who are lawyer of brendt christensen

United States of America v. Brendt Christensen Case Number: 2:17-cr-20037-JES-JEH Judge: James E. Shadid Court: United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (Sangamon County) Plaintiff's Attorney: Eugene L. Miller, Bryan D. Freres, James B. Nelson

Full Answer

Who is Brendt Christensen?

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 had previous mental health issues as an ABC news report mentioned that in 2017, he had admitted to having homicidal intent after conducting researches on serial killers.

What happened in the Brendt Christensen trial?

Jurors in the Brendt Christensen trial could not reach a unanimous decision on his punishment for the murder of Yingying Zhang, and he will be sentenced to life in prison. The Associated Press contributed to this report. © 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Who is Brendt Christensen and what happened to Yingying Zhang?

Brendt Christensen is accused of killing Yingying Zhang in June 2017. Yingying Zhang, 27, was visiting the U.S. from China when she disappeared in June 2017. Suspect Brendt Christensen has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping resulting in death.

What happened to Brian Brendt?

Brendt had previous mental health issues as an ABC news report mentioned that in 2017, he had admitted to having homicidal intent after conducting researches on serial killers. This greatly alarmed counselors, but they later deduced that he was not in immediate need of hospitalization.

What did brendt Christensen do to Yingying Zhang?

Brendt Christensen was convicted of kidnapping and killing Yingying Zhang in June 2017. He was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year. Both Zhang and Christensen attended University of Illinois' main campus in Urbana-Champaign. Zhang was a visiting scholar studying environmental sciences.

Where is brendt Christensen today?

Brendt Christensen Moved to Kentucky Prison to Serve Out Life Sentence. A memorial stone engraved with Yingying Zhang's name in both English and Chinese on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in June 2019, two years after her disappearance.

Did they ever find Yingying Zhang?

She was considering entering a doctoral program at the University of Illinois. Zhang planned to marry her boyfriend, Xiaolin Hou, in October 2017....Yingying ZhangStatusMissing for 4 years, 11 months and 21 daysDiedJune 9, 2017 (aged 26) Champaign, Illinois, U.S.Cause of deathMurder4 more rows

Who is Brett Christensen?

As the owner of CU Lending Advice, LLC, Brett works directly with credit unions in the U.S and Canada as a consultant and teacher specializing in various lending topics. His personal and entertaining speaking style have also made him a popular and sought out speaker in the credit union industry.

Who is Terra Bullis?

Terra Bullis never once flinched before she wore a wire for the FBI. The woman had discovered that her boyfriend Brendt Christensen sexually assaulted and murdered a 26-year-old Chinese visiting scholar, Yingying Zhang. She didn't just stumble upon this information nor did it come to her from the police.

Who is Yingying?

After killing Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang, Brendt Christensen placed her butchered body in three separate garbage bags, which he tossed in a dumpster outside his Champaign apartment before disposing of her personal items among trash receptacles around the Champaign-Urbana area.

What does Yingying mean in Chinese?

yingying : a glimmer, twin... : yíng yíng | Definition | Mandarin Chinese Pinyin English Dictionary | Yabla Chinese.

Who kidnapped Yingying?

Brendt ChristensenLast month, 30-year-old Brendt Christensen was convicted for abducting Zhang Yingying from a bus stop, then raping, choking and stabbing her before beating her to death with a bat and decapitating her.

When did Yingying Zhang go missing?

June 2017In June 2017, visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang went missing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Campus surveillance footage revealed that after missing a bus, Zhang accepted a ride from former Ph.

What was the name of the website that John Christensen accessed?

The affidavit gave very disturbing details, including that authorities alleged they had evidence that Christensen accessed a website entitled “Abduction 101 ” and sub-threads called “perfect abduction fantasy” and “planning a kidnapping.”. He had also worked as a Physics class teaching assistant.

What did the defense attorney's admission indicate?

CNN reported that the defense attorney’s admission may indicate a strategy of focusing on avoiding the death penalty for Christensen; he said Christensen had been left by his wife, and was struggling with mental health and substance abuse, CNN reported.

Who was Zhang in the Urbana-Champaign community?

Her disappearance was big news in China as well as the United States as the Urbana-Champaign community gathered together to try to find Zhang, a promising young environmental engineer who was researching crop production. Zhang was remembered as intelligent and extroverted.

Did Christensen get Zhang into his car?

According to the Chicago Tribune, prosecutors allege that Christensen pretended he was an undercover police officer to get Zhang into his car. The student was supposed to check out an apartment to lease and never showed up.

Was Christensen recorded at a rally for Zhang?

A prosecutor told the court previously that Christensen was recorded at a rally for Zhang by authorities and “explained the characteristics of his ideal victim” and, according to CNN, “pointed out those in the crowd who matched them at a vigil he attended for the missing woman.”.

Who is Brendt Christensen's girlfriend?

On June 16, 2017, Terra Bullis, who said she started dating ...

Why did Bullis say "attracted" to Christensen?

Bullis responded that she said those words because she was "terrified" and wanted him to continue the conversation. Macon County Sheriff's Office.

Why did Christensen decapitate Zhang?

Christensen went on to say in the recording that he decapitated Zhang to ensure she was deceased after assaulting her with a baseball bat. Christensen, who is currently standing trial in federal court, is accused of kidnapping and killing Zhang, an agriculture researcher. Courtesy Zhang family.

Who was Zhang's 13th victim?

In that June 29 audio, which was played in court, Christensen is heard telling Bullis several times that Zhang was his 13th victim -- adding that he had been killing since he was 19 years old. "Yingying is the only person that produced evidence that leads back to me," said Christensen in the audio recording. "Number 13.".

Was Christensen drunk at the time of his statements?

Bullis agreed , but said Christensen was not drunk at the time of his statements on tape. In the last clip heard from the June 29 audio, Christensen tells Bullis he would not tell her nor anyone else what he did with Zhang's body. "No one will ever know where she is," he is heard saying on the recording.

Where is Brendt Christensen?

At present, Brendt Christensen is a federal prisoner serving his life sentence at the United States Penitentiary, Coleman II, in Florida. After his conviction and trial, the fate of Yingying Zhang’s body came to light.

Who testified against Brendt?

During the trial, several people, including Terra Bullis, testified against Brendt. People from the FBI also testified that Zhang’s DNA and her blood were found inside Brendt’s apartment, which unmistakeably linked him to the crime. However, Mike refused to divulge any information about the location of Zhang’s remains.

What did Brendt do to his girlfriend?

As the FBI listened on, Brendt revealed a terrifying truth to his girlfriend. He confessed to posing as an undercover police officer and picking Zhang up before bringing her back to his apartment. He seemingly boasted about choking, sexually assaulting, and beating Zhang to death with a baseball bat.

What happened to Zhang when she did not turn up for the lease signing?

That was the last anyone ever heard or saw from Zhang. When she did not turn up on time for the lease signing, the agent sent her a text which went unanswered. Zhang’s friends, too, had no idea about her whereabouts, and they were worried about the visiting student getting into trouble in an unfamiliar place.

Did Brendt have a mental health issue?

Brendt had previous mental health issues as an ABC news report mentioned that in 2017, he had admitted to having homicidal intent after conducting researches on serial killers. This greatly alarmed counselors, but they later deduced that he was not in immediate need of hospitalization. However, Brendt never returned for a second counseling session ...

Who is Yingying Zhang?

Yingying Zhang was a Chinese national enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as a visiting student . She was a brilliant scholar and had won numerous laurels in China before coming to the US in April 2017, where she was supposed to stay for a year. Very new to the country, Zhang still hadn’t settled down properly ...

Did Brendt return to counseling?

However, Brendt never returned for a second counseling session like he was asked to. Brendt also had a master’s in Physics but dropped out from his Ph.D. program and instead claimed that he was searching for employment. When the police questioned Brendt, he denied being involved in Zhang’s disappearance.

When did Christensen get married?

Before starting graduate school, Christensen married in March 2013. During the time of Zhang's murder, Christensen was in an open marriage, while also dating a girlfriend. Investigators interviewed Christensen on June 12, 2017 and inspected his car.

Where did Christensen put Zhang's body?

The day after he killed Zhang, Christensen claimed he put Zhang's dismembered body in three separate garbage bags which he then disposed of in the dumpster outside of his apartment. Over the next two days, Christensen claimed he disposed of Zhang's personal belongings in various dumpsters in the Champaign-Urbana area.

Who is the perpetrator of Yingying Zhang?

1. Victims. Yingying Zhang. Perpetrators. Brendt Allen Christensen. The kidnapping and murder of Yingying Zhang occurred in Urbana, Illinois, United States on June 9, 2017 when Zhang, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, was abducted by Brendt Allen Christensen , a Champaign resident ...

How much is the reward for the arrest of Zhang?

On June 19, the University of Illinois in conjunction with Champaign County Crime Stoppers, announced a reward of $40,000 for information leading to the arrest of the individual or individuals responsible for the apparent kidnapping of Zhang.