home?
You guessed it. He kept drinking, his roommates said. They
(13:44):
went to the store around eleven thirty pm. They were
out for twenty minutes, and when they got home, George
was gone. His roommates worried he would get arrested again
for public intoxication, but they never dreamed of the nightmare
that was about to unfold. The roommates were relieved when
George returned it around twelve fifteen am. That is until
(14:06):
they noticed something was wrong with Hugely. They described him
as having a blank stare. They asked him what was up,
but he didn't respond. Now, keep in mind that Yardley
lived one apartment over, so what happened in that fateful
forty five minutes. In the taped conversation with investigators, George
(14:28):
admits he went to Yardley sometime after midnight that morning.
The front door was unlocked, so George entered the apartment.
There was just one problem. Yardley's room was locked. George
asked her to let him in, but she refused, and
Hugely admitted to kicking a giant hole through the bedroom
door so he could enter her room. Now, one thing
(14:51):
that does make me question whether George knew Yardley was
dead is the fact that he's admitting to all of this.
He clearly didn't really how much trouble he was in.
George told police that once he broke into the room,
Yardley started, quote freaking out, Hello, you smashed through her
door like Jack Nicholson in the Shining. Anyone would be
(15:13):
freaking out at that point. Hugly claims Yardly got aggressive
with him. We can all agree that it was self
defense and not misplaced aggression. George said that Yardley shoved
him and screamed at him to get out, and when
he didn't, she went to the corner of the room
and started banging her head against the wall. Seems like
the opposite response to someone attacking you in your own room.
(15:37):
Aside from that story being bizarre and unbelievable, Love had
numerous wounds aside from the crushing head trauma. The investigator
asked George if he choked her or punched Yardley in
the neck. I may have grabbed her a bit by
the neck, but I never strangled her, Hughughly said, before
adding we were wrestling. I pushed her onto the bed
(15:58):
and left. She told the police he had had over
twenty drinks that day, as if that excused his actions.
Then came the most tense moment of the interview. Detective
Lisa Reeves leaned in and said, I have to tell
you something. She's dead. You killed her. George seemed genuinely
(16:20):
floored by the bombshell. But I grew up in Los
Angeles and some people are really good actors. She's dead,
Hugley said, how is she dead? Please? Please tell me
she's not dead, George. I wish I could, but I
can't do that. She's twenty two years old and the
life's gone out of her. Reeves responded. For the first
(16:42):
time in his life, George seemed to realize he was
in significant trouble. In this case, many people focus on
whether George knew if he had killed Yardley, and I
feel that's beside the point. When Ugly left Yardley's apartment
that morning, he had to have known she was at
(17:04):
least horribly injured, if not deceased, and he still chose
to leave her there. According to his roommates, when he
arrived back at his apartment, something seemed off about his demeanor. Meanwhile,
Love is less than one hundred yards away, lying on
her bedroom floor, battered and bleeding profusely. He either thought
(17:25):
she was dead or worse, he knew she was severely
wounded and didn't call nine one one. Even if you
can't call it premeditated murder, his actions after the fact
show a level of malice and disregard for Yardley's well
being that's just astounding. After assaulting Love, his only concern
was for himself. George claimed he didn't realize what he'd done,
(17:49):
but admitted he left her bleeding and didn't call nine
one one. Anyway you look at it, this was a
brutal murder. When the coroner examined Love's body. He discovered
bruises on her chest, knuckles, forearms, lower back, buttocks, and
upper thigh area. The coroner later testified that bruising found
(18:09):
under Love's chin and abrasions on her cheek could be
consistent with smothering. He said the hemorrhaging of tissue found
under Yardley's neck could reflect pressure, which could have led
to death, but ultimately he decided the cause of death
was due to blunt force trauma. Georgie was charged with
first degree murder, felony murder, robbery, burglary, statutory burglary, and
(18:33):
grand larceny. He went on trial in twenty twelve and
was convicted of second degree murder and the jury recommended
he served twenty six years. The judge ultimately sentenced George
to twenty three years in prison, meaning he will be
released in his early forties and free to live his life,
while Yardley's family remains forever devastated by this crime. As
(18:56):
tragic as this case is, some positive things did come
about because of Yardley's story. Victims of intimate partner violence
often face uphill battles in our legal system, but in
the wake of Love's murder, Virginia passed a House bill
that expanded access to protective orders. The bill expanded and
made it easier to obtain a restraining protective order. Yardley's
(19:18):
family has been active in keeping her memory alive and
trying to affect change. Yardley's mother and sisters started a
foundation soon after Yardley's death that focused on scholarships for
inner city lacrosse players. They founded the One Love Foundation
two in the words of Yardley's mother's Sharon, Love do
for domestic violence what mothers against drunk drivers did for
(19:39):
drunk driving. The foundation focuses on sixteen to twenty four
year olds, which is a prevalent age group for relationship violence.
Of course, Yardley was just twenty two when her life
was cut short. As reported by ESPN, the mission of
One Love is to arm the young people with the
knowledge to identify and avoid abusive relationlationships, as women in
(20:01):
that age range are at a three times greater risk
than any other demographic. The Loves have a fantastic family,
which is one reason why Yardley with such an amazing
person who touched so many lives in such a short time.
Her memory lives on through the people who loved her,
and out of tragedy we can find a ray of
hope that leads to positive change. That's it for this
(20:25):
episode of Murder You, and please remember advocates that the
National Domestic Violence Hotline are available to talk confidentially with
anyone in the United States who is experiencing domestic violence,
seeking resources or information, or questioning unhealthy aspects of their relationship.
Call one eight hundred seven ninety nine Safe one eight
(20:46):
hundred seven ninety nine seven two three three. Be sure
to liken subscribe to Murder You on Spotify, Apple Music,
Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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