It's nearly impossible to remain impartial and unbiased as evidence is presented in the second day of the trial of George Huguely V, the former University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend Yeardley Love. Not only are the details of the murder gruesome and difficult to stomach, but the tearful testimonies of Love's family and friends strike an emotional cord as well.
Even though Huguely's lawyers' defense is that he killed her but her death was "an accident" and "not something he planned or wanted to happen," it's still really hard to have any sort of compassion for this guy.
Huguely himself has confessed to kicking in the door of Love's bedroom the night she died and shaking her ... but then his story diverges from the prosecutors, who are out to prove that he intended to kill her.
Prosecution witnesses claim that Huguely and Love had a rocky relationship, and that Huguely had been violent to Love before: Three months prior to her death, friends saw him choking her at a party. Prosecutors also told the jury that he had sent her a threatening email a few days before her death that read: "I should have killed you." They maintain that Huguely banged Love's head against the wall, and that she ultimately died of blunt force trauma and violent injuries to the head.
The defense team is a telling a much different story, however, arguing that while the couple's relationship was volatile, Huguely never intended to kill her. Rather, her death was an accident: He shook her, yes, but then she actually died of positional asphyxia (laying weird in her bed after mixing alcohol with prescription drugs). The evidence for his lack of intent? He left Love's apartment -- thinking she just had a nosebleed -- with her computer to use as collateral so she'd have to see him again. Now is that something a cold-blooded killer would do?
Obviously, more will become clear with autopsy reports, but to anyone that isn't on the jury, doesn't this seem like we're splitting hairs? Maybe we can't agree as to whether he's a violent abuser or an accidental murderer, but what does it matter when a beautiful young girl is dead resulting either directly or indirectly from his violent behavior. Either way it's not looking good for this guy.
Do you have any compassion for Huguely?
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Comments 6
I dated someone for a year and during that time he never put his hands on me....until he did... We split up, at my decision (due to his incessant partying and increasing alcoholism and drug use), though he didn't seem to care at all. The townhouse we shared was owned by his family and we continued to live in at as roommates, with separate rooms, while I arranged moving out. I came home one night, aware that he was at a party and called him and begged him to stay where he was, not drive drunk, not wake me, etc. I went to sleep and woke up four hours later to being beaten viciously in the face and head. I'll never know the motivation behind what he did. For whatever reason, this guy who hadn't been violent over the course of a year just snapped. He continued to come after me. I found myself barricaded in a room one week and six days later, asking, "Is he here to kill me? Does he not mean to kill me but might end up killing me by accident?" I didn't deserve that. Yeardley Love didn't deserve what happened to her. If she'd survived that night, she probably would have ended up in the same situation as me, with him repeatedly coming after her and terrorizing her. If he only hit her once it's because he never got another opportunity. Once someone loses control to that extent it takes a long time and alot of work to get it back, if ever.
Yeardley Love made a mistake that is all too common. We're all taught to fear evil strangers, but someone from the same team, school or background? Someone you once loved, or thought you did? I used to be a crime reporter, and women are most often killed by their significant others, not by Ted Bundy or someone lurking in the bushes. As for compassion, Huguely may be getting more than most in his situation. A local ABC station reporting on twitter changed his photo from the mug shot to a current shot of him in his suit jacket to be "more fair." If he had been a guy who jumped out of the bushes, and not a university lacrosse player, would they be all that concerned with fairness? I think we all know the answer, and I think those editors are making the same mistake Yeardley Love did.
Him leaving with her computer "for collaterel" could be untrue! Just a good excuse to make him look innocent. He could have taken it to delete emails that were threatening, or any content that could be threatening and found on her computer. Right?