Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #10 *Still Missing*

[kittythehare]

1. "He is not a serial killer," she said, refuting Christensen's claim of 13 victims. Said he's shown no signs of dangerousness in 2 years in jail (20/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
2. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 6m6 minutes ago
   While she said the crime is "his fault," "this is not a case that deserves the death penalty." (19/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
3. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 6m6 minutes ago
   She said he sought mental health treatment, but didn't get the help he needed (18/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
4. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 6m6 minutes ago
   But then he struggled at UI too, as the demands increased. (17/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread

 

[kittythehare]

She encouraged jurors to make a moral decision, to keep an open mind, and to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of release.

Ms. Zhang's boyfriend about to testify. (22/22 (BZ)

 

[kittythehare]

That has at least answered the question of disclosure of remains.
There will be no closure and no funeral in China...
I'm not surprised but how will her family feel going home without her?

 

[kittythehare]

this defense argument

When he was 15, she said he was home sick when her father found him running on the porch barefoot in January, then down the driveway into the side of a van. (14/22)

mitigating factor? To run on cold ground while feverish sounds sane not insane.. a normal response to abnormal bodily responses... a high temperature is a mitigating factor in a vicious savage slaughter of an innocent?
Sickening hogwash!

 

[kittythehare]

LIVE: Christensen sentencing phase, Day 1

corrected link
LIVE: Christensen sentencing phase, Day 1

 

[dm92]

That has at least answered the question of disclosure of remains.
There will be no closure and no funeral in China...
I'm not surprised but how will her family feel going home without her?

He referred to "hiding." It is still not exactly clear what he did. While my guess is that he managed to get her remains dispersed, and it will be likely impossible to recover her, there is still a chance that some of her could be found.

I hope they publish the transcript of this, so I can see exactly what Nelson says. It is so hard to get accurate information via tweet. I still don't know if when they refer to YY being stabbed, if they mean in the bedroom, in the bathroom, or both -because I haven't seen the transcript...

I will try to go watch some of the sentencing phase at the Urbana courthouse this week....

 

[trunkizback]

1. "He is not a serial killer," she said, refuting Christensen's claim of 13 victims. Said he's shown no signs of dangerousness in 2 years in jail (20/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
2. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 6m6 minutes ago
   While she said the crime is "his fault," "this is not a case that deserves the death penalty." (19/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
3. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 6m6 minutes ago
   She said he sought mental health treatment, but didn't get the help he needed (18/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
4. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 6m6 minutes ago
   But then he struggled at UI too, as the demands increased. (17/22)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread

Showed no dangerousness while in prison for 2 years???!!??
Know why? Because there are no 100# females there. I more n more wanna see the death penalty for this punk a$$ !!

 

[kittythehare]

He referred to "hiding." It is still not exactly clear what he did. While my guess is that he managed to get her remains dispersed, and it will be likely impossible to recover her, there is still a chance that some of her could be found.

I hope they publish the transcript of this, so I can see exactly what Nelson says. It is so hard to get accurate information via tweet. I still don't know if when they refer to YY being stabbed, if they mean in the bedroom, in the bathroom, or both -because I haven't seen the transcript...

I will try to go watch some of the sentencing phase at the Urbana courthouse this week....

you can purchase a transcript from the clerk of the court or you can wait for 90 days and purchase it from Pacer. Right now, all we got is tweets and precious few of those with little national interest.

 

[LadyL]

this defense argument

When he was 15, she said he was home sick when her father found him running on the porch barefoot in January, then down the driveway into the side of a van. (14/22)

mitigating factor? To run on cold ground while feverish sounds sane not insane.. a normal response to abnormal bodily responses... a high temperature is a mitigating factor in a vicious savage slaughter of an innocent?
Sickening hogwash!

doesn't sound sane at all to me
sounds like he was trying to escape demons in his brain

 

[kittythehare]

doesn't sound sane at all to me
sounds like he was trying to escape demons in his brain

ill at the time... feverish people sometimes do strange things

 

[kittythehare]

Keep an eye on exhibits list for updates.. apparently a clip of YY singing the song 'Complicated' by avril Levine has been heard by the jury.
(exhibit list can be updated at any time, sometimes happens immediately after court, sometimes takes days..

 

[altojack]

Why can't they make him tell what he did, where did he put her? There should be a law that enforces killers to tell where the body/remains were placed.

Other than the above, I still find that he and his team have played this case to their own tune and have been given into far too much.

 

[altojack]

kitty, thanks for your hard work today, this evening for some of us. You've done well considering tweets are few and far between.

 

[kittythehare]

Why can't they make him tell what he did, where did he put her? There should be a law that enforces killers to tell where the body/remains were placed.

Other than the above, I still find that he and his team have played this case to their own tune and have been given into far too much.

I agree.
2 years delays and dashed hopes for her broken family is insufferable.

 

[kittythehare]

Testimony is done for the day. We heard from 3 FBI language specialists who confirmed the validity of translated videotaped testimony given by a handful of Yingying Zhang's friends and roommates

We also heard from Zhang's fiance, Xiaolin Hou (who testified in person) and saw some of the videotaped interviews with Zhang's friends, who described her as a "free spirit" with a "sunny disposition."
Matt Masterson (@ByMattMasterson) | Twitter

 

[kittythehare]

1. “It’s like losing a sibling,” Zhang's college roommate Lisha Fang said, adding she cried for three days after learning of her friend’s death. “I want to do something for Yingying or her family, but I can’t really do anything.”
   
   0 replies0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
2. 
   Matt Masterson‏ @ByMattMasterson 7m7 minutes ago
   But at least one of Zhang's friends worried about her safety and tried to talk her out of moving to the U.S., saying she was "too kind" and "innocent"
   

 

[Webthrush]

Testimony is done for the day. We heard from 3 FBI language specialists who confirmed the validity of translated videotaped testimony given by a handful of Yingying Zhang's friends and roommates

We also heard from Zhang's fiance, Xiaolin Hou (who testified in person) and saw some of the videotaped interviews with Zhang's friends, who described her as a "free spirit" with a "sunny disposition."
Matt Masterson (@ByMattMasterson) | Twitter

Seems like a lot of ground covered (at least briefly) in just the first day... this is going to be a verrrry anguishing week or two ahead, even moreso than the guilt phase.
I'm still just a little confused about the possibility of BC testifying -- is that something that can come as a surprise at the very end, or does it have to be announced ahead of time if he wants to testify (...so Prosecution can plan any cross-examination)?

 

[altojack]

No sleep tonight for YYs loved ones.

 

[kittythehare]

‘She Was the Hope of Her Family’: Sentencing Underway in Yingying Zhang Murder Case

She was the first member of her family to go to college and volunteered as a teacher for underprivileged children. She sang in a band and hoped to one day become a professor so she could inspire others the way her teachers had inspired her. And she saved the little money she had to buy presents for her friends and family.

The prosecution on Monday presented pre-taped video testimony from a handful of Zhang’s friends and roommates who lived with her while she studied at Sun Yat-sen University and Peking University in China before moving to Illinois to continue her education in 2017.

“She was the hope of her family,” Nelson said during his opening statements. “Not only did the defendant deprive her family of Yingying’s presence, he made sure that wound would never heal.”

this again!!!
Defense attorney Julie Brain described in her opening statement the downward spiral Christensen faced leading up to Zhang’s killing. He dealt with alcoholism during his college years and was genetically predisposed to mental health issues due to his family’s history. Eventually, he began having homicidal and suicidal thoughts

 

[kittythehare]

1. Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 8m8 minutes ago
   Her college roommate, Ye Cai, said she was smiley, volunteer taught, called her parents weekly, called her mom "sister." "She was always smiling and very easygoing," Cai said, according to a translation. "She was a free spirit." (3/18)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
2. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 8m8 minutes ago
   "She's kind, she's brave, she's smart, she's active, she's optimistic," he described her. "She's the best girl I've ever met." (2/18)
   
   1 reply0 retweets0 likes
   
   Show this thread
3. 
   Ben Zigterman‏ @bzigterman 8m8 minutes ago
   This afternoon, Ms. Zhang's boyfriend, Xiaolin Hou, testified and jury heard four videos of interviews with her college friends from China (1/18)