It opens with a pair of photos. Christensen is not a social, charismatic person, and so is unlikely to recruit others to commit violent acts on his behalf. Five jurors agreed with this point. However, he soon broke down and told authorities that he had picked up an Asian girl, but she was not in his car for a long time. All rights reserved, WATCH: Procession Escorts Body of Fallen Chicago Officer From Hospital, Storm System Could Bring Rain, Snow, and Gusty Winds to Chicago Area Friday, Chicago Police Officer Shot and Killed on Southwest Side, Secret Service, Police Seen Investigating Business in Suburban Lisle. Christensen, 30, was sentenced to life without parole. conference about Yingying Zhang's body at Steve Beckett's . Most of them would not have known the context behind my post. Ten of the 12 jurors voted for the death penalty. Death penalty or life in prison: What if neither leads to justice? The memorial garden for Yingying Zhang outside Campbell Hall on the UIUC campus, near where she was last seen. Friday the I-Team reported information that government and defense attorneys both wanted kept quiet during the trial. He was recorded confessing to killing her and has an online history at FetLife re . Yingying Zhang Zhang; Zhonghua Gao (Contributorpp. ABC 20/20 brings into focus the kidnapping and murder of a Chinese scholar named Yingying Zhang who went missing on 9 June 2017. Five years ago in April 2017, Yingying Zhang arrived at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an international student and a visiting scholar to pursue her doctorate. From Yangtze to Mars: The Fiery History of Chinas Space Program, The US Is Building Walls Around Science, and Were All Poorer for It. Like her, I had grown up in a provincial city in China and clung to academic excellence as the only way out. Tragically, and . The kidnapping and murder of Yingying Zhang occurred in Urbana, Illinois on June 9, 2017, when Zhang, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was abducted by Brendt Allen Christensen, a Champaign resident and former physics graduate student at the university. 2021. Brendt Christensen, 30, kidnapped, tortured and killed U of I scholar Yingying Zhang in 2018. Christensen lured Zhang into his car at a bus stop on campus posing as a police officer with the . When the police began looking into black Saturn Astras around the area where Zhang was last spotted, they came across one Brendt Christensen, who owned the same kind of car. Brendt Christensen is a former Ph.D. student researcher from Champaign who was convicted by a federal jury of kidnapping in the death of Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old University of Illinois visiting scholar from China. Japan Web Proxy Server*****Jiang Yuzhou was silent for a moment before saying: "You are still young, I can understand that you don't want to be bound by marriage early, but I think we are very suitable, if you want, we can not talk about marriage and talk about a relationship like other couples, you don't have to Just find someone to deal with."In his opinion, Gu Nai suddenly had a boyfriend . ABC Murdered University of Illinois student Yingying Zhang in a family photo. I work in in the Team for Economic Evaluation and Health Technology Assessment (TEEHTA). MRS Proceedings 1753 . The black sedan that picked up Yingying was quickly identified as belonging to one Brendt Christensen. The answer is no. Zhangs family reportedly provided the first gift for the endowment. She played guitar and sang in a band called Cute Horse in China. Co-Authors. YingYing Zhang was a student from China who was murdered in Illinois. He seemed like a normal physics grad student. She called Christensen a demon. Beyond the immediacy of war, when is a state justified to kill? The only logical explanation, as far as I can tell, is that the jurors were only thinking about violence outside prison, whether Christensen would be able to commit it himself (impossible) or persuade someone on the outside to (unlikely). Its loss can never be repaid. Brendt Christensen, the 29-year-old who was sentenced to life in . A world safe and free means that no one is left behind. Forever.. The Chinese government keeps the total number of executions per year classified. The chest infection was so severe that her heart did not respond to CPR during surgery. Prosecutors and Zhang's family had pushed for the death penalty , but a jury decision . Less than 10 percent of murders and 20 percent of rapes are committed by strangers. Sep 2017 - Dec 20225 years 4 months. It was found during a search of his Macon County jail cell. Among the hundreds of exhibits used in the trial, theres a 90-second clip. "If you have any humanity left in your soul, please end our torment. The 26-year-old visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, disappeared June 9, 2017. During the eight-and-a-half hours of deliberations, they asked the judge to clarify this question on the special verdict form: By whether Christensen is likely to commit more acts of violence, did it mean IN PRISON? Brendt Allen Christensen, a physics graduate student, will appear in federal court on Monday, on charges of abducting 26-year-old Yingying Zhang in June. "A lot of news coverage of . I too came to the U.S. for my Ph.D., and studied at the University of Chicago, a two-hour drive from UIUC, where many of my colleagues and friends work. The backdrop to her stage features a spiraling pattern in green, yellow, and white: a clock turned upside down. Yingying Zhang was born in 1990 in China and by the time she was 27, she had graduated with a Master Degree and had traveled to the United States to conduct research on photosynthesis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Earlier this week, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created an endowment, called Yingyings Fund, that is aimed at helping international students during times of hardship, when they need it most, according to the funds donation page. My mother insisted that predators would not care for an old woman like her, though she was barely 40. The portion of that private landfill that was being actively used at the time was about half a football field in width, and, by the time Christensens attorneys informed authorities about the remains, they would have purportedly been covered by at least 30 feet of fill from later garbage hauling., It is evident that any attempt to recover Yingyings remains would be complicated and expensive, would require government oversight and the cooperation of the landfill owners and would have no certainty of success, said the statement. How Christensen may cause harm, or be harmed, within prison walls did not appear to be of concern. Clothing/Jewelry Description A pink and white flannel long-sleeved shirt over a white shirt, jeans, white shoes, and a . Steve Beckett of the Beckett Law Office in Urbana said Friday that Zhang's family learned from prosecutors in the case that her remains could be in a landfill in Vermillion County. Brendt Christensen, 30, kidnapped, tortured and killed U of I scholar Yingying Zhang in 2018. Highly Influential Citations 1. The alternative for a crime of this nature is life in prison. After nine days of trial and less than two hours of deliberations, the jury found Christensen guilty. Zhang, circa 2017; Brendt Christensen. Prosecutors and Zhang's family had pushed for the death penalty, but a jury decision on that had to be unanimous. Born on December 21, 1990, in Nanping, Fujian Province, Ying Ying Zhang was a Chinese student at the University Of Illinois. (Zhang Family Photo via AP, File) PEORIA, Ill. (AP) The Latest on the trial of man charged in slaying . As per Zhangs family lawyers statements, the contents of the dumpster were taken to Danville, where it was compacted twice. She was No. Im one year older than Yingying. Zhang's body has never been found. Christensen, a former physics Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois, raped, choked, and stabbed 26-year-old Zhang before beating her with a baseball bat and decapitating her in June 2017. Ive never felt as acutely aware of my identity as a Chinese woman in the U.S. My body is a constant reminder of the many ways society renders it vulnerable. With over 6,000 Chinese students, accounting for 12 percent of its student body, UIUC is home to the largest Chinese community among U.S. universities. However, soon, through the lenses of CCTVs, the police learned that the answer might be a lot closer to home than people thought. She called the FBI after seeing Christensen's picture on television when he was arrested in June 2017. Yingying is an incredible young lady. If you are interested to know more about this specific case and where Zhangs killer is now, we have got you covered. To do this, representative systems must be strategically selected to stimulate students' motivation. In one recording, Christensen is accused of saying that Zhang fought him, and that he took her back to his apartment and held her there against her will last month, CNN reported. The strange and twisted life of Brendt Christensen: claims to have killed over 12 people already, vows Yingying Zhang's body will never be found (June, 2019) . Zhang's father said if his daughter's remains are ever found, her family plans to take her body back to China. 37. She refused. In 2017 she went missing on her way to sign a lease, and after missing a bus. Growing up, she had a loving family; Her . Zhang was a visiting scholar at the university. My biggest concern is that the suspect wont get a severe punishment, Yingyings father says in the film. Initially, during interrogations, Brendt claimed to have mixed up the dates and denied meeting any Asians. With the defense already admitting that Brendt killed Zhang, the jury did not take long to find him guilty of the crime. This greatly alarmed counselors, but they later deduced that he was not in immediate need of hospitalization. The drive from the airport is the longest distance in the world. The documentary ' Finding Yingying ,' chronicles the disappearance of Zhang and bringing her justice while capturing the devastating impact on her . Her life was swallowed by the dark currents of race, gender, and border politics. Zhang's father said if his daughter's remains are ever found, her family plans to take her body back to China. Penculikan dan pembunuhan Yingying Zhang terjadi di Urbana, Illinois, Amerika Serikat pada tanggal 9 Juni 2017 ketika Zhang, seorang sarjana tamu di Universitas Illinois Urbana-Champaign, diculik oleh Brendt Allen Christensen, seorang warga kota Champaign dan alumni jurusan fisika di universitas yang sama. I have seen this logo before. On the 9 th of June 2017 a 26 year old Chinese scholar studying at the University of Illinois went missing. It doesnt reveal whom Christensen was allegedly speaking with at the time. Red with rage, the old man exclaims: If the U.S. does not address this case properly, well kill one or two American students in China.. The zonules may directly participate in the formation of cataract via the immune mechanism. Also part of the case that was sealed: a motion to exclude evidence of a lost Illinois State Police badge found on the roadway four days after the disappearance of Yingying Zhang. Weeks before, a 26-year-old visiting scholar from China went missing on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Yingying Zhang's mother, Lifeng Ye, sobs as her husband addresses the media. She was observed speaking with the driver through the passenger window for about one minute, before entering the car. Her remains have never been found. Main text. Days after the murder, Christensen said he put Yingyings clothing, backpack, cell phone, books and other personal items into a large duffel bag and then distributed them in dumpsters throughout the Champaign-Urbana area. Nanoscale thermal transport. Read More: Where is Brendt Christensen Today? She was supposed to check out an apartment to lease and never showed up. The last public execution took place in Kentucky in 1936, when 20,000 people gathered to watch the hanging of a young Black man convicted of rape. My mother forwarded many of these reports to me. Even as the family of Yingying Zhang acknowledges the near impossibility of her remains ever being found, . She told police that her husband was a psychopath and that she was 80% certain he had kidnapped and killed the Chinese scholar. In addition to this, a memorial stone with Zhangs name was placed on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Yingying Zhang. Zhang's father, Ronggao Zhang, said if the information Christensen gave prosecutors is true "it further confirms that he is a heartless and evil person.". Amidst a global pandemic caricatured as a product of Asian pathology, my birth country has descended further down the abyss of authoritarianism, my adopted home teeters on the brink of fascism, and relations between the two superpowers are at their lowest point in decades. YINGYING ZHANG WAS ABDUCTED AND MURDERED IN 2017. While the countrys Criminal Procedure Law forbids extorting confessions or collecting evidence by illegal means, the regulations contain many loopholes and are poorly enforced. Since Zhang was last seen in the video entering the car, said the news release issued by authorities, the FBI, the University of Illinois Police Department and the Illinois State Police and local law enforcement have worked around the clock to locate Ms. Zhang and to investigate her disappearance., Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Furthermore, he was convicted on two additional counts of lying to the FBI, which netted him two 5-year sentences, which would run consecutively with the life sentence. I argued that its safer for me because Im tall. That evening, unable to reach her, Yingyings Chinese colleagues reported her missing to the police. All Rights Reserved. Height and Weight 5'0 - 5'8, 110 - 140 pounds. To view it as an isolated incident, an example of the dangerous few, would be to miss the underlying context and eschew collective responsibility. As the case progressed, public discourse in China shifted from critiquing the skills of U.S. law enforcement to questioning the logic of its justice system. While the case was put to rest in court, the same cannot be said for Zhangs family who continue to live the loss of their daughter, as stated by them, was their pride and joy. Based on the statements made by Christensen to federal prosecutors in exchange for immunity, he butchered her body in three separate garbage bags and put them in the dumpster outside his apartment. By the penalty phase, Christensen had already been found guilty. Having seen how much Yingyings family has suffered, Shi, the director, narrates in the film, I really hoped for the death penalty. We met for breakfast in Chicago and I asked about this statement. Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. In June 2017, Yingying Zhang, a young scholar from China went missing from a bus stop near the University of Illinois.The entire encounter was caught on nearby surveillance cameras. He was convicted two years later. We were the same age. In England and colonial America, as legal historian Stuart Banner writes, the death penalty circa 1700 was the equivalent of prison todaythe standard punishment for a wide range of serious crimes including arson, theft, and counterfeiting. This is based on the information given by Christensens defense lawyers. But the Zhang family understands that the authorities are still considering an attempt to locate and recover Yingyings remains.. He even displayed a badge. Would UIUC be a safer place if some of its resources for policing and surveillance went toward mental health services and supporting international students? The case was dismissed. 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