After slaying, searches reveal little

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Monday, January 26, 2009; 9:54 PM | 21 | | Print

This story has been modified from its original version. A portion of a quote attributed to Y.A. Liu, adviser of the Tech Association of Chinese Students and Scholars, has been removed because it was ambiguous. The Collegiate Times incorrectly identified Y.A. Liu, a professor of chemical engineering and adviser of the Tech Association of Chinese Students and Scholars, as the translator between Virginia Tech and the family of slain student Xin Yang. A member of Tech's Chinese community handled the translation. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.

The Montgomery County Sherriff's Office executed search warrants on Haiyang Zhu's University Boulevard Apartment and Xin Yang's Donaldson Brown residence last Friday.

Zhu, a 25-year old doctoral candidate majoring in agricultural and applied economics, was charged last Thursday with premeditated first-degree murder for beheading Yang, a fellow graduate student, with an 8-inch kitchen knife in the Au Bon Pain cafe of the Graduate Life Center last Wednesday evening.

Five days after the alleged slaying, new information has been released to indicate that Zhu and Yang did not know each other before attending Virginia Tech.

Newly arrived international students at Tech are typically paired with other international students to help familiarize them with campus. Yang was assigned to Zhu, leading her to list Zhu as an emergency contact in university records.

The search of Zhu's apartment netted utility and chef's knife papers, a digital camera, phone bills, multiple thumb drives, medical information pamphlets, and a paperback book titled "The Company of Strangers."

If Zhu owned a cell phone, officers did not seize it in his apartment, though the approved search warrant did give police the authority to do so.

The phone may have been found on his person. A laptop computer was found in Zhu's backpack at the scene of the crime, along with several other "edged weapons."

A resident of Zhu's apartment did not identify himself and declined comment when reached by telephone Monday. Zhu lived on University City Boulevard with two roommates, both of whom are Tech students.

Yang's residence on the second floor of Donaldson Brown was also searched to elaborate on the relationship between victim and suspect.

Police seized two cell phones, a laptop, bank receipts, a Canadian resident card, a People's Republic of China identification card, a diary, a check to Zhu made out for $40 and an unmailed letter with a red "kiss" on the seal. Details on the destination address of the letter were not made available.

And while police continue to process evidence and search for a motive in the gruesome attack, more information regarding both the suspect and victim has come forth.

Yang, a 22-year old student from Beijing, established herself as a permanent resident of Canada after earning her undergraduate degree in business administration at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The process usually takes four years, but Sonja Knutson, Memorial University's international student adviser, said that it is not uncommon for international students to work ahead.

"They tend to do it like that more easily than the Canadians, who prefer to take the summer off," Knutson said. "If you want to, you can study from May to August, so she did that and took an overload of courses. It saves their parents money."

Knutson was also Yang's English teacher, noting that Yang did exceptionally well in her studies.

"She was a 'B' student, and if you get a B in first-year English you are pretty smart," Knutson said. "It's not an easy grade to get, and she was in the top percentage of my class, if not the top. It's rare that we give out 'A's."

But while Yang was intently focused on studies, she also established herself as an extremely approachable, enjoyable person to be around.

"She was a lovely girl," Knutson said. "She was very friendly and outgoing, really intelligent. She had worked at Costco for some time after graduation as a greeter. She was personable."

Yang, a master's degree candidate in accounting through the Pamplin College of Business, had been in the United States for less than two weeks when she was killed.

Zhu had come to Tech from Shanghai Ocean University, near his home in Ningbo, China, before the fall semester.

Will Segar, Zhu's landlord, did not return calls to the Collegiate Times. However, Segar told the Washington Post that he had several personal interactions with Zhu.

Segar said that Zhu had refused to turn the heat on in his townhouse because it was too expensive, and he had lost considerable amounts of money in the stock market. When pipes froze and neighbors began complaining of faulty plumbing, Segar installed a thermostat that was permanently set at 65 degrees in the townhouse. Zhu then turned the thermostat off at the breaker, Segar said.

Tonya Spain, property manager at Sturbridge Square, wrote a comment on collegiatetimes.com that Zhu was never singled out, and that the complaints filed were for him and his roommates.

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C'mon CT | # January 27, 2009 @ 12:28 AM | Flag Comment

First you quote an unverified comment as a factual source, then you quote Liu when asked not to?

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