Grand jury gets U of Va slaying case

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 12 (UPI) -- A Virginia judge ordered a grand jury to look over the evidence against George Huguely, who is charged with killing college lacrosse player Yeardly Love.

The order came at the close of a 9-hour preliminary hearing in Charlottesville Monday night and is the next step toward a trial on a murder charge in the slaying that shocked the University of Virginia campus.

The lengthy hearing included testimony from more than 20 witnesses, including police officers and acquaintances of both Huguely and Love, who had dated for a while.

The Cavalier Daily, the student newspaper at Virginia, reported Tuesday witnesses testified Huguely had been drinking while playing golf during the day on May 3, 2010, and disappeared for a few hours that night.

A police detective said Huguely admitted he had gone to Love's apartment and taken her laptop computer, but his lawyer said in opening statements that Huguely was not aware Love had died until police told him during an interrogation the next day.