
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 21, 1990                   TAG: 9006210458
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

REPORT: DEAD WOMAN HAD HELD DRUG MONEY

A Virginia Commonwealth University student who was found dead two weeks ago had been holding thousands of dollars for a drug dealer, according to a published report.

Some of Deborah S. Ferguson's friends also said Ferguson had told them the money had been stolen from her apartment, The Richmond News Leader said in a copyright story Wednesday.

The drug dealer, identified by the newspaper as Mark Miller, 30, of Richmond, was arrested in January and pleaded guilty May 14 in Hanover County Circuit Court to conspiracy to distribute drugs. Miller is in the Hanover Jail awaiting sentencing July 16.

Miller has acknowledged to police that Ferguson was keeping money for him, unidentified sources told the newspaper. Miller also told police that a few thousand dollars was not returned, the newspaper said.

Miller's attorney, David E. Boone, would not comment on whether his client gave money to Ferguson or whether Miller knew her.

Ferguson and her former boyfriend, James R. Sherrin, disappeared May 18. Their decomposed bodies were found June 5 in a wooded area near U.S. 360.

Lt. Howard L. Wray of the Hanover Sheriff's Department said authorities have no suspects in the slayings. Autopsies have not been completed.

- Associated Press

by CNB