Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

A memorial has sprung up for Xin Yang at the Graduate Life Center at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. Yang was decapitated Wednesday Jan. 21, 2009. Virginia Tech graduate student Haiyang Zhu, 25, is being charged with first-degree murder in the crime.

BLACKSBURG -- New information came to light Friday about the Virginia Tech student killed Wednesday and the man accused of murdering her. But nothing in police warrants, online postings or discussions with those who knew them suggests a motive for the killing.

Police found 22-year-old Xin Yang, a graduate student in Tech's Pamplin College of Business, decapitated in the Au Bon Pain restaurant of Tech's Graduate Life Center on Wednesday night. Haiyang Zhu, a 25-year-old doctoral candidate majoring in agricultural and applied economics, has been charged in her death.

Xin and Haiyang were having coffee together before the attack, and Haiyang was listed as an emergency contact for Xin. But speculation that the two were longtime friends or romantically involved is false, said Kim Beisecker, director of Tech's Cranwell International Center. She said they did not meet until Xin arrived in Blacksburg earlier this month to begin studying at Tech. She described their relationship as "a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend."

Because they are both from China, he assisted her in her transition to Blacksburg, Beisecker said. She described Haiyang as polite and helpful in his interactions with Xin, who was engaged to be married soon.

"They had very appropriate interactions," Beisecker said. "And I think that's why his friends and acquaintances are still trying to figure out" what the motive was.

The only mention of Haiyang among items listed in a search warrant returned Friday on Xin's residence in the Graduate Life Center is a $40 check written to him. Police also found a receipt from Au Bon Pain dated Jan. 21 -- Wednesday -- in Xin's room and an unmailed letter described only in the warrant as having a red "kiss" on the seal.

Police, looking for signs of motive and of premeditation, seized several personal electronic items from Xin's residence as well as Haiyang's. But nothing listed in the warrant for Haiyang's apartment obviously connects him with Xin. Another warrant shows that a bag police believe Haiyang brought with him to his meeting with Xin at Au Bon Pain on Wednesday night contained several knives and a laptop computer. Police believe Xin was killed with an 8-inch kitchen knife that Haiyang brought to the cafe.

Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said that Tech police were not releasing any additional information Friday on a motive for the killing or the relationship between Haiyang and Xin, but more news could come out next week.

"At this point, they're just trying to get statements," he said.

Representatives from the Chinese Embassy also visited campus Friday and met with Tech police and university officials. It's protocol for the embassy to be notified when a Chinese national is charged with a felony.

Beisecker said she is working on expediting the process of allowing Xin's parents to come to the United States. On Friday a small memorial to Xin was set up in front of the Graduate Life Center. A tribute to her will be part of Sunday's Chinese New Year celebration at Tech. Flowers, a photo of her and a book for people to write messages to her family in will be set up inside the center.

Xin, who was from Beijing, had been at Tech for less than a month when she was killed, two days into the semester. Before coming to Tech, she lived in Newfoundland, Canada, where she spent two years earning an undergraduate degree in business administration at Memorial University -- a process that usually takes four years. She then worked in a local business in Newfoundland before coming to Tech, according to Sonja Knutson, Memorial University's international student adviser and Xin's English professor.

Knutson described the young woman as a motivated, well-prepared student who excelled in class after taking a course in English as a second language. At first Knuston found Xin challenging, because she would ask questions such as, "Why do you use 'the' before words?" But she soon realized Xin simply had a thirst for knowledge.

"She would question everything. Chinese students, they tend to be accepting. It was just her very inquisitive nature," Knutson said. "She had a great future in front of her."

While Xin studied intensely, Knutson said she was an extrovert who made many friends at Memorial, a school with 17,000 students. She said students there were just finding out about her death Friday and they were devastated.

Although Xin was only at Tech briefly, Beisecker said she made an impression on teachers and her fellow students.

"She was just a vivacious, warm individual," she said.

Those at Tech who knew Haiyang, a graduate student majoring in agricultural and applied economics, have described him as pleasant to be around.

But Will Segar, his landlord at Sturbridge Square Apartments in Blacksburg, said he was a difficult tenant from the time he arrived in Blacksburg in August. Haiyang wasn't violent, but he was argumentative, and he and his two roommates refused to turn on their heat, Segar said. They relied on a fireplace in their unfurnished apartment to stay warm despite repeated demands to turn on the heat to keep the pipes from freezing, he said. At times, Haiyang refused to let management or maintenance into the apartment, Segar said.

Segar said that he contacted Tech police, and that Sturbridge management talked to someone at Cranwell about problems with Haiyang, but to no avail.

A couple of weeks ago, Haiyang accompanied Xin to the Sturbridge office to get her an apartment, Segar said. But when Segar gave her a form with questions asking for information such as her telephone number and past address, he said she only filled out her name, so he refused to let her move in there.

He said both spoke English well but Xin repeatedly deferred to Haiyang during the discussion. Segar said it did not appear as if the two were romantically involved.

"I didn't get any vibe like that," he said. "I got more of the vibe like, you know, 'I helped you get here' kind of vibe."

Segar said he believes police searched Haiyang's apartment early Thursday, and his two roommates have not been seen at the complex since.

"He was definitely the leader of the three guys," he said. "When I would talk to the other guy, he would always jump in."

The blog Seagullreference.blogspot.com posted information about Xin's and Haiyang's education before coming to Tech and a link to a Web site of Haiyang's that includes photos of him, diary entries and love poems. Written in Mandarin, Haiyang's posts suggest a positive person who was enjoying his time in the United States after attending school in China. It lists him as single and makes no mention of Xin.

Roanoke Times freelance photographer Shaozhuo Cui contributed to this report.