Washington - The Chinese student accused of beheading a fellow Chinese student at Virginia Tech may have been snubbed romantically by his victim.
China Central Television (CCTV) cited other Chinese students who knew Zhu Haiyang, 25, as saying that he had courted MsYang Xin, 22, without success.
Zhu is a doctoral student in agricultural and applied economics who began his studies at Virginia Tech last August. He had been assigned by the school to mentor MsYang, who arrived on campus on Jan 8 from Beijing to pursue a master’s degree in accounting.
The Chinese students interviewed by CCTV said Ms. Yang had stayed for a few days at Zhu’s townhouse after her arrival as the campus hostel was closed for winter.
Zhu spent the next two weeks showing Ms. Yang around campus, university officials said, helping her look for a place to live. Ms. Yang even listed Zhu and her mother as the two people to contact in case of an emergency.
But last Wednesday evening, Virginia Tech police found Zhu standing in the Au Bon Pain cafe on campus, with Ms. Yang’s severed head in his hands, according to an affidavit.
A large, bloody kitchen knife lay nearby, and Zhu’s backpack was filled with other sharp weapons, the Washington Post reported. Seven people witnessed the attack, the newspaper said, which came without as much as a raised voice as the two drank coffee.
Friends and former teachers of Zhu were in shock as there were few signs to suggest the promising student, who was a teaching assistant, was maladjusted.
Chinese-language Web pages of Zhu’s, however, indicate that he might have money worries.
A blog entry, posted on Jan 7 under Zhu’s name and which displays the 25-year-old’s mug shot, expressed frustration over problems that include stock losses, the Associated Press reported. ‘Recently, I’ve been so frustrated. I think only of killing someone or committing suicide,’ the entry reads. But university officials cautioned that the site may be a ‘total fake’, the Washington Post said.
As investigators continued searching Zhu’s townhouse, laptop, cellphone and other personal items to try to piece together his motives, information emerging out of China indicates that Zhu, originally from the large seaport Ningbo, is the son of a university professor and attended Shanghai Ocean University.
One of his economics professors, Ms. Yang Wei, wrote that she had written him letters of recommendation to study abroad and that her heart ‘dropped’ when she heard the news. ‘My impression is he is really a good, aspiring and promising young man,’ she wrote.
Zhu’s fellow teaching assistant Ken Stanton said he did not know the man well but had observed that he had good social skills. ‘He had friends,’ said Mr. Stanton, who is studying engineering education.
However, Zhu’s landlord at Sturbridge Square Apartments painted a different picture. Mr. Will Segar said Zhu refused to turn on the heat in the apartment he rented with two others to save on utility bills, and as a result, the pipes froze and burst.
Zhu is now in the Montgomery County jail, charged with first- degree murder. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 5.
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Beheaded victim may have spurned suspect
25 January 2009
Washington - The Chinese student accused of beheading a fellow Chinese student at Virginia Tech may have been snubbed romantically by his victim.
China Central Television (CCTV) cited other Chinese students who knew Zhu Haiyang, 25, as saying that he had courted MsYang Xin, 22, without success.
Zhu is a doctoral student in agricultural and applied economics who began his studies at Virginia Tech last August. He had been assigned by the school to mentor MsYang, who arrived on campus on Jan 8 from Beijing to pursue a master’s degree in accounting.
The Chinese students interviewed by CCTV said Ms. Yang had stayed for a few days at Zhu’s townhouse after her arrival as the campus hostel was closed for winter.
Zhu spent the next two weeks showing Ms. Yang around campus, university officials said, helping her look for a place to live. Ms. Yang even listed Zhu and her mother as the two people to contact in case of an emergency.
But last Wednesday evening, Virginia Tech police found Zhu standing in the Au Bon Pain cafe on campus, with Ms. Yang’s severed head in his hands, according to an affidavit.
A large, bloody kitchen knife lay nearby, and Zhu’s backpack was filled with other sharp weapons, the Washington Post reported. Seven people witnessed the attack, the newspaper said, which came without as much as a raised voice as the two drank coffee.
Friends and former teachers of Zhu were in shock as there were few signs to suggest the promising student, who was a teaching assistant, was maladjusted.
Chinese-language Web pages of Zhu’s, however, indicate that he might have money worries.
A blog entry, posted on Jan 7 under Zhu’s name and which displays the 25-year-old’s mug shot, expressed frustration over problems that include stock losses, the Associated Press reported. ‘Recently, I’ve been so frustrated. I think only of killing someone or committing suicide,’ the entry reads. But university officials cautioned that the site may be a ‘total fake’, the Washington Post said.
As investigators continued searching Zhu’s townhouse, laptop, cellphone and other personal items to try to piece together his motives, information emerging out of China indicates that Zhu, originally from the large seaport Ningbo, is the son of a university professor and attended Shanghai Ocean University.
One of his economics professors, Ms. Yang Wei, wrote that she had written him letters of recommendation to study abroad and that her heart ‘dropped’ when she heard the news. ‘My impression is he is really a good, aspiring and promising young man,’ she wrote.
Zhu’s fellow teaching assistant Ken Stanton said he did not know the man well but had observed that he had good social skills. ‘He had friends,’ said Mr. Stanton, who is studying engineering education.
However, Zhu’s landlord at Sturbridge Square Apartments painted a different picture. Mr. Will Segar said Zhu refused to turn on the heat in the apartment he rented with two others to save on utility bills, and as a result, the pipes froze and burst.
Zhu is now in the Montgomery County jail, charged with first- degree murder. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 5.
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