Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #7 *Arrest*

[dm92]

ditto.
There is some ambiguity regarding whether her identification was 100% positive , or bearing a close resemblance to, from previous recent posts..
I would hazard a guess that it was indeed him, however.. older reports we examined did not state definitively or disqualify whether it was suspected to be him or not (ref university police reports)

She was shown pictures of 6 individuals, and she picked Christensen out as the one who most closely resembled the man in the car, based on his tan and his hair. She could not be 100% positive because the man in the car was wearing sunglasses.

However, put all the pieces together: black sedan, took place about four hours before on the same day as YY's abduction, took place less than half a mile from where YY was abducted........ and she picks BC's photo out while being unaware that BC was the suspect. Too many coincidences. Plus, there were stories that one or two other girls had been approached by a man in a black sedan near campus 2-3 weeks before -but no more reports of this occurring after YY's abduction.

Not quite at the level to say that it's beyond a reasonable doubt that it is him, but it's getting pretty close.......

 

[trunkizback]

She was shown pictures of 6 individuals, and she picked Christensen out as the one who most closely resembled the man in the car, based on his tan and his hair. She could not be 100% positive because the man in the car was wearing sunglasses.






























































However, put all the pieces together: black sedan, took place about four hours before on the same day as YY's abduction, took place less than half a mile from where YY was abducted........ and she picks BC's photo out while being unaware that BC was the suspect. Too many coincidences. Plus, there were stories that one or two other girls had been approached by a man in a black sedan near campus 2-3 weeks before -but no more reports of this occurring after YY's abduction.

Not quite at the level to say that it's beyond a reasonable doubt that it is him, but it's getting pretty close.......

It;s actually irrelevent if it was him or not, But it was definately his car picking up YY. Has anyone else thought of what must be running thru that girls mind? *I mean the one who didn't get in the car. Whew.

 

[dm92]

It;s actually irrelevent if it was him or not, But it was definately his car picking up YY. Has anyone else thought of what must be running thru that girls mind? *I mean the one who didn't get in the car. Whew.

yeah, can't imagine what she is thinking. She is one lucky young woman.

i think it is very relevant if it was him or not. If they establish that it was him, it does something very important: it destroys any attempt he may make to claim that YY went back to his apartment with him willingly to engage in some kind of consensual tryst, and she was accidentally killed or ran off and went into hiding out of shame over what she did. Also it supports premeditation and planning on his part; he was attempting to carry out his plan, and didn't have any intention of picking up YY to help her out.....

 

[kittythehare]

It;s actually irrelevent if it was him or not, But it was definately his car picking up YY. Has anyone else thought of what must be running thru that girls mind? *I mean the one who didn't get in the car. Whew.

I agree.
Notable is that she described him as wearing a security badge on a chain , which he pulled from inside his top garment.
If he pulled same ruse with YY, she had every reason to accept what she thought was his help.
The 'broad daylight' aspect has me wondering how often he picked women up..it's strange others have not come forward..

I wonder too whether his apparent sense of invincibility resulted from cocaine use? Cocaine does bestow this delusion.

 

[dm92]

I agree.
Notable is that she described him as wearing a security badge on a chain , which he pulled from inside his top garment.
If he pulled same ruse with YY, she had every reason to accept what she thought was his help.
n.

this reminds me.... I still need to post my wife's Chinese perspective on why YY may have gotten in his car. I wrote up about half of it, then got distracted. I will try to do that by Saturday.....

 

[kittythehare]

yeah, can't imagine what she is thinking. She is one lucky young woman.

i think it is very relevant if it was him or not. If they establish that it was him, it does something very important: it destroys any attempt he may make to claim that YY went back to his apartment with him willingly to engage in some kind of consensual tryst, and she was accidentally killed or ran off and went into hiding out of shame over what she did. Also it supports premeditation and planning on his part; he was attempting to carry out his plan, and didn't have any intention of picking up YY to help her out.....

I disagree.
Recall from the warrants, link posted in past 2 days that federal definition of kidnapping includes the word 'inveigle'

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1201

(b)With respect to subsection (a)(1), above, the failure to release the victim within twenty-four hours after he shall have been unlawfully seized, confined, inveigled, decoyed, kidnapped, abducted, or carried away shall create a rebuttable presumption that such person has been transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the fact that the presumption under this section has not yet taken effect does not preclude a Federal investigation of a possible violation of this section before the 24-hour period has ended.

(c)If two or more persons conspire to violate this section and one or more of such persons do any overt act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be punished by imprisonment for any term of years or for life.

(d)Whoever attempts to violate subsection (a) shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than twenty years.

https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/2010/title-97/3/97-3-53/



[h=1]97-3-53 - Kidnapping; punishment.[/h][FONT=&quot]§ 97-3-53. Kidnapping; punishment.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Any person who, without lawful authority and with or without intent to secretly confine, shall forcibly seize and confine any other person, or shall inveigle or kidnap any other person with intent to cause such person to be confined or imprisoned against his or her will, or without lawful authority shall forcibly seize, inveigle or kidnap any child under the age of sixteen (16) years against the will of the parents or guardian or person having the lawful custody of the child, upon conviction shall be imprisoned for life in the custody of the Department of Corrections if the punishment is so fixed by the jury in its verdict. If the jury fails to agree on fixing the penalty at imprisonment for life, the court shall fix the penalty at not less than one (1) year nor more than thirty (30) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

https://repository.uchastings.edu/c...ir=1&article=1094&context=faculty_scholarship


It is KNOWN
-YY was waiting for a bus
-YY had an appointment
-YY intended keeping that appointment
-YY was late
-YY appeared distressed because of her lateness
-YY was in a hurry[/FONT]

 

[dm92]

I disagree.
Recall from the warrants, link posted in past 2 days that federal definition of kidnapping includes the word 'inveigle'

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1201

(b)With respect to subsection (a)(1), above, the failure to release the victim within twenty-four hours after he shall have been unlawfully seized, confined, inveigled, decoyed, kidnapped, abducted, or carried away shall create a rebuttable presumption that such person has been transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the fact that the presumption under this section has not yet taken effect does not preclude a Federal investigation of a possible violation of this section before the 24-hour period has ended.

(c)If two or more persons conspire to violate this section and one or more of such persons do any overt act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be punished by imprisonment for any term of years or for life.

(d)Whoever attempts to violate subsection (a) shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than twenty years.

https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/2010/title-97/3/97-3-53/



97-3-53 - Kidnapping; punishment.

[FONT=&amp]§ 97-3-53. Kidnapping; punishment.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Any person who, without lawful authority and with or without intent to secretly confine, shall forcibly seize and confine any other person, or shall inveigle or kidnap any other person with intent to cause such person to be confined or imprisoned against his or her will, or without lawful authority shall forcibly seize, inveigle or kidnap any child under the age of sixteen (16) years against the will of the parents or guardian or person having the lawful custody of the child, upon conviction shall be imprisoned for life in the custody of the Department of Corrections if the punishment is so fixed by the jury in its verdict. If the jury fails to agree on fixing the penalty at imprisonment for life, the court shall fix the penalty at not less than one (1) year nor more than thirty (30) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

https://repository.uchastings.edu/c...ir=1&article=1094&context=faculty_scholarship


It is KNOWN
-YY was waiting for a bus
-YY had an appointment
-YY intended keeping that appointment
-YY was late
-YY appeared distressed because of her lateness
-YY was in a hurry[/FONT]

RE: YY appeared distressed. That's what BC claims. We have no way of knowing how distressed she appeared, if at all.

I think they have the Chinese culture expert and the linguist listed as potential expert witnesses to support everything else you list. They will testify that YY would not have willingly blown off her appointment to sign the lease to accept an offer instead to go to BC's apartment. The prosecution is anticipating that BC might claim that she agreed to go to his apartment with him for "activities," and then either some sort of accident happened, or she went into hiding out of shame at what she had done. He will blame the victim. If they go there, they will call these witnesses to rebut this.

Showing BC was the one who tried to pick up the other girl will also undermine this potential story. It will support the claim this was all planned and premeditated to cause the death of a person. He was out hunting, and tried to pick up another girl by tricking her. He planned to take someone back to his apartment and kill them. He didn't pick YY up to help her; he didn't pick her up in order to ask her to go back to his place for some sort of consensual activity.

 

[kittythehare]

RE: YY appeared distressed. That's what BC claims. We have no way of knowing how distressed she appeared, if at all.

I think they have the Chinese culture expert and the linguist listed as potential expert witnesses to support everything else you list. They will testify that YY would not have willingly blown off her appointment to sign the lease to accept an offer instead to go to BC's apartment. The prosecution is anticipating that BC might claim that she agreed to go to his apartment with him for "activities," and then either some sort of accident happened, or she went into hiding out of shame at what she had done. He will blame the victim. If they go there, they will call these witnesses to rebut this.

Showing BC was the one who tried to pick up the other girl will also undermine this potential story. It will support the claim this was all planned and premeditated to cause the death of a person. He was out hunting, and tried to pick up another girl by tricking her. He planned to take someone back to his apartment and kill them. He didn't pick YY up to help her; he didn't pick her up in order to ask her to go back to his place for some sort of consensual activity.

No, I'm not actually taking his statement for anything..
On the afternoon of June 9, 2017, Zhang was traveling on a Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus in Urbana, Illinois, to an off-campus apartment complex where she was planning to sign a new apartment lease. She was running late and sent a text message to the leasing agent at 1:39 p.m. to inform them that she would arrive at approximately 2:10 p.m.[SUP][1][/SUP] After riding on one bus, she got off at 1:52 p.m. and tried to transfer to another. However, confused about the location of the bus stop, Zhang failed to flag down the bus, and it passed by without stopping.[SUP][1][/SUP]
Zhang then walked to another bus stop a few blocks away at the corner of North Goodwin Avenue and West Clark Street, directly in front of the university's PBS radio and television station, WILL[SUP][4][/SUP].
Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Yingying_Zhang
Think about it.

We have no evidence of what the prosecution is assuming.

Attempting to pick up another woman may not be provable , but the investigation is not hinging upon it.
The points I made are well published in many sources.

There is no evidence to suggest she had any other plan but to keep her appointment .
There is actual evidence that was her intention, her full intention and her only intention.
The text messages she sent and received are documented proof and are available online upon search.

 

[dm92]

No, I'm not actually taking his statement for anything..
On the afternoon of June 9, 2017, Zhang was traveling on a Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus in Urbana, Illinois, to an off-campus apartment complex where she was planning to sign a new apartment lease. She was running late and sent a text message to the leasing agent at 1:39 p.m. to inform them that she would arrive at approximately 2:10 p.m.[SUP][1][/SUP] After riding on one bus, she got off at 1:52 p.m. and tried to transfer to another. However, confused about the location of the bus stop, Zhang failed to flag down the bus, and it passed by without stopping.[SUP][1][/SUP]
Zhang then walked to another bus stop a few blocks away at the corner of North Goodwin Avenue and West Clark Street, directly in front of the university's PBS radio and television station, WILL[SUP][4][/SUP].
Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Yingying_Zhang
Think about it.

We have no evidence of what the prosecution is assuming.

Attempting to pick up another woman may not be provable , but the investigation is not hinging upon it.
The points I made are well published in many sources.

There is no evidence to suggest she had any other plan but to keep her appointment .
There is actual evidence that was her intention, her full intention and her only intention.
The text messages she sent and received are documented proof and are available online upon search.

Im not disputing any of this except for one thing: Saying YY appeared distressed does come from BC. That is what he said to investigators. As far as I know,no one else is claiming she appeared distressed.

As far as what the prosecution is assuming, we don't know, that's correct; but we have a hint. Here's a quote from the article detailing the prosecution's response to the defense motions to exclude expert witness testimony:

Prosecutors also said they may bring in an FBI linguist and an expert on Chinese culture to testify in a potential rebuttal.
"While the United States has not been made aware of any theory of defense in this case, it is aware that in some cases a defendant attempts to blame the victim for the defendant's crime," Childress wrote.
With that in mind, they said they may call "FBI Linguist Mora Golden to testify regarding the Chinese-to-English translation of writings of the victim in this case, and a University of Illinois professor regarding Chinese culture and the victim's expected actions in this case."

They think he might try to blame her for what happened. Now, that blame might be what he has already said: "She panicked, so I let her out and she ran off. It's not my fault what happened to her later.." But, if there is lots of forensic evidence showing she was in his apartment, he's going to have to come up with a story explaining how she ended up in the apartment, and how whatever happened wasn't his fault and wasn't planned and premeditated. No, the prosecutions case doesn't hinge on showing that it was BC who tried to trick the other girl into his car. However, if they can convince the jury that it was, that will seriously undermine whatever lame story he tries to concoct explaining how YY ended up in his apartment.

 

[Webthrush]

Im not disputing any of this except for one thing: Saying YY appeared distressed does come from BC. That is what he said to investigators. As far as I know,no one else is claiming she appeared distressed.

As far as what the prosecution is assuming, we don't know, that's correct; but we have a hint. Here's a quote from the article detailing the prosecution's response to the defense motions to exclude expert witness testimony:

Prosecutors also said they may bring in an FBI linguist and an expert on Chinese culture to testify in a potential rebuttal.
"While the United States has not been made aware of any theory of defense in this case, it is aware that in some cases a defendant attempts to blame the victim for the defendant's crime," Childress wrote.
With that in mind, they said they may call "FBI Linguist Mora Golden to testify regarding the Chinese-to-English translation of writings of the victim in this case, and a University of Illinois professor regarding Chinese culture and the victim's expected actions in this case."

They think he might try to blame her for what happened. Now, that blame might be what he has already said: "She panicked, so I let her out and she ran off. It's not my fault what happened to her later.." But, if there is lots of forensic evidence showing she was in his apartment, he's going to have to come up with a story explaining how she ended up in the apartment, and how whatever happened wasn't his fault and wasn't planned and premeditated. No, the prosecutions case doesn't hinge on showing that it was BC who tried to trick the other girl into his car. However, if they can convince the jury that it was, that will seriously undermine whatever lame story he tries to concoct explaining how YY ended up in his apartment.

agreed... and worth noting, I think, that we already know of 3 different stories BC has given:

1) First that he was at home playing games video games on the day-in-question
2) Then, that he was mistaken, and he did indeed pick up an Asian girl but let her out a couple blocks later when she became agitated.
3) Finally, via secret recordings, that he picked up YY and took her back to his apartment...


To plead innocent he either has to stick to story 2 and say all the recorded stuff is just him toying with police (making stuff up), or if they have forensic evidence of YY’s presence in his apt. (as they almost certainly do), then he must admit that both #1 and #2 were fabrications, and further make up some ridiculous claim that YY went back to his apt. willingly and died “accidentally” during some consensual acts — and who would believe such poppycock!). So it’s clear why the defense is trying hard to make chunks of both the tapes and the forensics inadmissible — because if they’re both handed to the jury, he’s painted into a corner. He might conceivably escape (or plea bargain away) 1st degree murder, but circumstantial evidence (with forensics) is enough to easily convict him of 2nd degree.
And as dm92 indicates I think the testimony of the earlier coed who refused a ride is another important indication of planning/premeditation, and not mere impulse or sudden rage.

 

[dm92]

They're seeking the death penalty....

Feds to seek death penalty in Christensen case

 

[dm92]

From the article announcing the Feds are seeking death:

The notice also alleges non-statutory aggravating factors including victim impact evidence related to Miss Zhang's loss and the impact of her death upon her family, friends and co-workers; the future dangerousness of the defendant; his lack of remorse; other serious acts of violence allegedly committed by Christensen; the vulnerability of the victim due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English; and, the defendant's alleged attempt to obstruct the investigation by making false statements to investigators, destroying or concealing the victim's remains, and sanitizing the crime scene.

I wonder if these serious acts are sexual assault/rape that he described while being recorded, but they could not charge him with these crimes because they could find no forensic evidence to corroborate it.

Also, seems to indicate that they don't know if he was able to destroy her remains, or conceal them. I do hope they can find something of her. Her family deserves to be able to take her home.

 

[dm92]

This is coming a little sooner than anticipated, and.........

it's been over two weeks since the Wayne County remains were sent to Quantico.

wonder if there is a connection? Stay tuned.......

 

[Webthrush]

They're seeking the death penalty....

Feds to seek death penalty in Christensen case

SO glad they didn’t leave us hanging ’til Feb. on this decision! Probably means a much longer judicial process ahead, and pure agony for the family, but still feels like the right decision. Question for the legal eagles: with such a decision does this mean the time for plea bargaining is OVER, or does it just now begin?

 

[dm92]

Reading the PDF of the notice to seek death.

1) BC expressed desire to be known as a killer. Claims he had additional victims and is an expert at avoiding detection (dm92: Sure Brendt, but evidently NOT an expert at noticing where security cameras are located, and at realizing you have a really rare car that could easily be tracked down.....)

2) BC committed other serious acts of violence: In 2013, they claim he choked and sexually assaulted "M.D." in the central district of Illinois.

I really hope they found her remains.....

 

[dm92]

SO glad they didn’t leave us hanging ’til Feb. on this decision! Probably means a much longer judicial process ahead, and pure agony for the family, but still feels like the right decision. Question for the legal eagles: with such a decision does this mean the time for plea bargaining is OVER, or does it just now begin?

If they haven't found her body, i would think they might try to wrangle for a guilty plea with life in prison in return for the location of her remains........

Her family wants death, but they have expressed willingness to take a deal for the location of her remains.....

 

[Two for the road]

I really hope they found her and that's why they're seeking death.

 

[kittythehare]

They're seeking the death penalty....

Feds to seek death penalty in Christensen case

Here's another link https://patch.com/illinois/champaign/death-penalty-sought-missing-chinese-scholar-case

Good God. we were right.. see this
In a new revelation, the filing accuses Christensen of other serious acts of violence in the past, saying he "choked and sexually assaulted" someone in central Illinois in 2013. The filing adds that he "expressed (a) desire to be known as a killer."

 

[Calzone]

I wonder too whether his apparent sense of invincibility resulted from cocaine use? Cocaine does bestow this delusion.

Maybe it was some superhero power.

 

[kittythehare]

pdf http://www.news-gazette.com/sites/a...ice_of_Intent_to_Seek_a_Sentence_of_Death.pdf