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FRIEND: SUSPECTS STARTING OVER

July 8, 2008 12:15 am

By PAMELA GOULD

Two suspects charged in connection with the slaying of a Fredericksburg deliveryman might have been on their way to Connecticut to start a new life, a family friend said yesterday.

Marcey White, 36, and her boyfriend, Jermaine Montgomery, 34, had both served prison sentences during which Montgomery learned the trade of welding, said the friend who knows White and her family.

The pair were traveling through Fredericksburg with plans for Montgomery to begin work in Connecticut when they apparently ran short on money for food and bus tickets, said the family friend who asked not to be identified because of the severity of the crime.

Police said it's not clear how the couple got to Fredericksburg.

Yong Hui Zhang, 24, was reported missing by his parents Thursday night when he didn't return from making deliveries for the family's Chinese restaurant.

Police determined Zhang made his first two deliveries and found a large amount of blood where the third delivery was to take place. That site was at 202 Charles St., a vacant apartment building in Fredericksburg.

Remains believed to be Zhang's were found in Sussex County early Sunday morning, 8 1/2 hours after police arrested White and Montgomery in the city of Franklin.

People who knew Marcey White when she lived in Fairfax County acknowledge she had problems but said it was hard to imagine her participating in an ambush and killing.

"I really can't picture Marcey condoning that or being a part of that. It's just not Marcey," said a woman who is a longtime friend of the family and lives in Fairfax County.

On her MySpace page, White lists Sterling as her home. However, police and acquaintances said that she has family in Virginia Beach and that Montgomery has friends and family in southeastern Virginia.

Montgomery and White each have one child, the acquaintances said.

Prince William Circuit Court records show Montgomery was convicted of robbery in 2001. He subsequently spent about three years in prison, getting released on Jan. 31, 2005, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor.

The woman, who also asked that her name not be used out of respect for the families, said she has known White and her family for years. She was aware of White's previous run-ins with the law--which include charges of credit card fraud, burglary and forgery--but said White's problem was one of poor judgment, not a violent nature.

"The credit card I can picture, but the murder ," the woman said.

Records from Prince William and Fairfax county courts and the state Corrections Department show White was convicted of property crimes and served at least two years in jail in the mid 1990s. She was also convicted of assault and battery in Prince William in 2001.

The property charges were placed in Fairfax County, where court records show White was also convicted of about a dozen traffic violations including DWI.

Montgomery was also convicted in 2001 in Prince William of petty larceny and sentenced to two days in jail, court records show.

Both of White's friends expressed horror at the crime perpetrated against Zhang and hopes that White did not participate.

"I'm really hoping Marcey met up with [Montgomery] after the fact and wasn't a part of it," she said. "I just hope that she didn't know. It's a shock, just a shock."

Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com