Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #3 *Arrest*

[Chambana]

Wonder if we could figure out Stonegate apartment garbage pickup schedule, my gut feeling is that she has been dismembered.

I watched a video about “the dark web” and their are videos on there about cooking female body parts, and how to do it. Wouldn’t rule this absolute sicko out from attempting such thing, to conceal even more.

 

[Ambitioned]

Wonder if we could figure out Stonegate apartment garbage pickup schedule, my gut feeling is that she has been dismembered.

I watched a video about “the dark web” and their are videos on there about cooking female body parts, and how to do it. Wouldn’t rule this absolute sicko out from attempting such thing, to conceal even more.

I hope not but it wouldn't shock me.

 

[Amyk63]

But Illinois doesn't have the death penalty.

 

[rkeppler]

Are there other missing women from the Champaign or Stevens Point area in the last few years?

I've gone through 3 different data bases. No women or men missing from the Champaign or Stevens Point, nor it's Counties or surrounding Counties in the last 5/10 years respectively. Just cold cases from the 90s. If I remember correctly there was one in the 00s. I will check it up again, it was a couple of days ago, just to be sure.

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[Roadette]

Do we think there is a possibility they aren't giving enough to charge with murder because that would send him to state court and sentences there are lighter? I don't usually like to come up with government conspiracy theories but IL's lighter punishments for serious crimes is widely known to be a cause of Chicago's crime problem. I'm not a legal expert but someone here said that murder would send it from federal to state. Do we have any attorneys who can comment if that's the case?

I find it telling that her family pulled the reward. I believe this indicates they must be satisfied with the information they have about her lack of recoverability or not want the body found at this time. I know my family would keep upping it until I was brought back in ANY state. I think most families would be the same.

 

[Webthrush]

Maybe a bonafide lawyer can step in and clear up the legal proceedings ahead for me:
1) someone said way back that BC would be charged in Federal court because kidnapping is automatically a Federal charge, on the presumption that a victim may have been taken across state lines — but if it’s later shown the victim never went across state lines is it still a Federal charge?
2) Also someone said earlier that while the kidnapping charge would be Federal, once a murder charge was added, that would revert it back to state court — doesn’t make much sense to me, but any accuracy to that?
And since I assume in court he will face multiple charges (some state-related and some Federal-related?) does Federal take precedence, or how does this all sort out — will it all be in Federal court or possibly separate charges in state court (where death penalty does not apply)?


on side-note: I do agree (with some others) the case presented to public thus far is weak-ish, but there’s probably a LOT of forensic evidence we haven’t seen yet, and once a body is found everything could change real fast.

 

[WebWoman]

Did they announce that he said he had killed her, or did we just see it in the criminal complaint, which was released to the public (because it's a public record)?

From news link on first post from this thread, sounds like they heard him say he killed her and where the body is and that it's a federal case:

"Authorities said they think Zhang is no longer alive based on audio FBI agents heard of Christensen, under surveillance Thursday, describing how he kidnapped her and what the bureau described only as “other facts uncovered during the investigation of this matter.”

FBI spokesman Brad Ware said he couldn’t comment on where Zhang might be, saying: “It’s still an ongoing investigation.”

Christensen will remain in custody pending his initial appearance in federal court in Urbana, scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday." (End of excerpt)

It says ever since June 16 when the other occupant (im guessing the girl he would go to weightlifting with at 5am every morning don't know if thats his wife or gf) gave consent for the search, he's been on continuous surveillance, so obviously imo she was cooperating with them engaging him to confess when they were listening in, probably threatening her with charges if she didn't.

 

[Daae]

BC may have buried Yingying's body, at night, at one of the easily accessible parks that is within 30 min of his residence.

Looking at google earth, and searching forested areas, Kickapoo Park jumped out at me. There are 3 or 4 easily accessible areas with significant areas of dense forests.

LE probably has an idea how BC disposed of the body but this makes sense to me.

 

[matou]

I hope it isn't just me but I wish there was more emphasis on LE on trying to find Yingying via public appeal, sending in tip info, etc. I know there is a crimestoppers tipsubmit but why not a public line or contact too? Maybe I missed it.

 

[moslym3]

His car was taken by the FBI on June 15th (per probable cause statement), I highly doubt it had been returned by the march on the 29th. I bet it's still with the FBI now actually.

I like your theory about conversing via Fetlife! Big problem though...his activity there stopped 2 days before Yingying disappeared. :-/

Are you experienced in abduction fetish? No snark, I'm curious. I only browsed the groups quickly scanning for traces of BC and kinda getting the feeling of the community. On the site, the abduction folks seemed very candid, clear about their desires, and intent on clarity with possible fantasy connections. I didn't see anything posted about committing an abduction of a non consenting party. They didn't seem like they would condone that at all. Jmo

Thanks for the additional info on when his Fetlife activity stopped (a couple days before the abduction). That removes the possibility of LE engaging with him there after the fact. However, that doesn't exclude any other woman that may have met him through Fetlife, saw the news reports and called in that she knows him in the context of kidnapping/ravishing fantasies...and SHE may have set him up along with LE outside of Fetlife.

Fetlife - as in all fetish play - is all about consent. That being said, there's always bad apples in any community that go against the rules (just look at the Catholic church, or govt corruption, or doctors who kill their patients). It's likely that he may have been frustrated striking out in the legit fetish community (social skills, acting creepy, no social proof) that he took out his frustrations in the real world.

I personally think he was on the fringes of the fetish community. If he was really connected in Fetlife, i'm sure LE is going through is associations now -- finding women he's interacted with. He may have even attended a local Munch -- those are events where fetish-players dress like the geography teachers, insurance salesmen, soccer mom's they are and go to a normal vanilla bar and hang out--to meet in a public place, establish social proof and possibly arrange to "play" alone or with a group afterwards. You may have been to your local TGI Fridays and seen a group of boring looking people and not realized it was your local Munch meeting!

 

[WebWoman]

Anyone else notice Urbana Middle School is across the street from where she was abducted/the university? Wonder if he ever picked up middle school girls and if anyone has asked them.

 

[Spellbound]

Any mention of BC's family attending the hearing, or otherwise being on scene to support him?
Also, I was extra chilled and creeped out by the OKC line about "wanting to experience everything." Yes, he may be an articulate video gamer with a high IQ and an ability to express himself, but he is no nerd. He's a classic sociopath in my opinion.

I can't say exactly why, but somehow I sense an almost suicidal streak in him as well. The sloppiness in leaving the online footprint, certain high risks he apparently took - this is a man trained in the scientific method whose evidence-based analytical thinking is deeply ingrained by this time. Almost seems more like wanting to get caught as opposed to grandiose sociopathic "I'm smarter than LE" thinking.

Sounds like his family and wife support him still:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2017-07-03/accused-kidnappers-attorney-wait-whole-story.html

“The family members that I have spoken to are 100 percent supporting him, and they’re scrambling to adjust their schedules to be here to support him, but there’s no firm plans in terms of who is coming where and when,” said Evan Bruno, of the Urbana-based Bruno Law Firm.

Bruno said one of his client’s local family members is his wife, ....

 

[liltexans]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/alleged-kidnapper-college-student-appears-court-48431210

 

[liltexans]

[video=twitter;882227944374054912]https://twitter.com/ui7news/status/882227944374054912[/video]

 

[Millhouse]

BC may have buried Yingying's body, at night, at one of the easily accessible parks that is within 30 min of his residence.

Looking at google earth, and searching forested areas, Kickapoo Park jumped out at me. There are 3 or 4 easily accessible areas with significant areas of dense forests.

LE probably has an idea how BC disposed of the body but this makes sense to me.

It'd be pretty bold of him to go to one of the parks when most of the other non-residential areas near there are empty corn fields. But then again, he kidnapped her in broad daylight and brought the car home to his apartment, so who knows.

 

[liltexans]

Federal District Court scheduled a detention and preliminary hearing at 3:00pm, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. This demonstration is to communicate the voices of the mass that the suspect is a danger and a threat to the communities of the area. We want "Justice for Yingying". Please join us for the cause.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1376741722433524??ti=ia

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

My only knowledge of state vs. federal charges is the Timothy McVeigh case, so I know I'm probably comparing apples and oranges here, but in the OKC Bombing case, there was a state and a federal trial. The federal charges stayed in federal courts.

Do we think there is a possibility they aren't giving enough to charge with murder because that would send him to state court and sentences there are lighter? I don't usually like to come up with government conspiracy theories but IL's lighter punishments for serious crimes is widely known to be a cause of Chicago's crime problem. I'm not a legal expert but someone here said that murder would send it from federal to state. Do we have any attorneys who can comment if that's the case?

I find it telling that her family pulled the reward. I believe this indicates they must be satisfied with the information they have about her lack of recoverability or not want the body found at this time. I know my family would keep upping it until I was brought back in ANY state. I think most families would be the same.

ETA: But, it's also not unheard of for charges to be refiled in another jurisdiction. So, it's not impossible that federal charges could be dropped and then amended/refiled by the state. Or vise-versa. (And avoiding the whole "double jeopardy" thing.)

 

[rkeppler]

Found 4 girls missing within a 1:20 drive from Champaign. Two in Springfield, one from Hooperston, one from Urbana. All of them went missing from 2016 onwards. Not sure if I can post names. Waiting on admin.

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[Yellow]

Maybe a bonafide lawyer can step in and clear up the legal proceedings ahead for me:
1) someone said way back that BC would be charged in Federal court because kidnapping is automatically a Federal charge, on the presumption that a victim may have been taken across state lines — but if it’s later shown the victim never went across state lines is it still a Federal charge?
2) Also someone said earlier that while the kidnapping charge would be Federal, once a murder charge was added, that would revert it back to state court — doesn’t make much sense to me, but any accuracy to that?
And since I assume in court he will face multiple charges (some state-related and some Federal-related?) does Federal take precedence, or how does this all sort out — will it all be in Federal court or possibly separate charges in state court (where death penalty does not apply)?


on side-note: I do agree (with some others) the case presented to public thus far is weak-ish, but there’s probably a LOT of forensic evidence we haven’t seen yet, and once a body is found everything could change real fast.

Kidnapping is a federal crime- it was added as a federal crime after the Lindbergh kidnapping.States may also have their own statutes too- look at the recent case in TN where the teacher kidnapped the girl; there was a lot of discussion about TN kidnapping law being too weak. The DOJ defines kidnapping and defines it very narrowly. I include the link from the DOJ. Sometimes jxn charge and then later realize they don't have jxn since jxn is fairly narrow. There is a rebuttable presumption that if not released after 24 hours the victim was transported in interstate commerce. Defendants obviously won't try to rebut that presumption since they would then have to admit to kidnapping.

https://www.justice.gov/usam/criminal-resource-manual-1034-kidnapping-federal-jurisdiction

The only charge so far is kidnapping so it makes sense why it is in federal court. Think of all the cases we see on websleuths- how many are ever prosecuted in federal court? Not many, even when they involve kidnapping. Once the charge involves murder, that is a state charge. It would only be federal murder if it involved federal jxn like if committed on a natural park or military or federal building or whatnot. The OK city bombing is one of the few federal murder cases I can recall. I think the Yosemite murder may also have been federal because it was in the national park. The DC sniper cases involved federal gun charges I believe but it ended up being prosecuted in the states even though the murders were across states lines. It's highly unusual to have a murder case in federal court and I doubt there is any basis here for a fed murder case since it is so rare. So once additional charges are added they will be mostly state charges for the big ones. In almost all cases like this, feds give it back to state court to pursue. Often jxn in fed court may be iffy if indeed the victim was not transported across state lines. Better to just have state deal with it rather than wade into that territory especially when federal murder charges are so so rare.

Otherwise we would see alot more cases in federal courts. Many many cases involve kidnapping yet very very few are in federal court unless it is a straight kidnapping case which is rare. Does anyone know any similar cases like this that ever stay in federal court? Indeed, I am a lawyer by the way so I learned this in law school plus it is easy enough to look up online as well if you want to know more.

The federal kidnapping law has a clause that it extends to kidnapping in which the victim is a foreign official, an internationally protected person, or an official guest as those terms are defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1116(b). I looked up 1116 and it does not apply in this case - it means official business only.

 

[Webthrush]

Just now thinking about how Champaign-Urbana, like most communities, probably has a once-a-year, town celebration & fireworks scheduled for tonight, yet so many citizens racked with sadness and non-celebratory feelings right now. I’m 1000 miles away and don’t feel much like celebrating. Condolences to that community on this painful day in particular.
And then tomorrow another hearing for the accused.

Again a side-question, as an old-codger not in the loop of trends: the black apparel BC seems to favor, as well as his music & website/game tastes, does that indicate a connection to "Goth" culture or is that something quite different?