JUSTICE

Ex-Student Found Guilty of Murdering Visiting Scholar at University of Illinois

The former doctoral student’s attorneys allegedly admitted that their client killed Yingying Zhang in 2017.

An ex-University of Illinois doctoral student was found guilty of raping and murdering a visiting scholar from China on Monday, the Associated Press reports. Brendt Christensen, 29, reportedly showed “no emotion” when his verdict was announced after the jury spent just 90 minutes deliberating. His defense attorneys admitted their client killed visiting scholar Yingying Zhang in 2017 after abducting her from a bus stop. Prosecutors further alleged that Zhang was beaten to death with a baseball bat and decapitated. The jury was also presented with evidence that Christensen bragged about killing 12 other individuals before he murdered Zhang. While Illinois no longer permits capital punishment, Christensen could be sentenced to death because he was convicted in federal court. The upcoming penalty phase of the trial, which could last multiple weeks, will reportedly focus on Christensen’s brutality and possible “mental health issues.”