Slim chance of ever finding Chinese scholar’s body

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Authorities in Illinois have suggested that the remains of a slain 26-year-old scholar from China may never be found despite a vow from prosecutors after her killer was sentenced to life in prison this week that the search will continue. Brendt Christensen, a former doctoral student in physics at the University... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

July 19, 2019

Ex-Illinois student’s life spared in killing of scholar

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — A former University of Illinois doctoral student was spared the death penalty Thursday and sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and killing a 26-year-old scholar from China. Her parents, disappointed he was not sentenced to death, publicly begged for the killer to reveal where her remains are so they can... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

July 18, 2019

Jury deliberates for 2nd day on penalty in scholar’s slaying

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Jurors are set to resume deliberations on whether an ex-University of Illinois doctoral student deserves the death penalty for slaying a 26-year-old scholar from China. Thursday will be their second day of deliberations on whether Brendt Christensen should die or spend the rest his life behind bars for abducting Yingying Zhang,... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

July 17, 2019

Closings at death-penalty phase in slain scholar case

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys are delivering final arguments to jurors on whether a former University of Illinois doctoral student should be sentenced to death for killing a young scholar from China. Closing arguments Wednesday come after testimony in the death-penalty phase of 30-year-old Brendt Christensen’s case. Jurors will begin deliberating after... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

July 16, 2019

Sister of man who killed Chinese scholar: He was ‘gentle’

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — The sister of a former University of Illinois student convicted of killing a Chinese scholar told a jury deciding whether he should be executed that he was a “very gentle person” who never raised his voice. Andrea Christensen was the last witness that lawyers for Brendt Christensen called to the stand... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

July 9, 2019

Jurors hear voice of slain scholar in death penalty hearing

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Jurors who will decide if a former University of Illinois doctoral student should be executed for the kidnapping and brutal slaying of a Chinese scholar are hearing about the victim from her friends and family — and from the victim herself. Just weeks after a federal jury found Brendt Christensen guilty... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Execution, News

Brendt Christensen

July 8, 2019

Jury to consider death penalty in Chinese scholar killing

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal jury that convicted a former University of Illinois doctoral student of kidnapping, torturing and killing a young scholar from China now must decide if Brendt Christensen should be put to death. While the state of Illinois, where she was killed, does not have the death penalty, the case was brought... Read More

Criminal Justice News, International Justice Watch, News

Brendt Christensen

June 25, 2019

Former student guilty in slaying of visiting Chinese scholar

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before returning a guilty verdict Monday in the federal death-penalty trial of a former University of Illinois doctoral student who abducted a visiting Chinese scholar from a bus stop and killed her at his apartment. Brendt Christensen didn’t move or show any emotion as the... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

June 24, 2019

Closing arguments set for missing Chinese scholar case

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Closing arguments are set for the federal death penalty trial of a former University of Illinois doctoral student charged with kidnapping and killing a 26-year-old visiting scholar from China. Monday’s closings follow a week and a half of testimony. If jurors convict Brendt Christensen, they must then decide whether he should... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

June 21, 2019

Man’s serial killer boast doubted in Chinese scholar case

CHICAGO (AP) — A former University of Illinois doctoral student on trial for killing a visiting scholar from China searched the internet for instructions on committing murder before the woman vanished, which one expert on serial killers says may be a sign that his boast to have killed 12 other people is false. Brendt Christensen’s... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

June 19, 2019

Witness: Suspect in slaying tried to get her into his car

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — A University of Illinois graduate student told jurors Tuesday that the man on trial for killing a 26-year-old visiting scholar from China tried to get her into his car by posing as an undercover police officer, saying she felt physically ill when she recognized him days later in a police photo... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

June 12, 2019

Federal prosecutors detail Chinese scholar’s brutal death

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday shared with jurors grisly details of how they claim a former University of Illinois doctoral student kidnapped a visiting scholar from China who aspired to return home and become a professor, then brutally beat and killed her. Opening statements began in the federal death-penalty trial of Brendt... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

June 11, 2019

Death-penalty trial panned in state that ended punishment

CHICAGO (AP) — A perplexed prospective juror at the trial of a former graduate student charged with kidnapping and killing a University of Illinois scholar from China said during jury selection last week that she didn’t understand how a conviction could carry the death penalty in Illinois when the state struck capital punishment from its... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Execution, News

Brendt Christensen

June 4, 2019

2nd day of jury selection at Chinese scholar slaying trial

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge in central Illinois will continue vetting would-be jurors at the death penalty trial of a former University of Illinois student charged with killing a visiting Chinese scholar. Tuesday will be the second day of a process to pick a jury to hear evidence against 29-year-old Brendt Christensen. Jury selection... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News

Brendt Christensen

Slim chance of ever finding Chinese scholar’s body

Ex-Illinois student’s life spared in killing of scholar

Jury deliberates for 2nd day on penalty in scholar’s slaying

Closings at death-penalty phase in slain scholar case

Sister of man who killed Chinese scholar: He was ‘gentle’

Jurors hear voice of slain scholar in death penalty hearing

Jury to consider death penalty in Chinese scholar killing

Former student guilty in slaying of visiting Chinese scholar

Closing arguments set for missing Chinese scholar case

Man’s serial killer boast doubted in Chinese scholar case

Witness: Suspect in slaying tried to get her into his car

Federal prosecutors detail Chinese scholar’s brutal death

Death-penalty trial panned in state that ended punishment

2nd day of jury selection at Chinese scholar slaying trial

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