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

[kittythehare]

tanya Koons
Sentencing resumes today. 4 character witnesses for B. Christensen so far. General push is to show value & worth for his life, painting him as a good student & athlete in his youth & as a TA @ the U of I making a downward spiral. #deathpenaltycase #YingyingZhang @willpublicmedia

 

[kittythehare]

this lady tweeting for Fox Lauren Kostiuk (@LaurenFoxIL) | Twitter
(just a repeat of Ben's tweets)

 

[tresir2012]

Is his scoutmaster testifying?

 

[Deleted member 158085]

I realised that was what you meant. I'm questioning his reasoning not yours. Yours is good, his isn't. I was asking if you think he's hanging on to the knowledge of where her remains are for power reasons, or what other reason?
Good at murder and hiding bodies, or good at keeping people there "just for him" ? He has managed to keep MZ loyal it seems.
MOO

This is what I suggested last week - that it’s his only bit of power left. Some of these guys like to keep LE visiting and trying to get the info out of them. They enjoy the attention and the “game” they feel they control.

 

[altojack]

Is his scoutmaster testifying?

No, but his old dinner lady will.

 

[altojack]

Totally O/T. Savannah Spurlock case. Human remains found at home of one of the men at the bar,

 

[tresir2012]

No, but his old dinner lady will.

LMAO

 

[tresir2012]

This is what I suggested last week - that it’s his only bit of power left. Some of these guys like to keep LE visiting and trying to get the info out of them. They enjoy the attention and the “game” they feel they control.

Yep like the sc*mbag in Wilbur too.

 

[kittythehare]

HRISTENSEN TRIAL: More professors and faculty members testified this morning. One spoke how Christensen lost a students final exam as a TA and continued to miss meetings. @foxillinois @wics_abc20 #Day4

 

[kittythehare]

In May 2016, Christensen left the PhD physics program after and decided to get his masters instead.

UI Physics Professor, Nayda Mason, hired Christensen to work in her lab for two years…said he was enthusiastic at first but his work ethic went down hill.

When she asked if everything was okay, he told her he was “depressed” and “wasn’t himself.” He told her he never felt like this before. He regained interest in the program, only to withdraw from her project a year later.




She also mentioned he was hard to read as a student saying it was “like he was wearing a mask.”


The defense also presented Christensen’s transcript as a PhD student to the jury. During his first year, he received A’s and B’s...but by Fall 2016/Spring 2017 he failed four classes, which a faculty member testified is rare for a doctoral student.

source
Lauren Kostiuk (@LaurenFoxIL) | Twitter

 

[kittythehare]

Ben
Elaine Schulte, the manager of the large intro physics classes at the time, testified about dealing with Christensen in the spring of 2017. (1/1

Said there was an incident where one of Christensen's student's exams went missing. Professor had to rewrite entire exam. Schulte emailed Christensen about it and he never responded. (2/13)

He also never responded to an email about him missing TA meetings. Not responding to multiple emails would be "highly unusual," Schulte said. (3/1

The head of the research group Christensen was in, Nadya Mason, said she went to the University of Illinois to work for the "world's best condensed matter physics" program. "I wanted to make sure that's on the record," she said. (4

Said Christensen joined her research group in the spring of 2014 after he reached out to her. "He seemed very enthusiastic." (5/13)

She said that fall he struggled and stopped coming to meetings, but recovered after she met with him one on one. "He assured me he wanted to be there," but said he had been depressed, though he thought things were improving (6

She said he started to struggle again in the spring of 2016. "It became clear it wasn't working out." (7

They met again. She told him grad school didn't seem to be working for him, and she said he agreed and was waiting for her to contact him. (8/

On cross, she said she didn't get to know Christensen like she did her other students, apparently previously telling prosecutors it was like he was wearing a mask. (9/13)

Lance Cooper, the assistant head of graduate physics programs, read from Christensen's application, where he said he "must continue my search for understanding." (10/1

Went over his grades: Fall 13: B+, A-, A Spring 14: B-, A Fall 14: individual study (Cooper said most students got As for this) Spring 15: A-, A- Fall 15: individual study Spring 16: individual study Fall 16: F, F, F Spring 17: B, D+, F, C+ (11/13)

In May 2016, he decided to get masters instead of PhD, but still had to fulfill some class requirements (tho didn't have to be physics) (12/13)

In the spring of 2017, he took classes on insects, dinosaurs and the sociology of deviance, and qualified for his masters in May 2017. (13/

(out of respect for YY, I stopped myself adding snarky comments to each of these tweets, but I'm just having a moment of rationality in that. I wont always be able to resist, sometimes I'm triggered hard, now I'm ready to die from this boring waste of everybody's time.
I cannot help but think how much better YY would have done had she received these opportunities rather than a mere research post. She was a star, he wasted everybody and everything)

 

[kittythehare]

more of the same, this time from Courtney who is filling in for Aaron Eades.

1. Vishveshwara also describes B.C. as “reserved” but “reliable”. She says he was an effective TA and “fared well” on evaluations filled out by students. @WCIA3
   
   0 replies0 retweets0 likes
   
2. 
   Courtney Bunting‏ @cbuntingWCIA3 11m11 minutes ago
   Vishveshwara talks about Brendt Christensen’s (B.C.’s) role as a Physics TA. She calls him “diligent”, says he “knew the material really well,” and adds that “many times he would be the go-to person” for help or information. @WCIA3
   
   0 replies0 retweets0 likes
   
3. 
   Courtney Bunting‏ @cbuntingWCIA3 13m13 minutes ago
   The first witness today was Smitha Vishveshwara. Vishveshwara is a University of Illinois faculty member in the Department of Physics.
   

 

[dm92]

(out of respect for YY, I stopped myself adding snarky comments to each of these tweets, but I'm just having a moment of rationality in that. I wont always be able to resist, sometimes I'm triggered hard, now I'm ready to die from this boring waste of everybody's time.
I cannot help but think how much better YY would have done had she received these opportunities rather than a mere research post. She was a star, he wasted everybody and everything)

The subject never came up during testimony, and I would have thought it would have when YY's professor was on the stand, so I am not sure now if it is true <modsnipped hearsay from social media> From what I remember her advisor testifying to, she had applied to the PhD program the year before and had "just missed" getting in. My guess is that she would have ended up getting a spot in her departmental PhD program eventually.

 

[kittythehare]

Courtney contd
Vishveshwara says it was “pretty shocking” to hear about B.C.’s arrest, adding that she “couldn’t have imagined some situation like this cropping up.” @WC

On to the second witness: Rita Menacho, who worked at UI as a physics graduate student. She explains that she was part of B.C.’s research group. She describes B.C. as “driven”. @WCI

However, Menacho says B.C. changed after a year. She says it seemed like he hit a “lull” and he was losing motivation. She says he would stop showing up to meetings and labs. @WC

Defense asks Menacho if B.C. irritated other lab mates. She says he would sometimes check lab equipment out and not use it. Menacho goes on to say this would leave other students waiting to use it because there were limited materials available. @W

Menacho says B.C. occasionally socialized. She says he sometimes went to game nights. On one of those nights, she said he drank so much he had to wait to sober up before going home. @

Menacho says B.C. eventually left their study group, but she says she didn’t know if he was asked to leave, only that he ended up not being part of it at some point. @WCIA3

Prosecution asks Menacho if B.C. ever showed empathy for the students who were irritated when he checked out equipment and didn’t use it. She said no, but clarified that she also never confronted him about it. @WCI

Menacho admits to once calling B.C. “lazy”. @WCIA3

Prosecution to Menacho: Was B.C. more of a buddy than a teacher? Menacho: That’s what I got from students.

Prosecution asks Menacho if B.C. made a sexual advance to someone at a game night. B.C.’s defense team objects to the question and both attorneys are called to approach the judge. The judge asks the prosecution to rephrase the question.

The prosecution agrees and instead asks if B.C. said to another student at the game night that he wanted to kiss her. Menacho says that’s what she was told.

Court is about to resume. I will tweet again when it lets out. @

 

[kittythehare]

The subject never came up during testimony, and I would have thought it would have when YY's professor was on the stand, so I am not sure now if it is true, <modsnipped> From what I remember her advisor testifying to, she had applied to the PhD program the year before and had "just missed" getting in. My guess is that she would have ended up getting a spot in her departmental PhD program eventually.

Assistant Professor Kaiyu Guan, whom Zhang worked for, testified about how she had applied for a PhD position and missed out but continued to seek opportunities.

"She showed great initiative," he said, adding that she was very hardworking, eager to learn and helped her colleagues.

Zhang went to the US to study photosynthesis and crop production at the university two months before she was reported missing. A professor and several of her classmates told police they were unable to contact her for hours, authorities said.
http (China Daily)


She graduated from “Beijing’s prestigious Peking University last year with a master’s degree in environmental engineering,” CNN reported.

“She was about six weeks into her appointment as a scholar in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences when she disappeared,” said University of Illinois spokeswoman Robin Kaler to the cable news network.


Yingying Zhang: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com


://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201906/14/WS5d027b66a3103dbf14328148.html

 

[kittythehare]

old article
Zhang was a devoted daughter. At the same time every Saturday, she'd call her parents in Nanping, China. As a graduate research student, she used her meager savings to buy her family a cellphone, an air conditioner and a microwave oven. She planned to become a university professor and help support her father, a factory worker, and mother, a homemaker.
'How do I spend the rest of my life without my daughter?'
the girl he killed.
the girl he was good at hiding after he was finished hacking her to bits.
Stick this under his nose and wallpaper his cell with those words.

 

[tresir2012]

Ben
Elaine Schulte, the manager of the large intro physics classes at the time, testified about dealing with Christensen in the spring of 2017. (1/1

Said there was an incident where one of Christensen's student's exams went missing. Professor had to rewrite entire exam. Schulte emailed Christensen about it and he never responded. (2/13)

He also never responded to an email about him missing TA meetings. Not responding to multiple emails would be "highly unusual," Schulte said. (3/1

The head of the research group Christensen was in, Nadya Mason, said she went to the University of Illinois to work for the "world's best condensed matter physics" program. "I wanted to make sure that's on the record," she said. (4

Said Christensen joined her research group in the spring of 2014 after he reached out to her. "He seemed very enthusiastic." (5/13)

She said that fall he struggled and stopped coming to meetings, but recovered after she met with him one on one. "He assured me he wanted to be there," but said he had been depressed, though he thought things were improving (6

She said he started to struggle again in the spring of 2016. "It became clear it wasn't working out." (7

They met again. She told him grad school didn't seem to be working for him, and she said he agreed and was waiting for her to contact him. (8/

On cross, she said she didn't get to know Christensen like she did her other students, apparently previously telling prosecutors it was like he was wearing a mask. (9/13)

Lance Cooper, the assistant head of graduate physics programs, read from Christensen's application, where he said he "must continue my search for understanding." (10/1

Went over his grades: Fall 13: B+, A-, A Spring 14: B-, A Fall 14: individual study (Cooper said most students got As for this) Spring 15: A-, A- Fall 15: individual study Spring 16: individual study Fall 16: F, F, F Spring 17: B, D+, F, C+ (11/13)

In May 2016, he decided to get masters instead of PhD, but still had to fulfill some class requirements (tho didn't have to be physics) (12/13)

In the spring of 2017, he took classes on insects, dinosaurs and the sociology of deviance, and qualified for his masters in May 2017. (13/

(out of respect for YY, I stopped myself adding snarky comments to each of these tweets, but I'm just having a moment of rationality in that. I wont always be able to resist, sometimes I'm triggered hard, now I'm ready to die from this boring waste of everybody's time.
I cannot help but think how much better YY would have done had she received these opportunities rather than a mere research post. She was a star, he wasted everybody and everything)

The sociology of deviance in Spring/May 2017 then he kidnapped and murdered Ying Ying in June 2017. He studied it then took it up? This is just one link I found on it.

How Sociology Explains Deviant Behavior

 

[tresir2012]

Juror’s Courtroom Exit Highlights Peculiarity of Brendt Christensen Trial

"Federal defense attorneys representing Christensen – who last month was convicted in the 2017 kidnapping and killing of 26-year-old Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang – on Wednesday claimed that “unprecedented” action was grounds for a mistrial.

Multiple jurors were crying in court Tuesday, the second day of sentencing, while listening to prerecorded testimony from Zhang’s mother speaking about how the loss of her daughter has affected her. While she tearfully lamented that Zhang would never get to wear a wedding dress or start her own family, a female juror – identified in the motion only as juror number 100384905 – suddenly stood and walked out of the courtroom.

After collecting herself, she was taken into the chambers of U.S. District Court Judge James Shadid, who said she gave “satisfactory answers” to his questions; she was allowed her to remain on the jury."

 

[kittythehare]

via Tanya
Attorneys are wrangling over whether a doctor who saw Christensen 01/16 - 02/17, will be allowed to testify & if so bound by what stipulations. It's a matter that the defense withdrew a mental health defense in pretrial motions. #YingyingZhang #Christensentrial @willpublicmedia

they're really pushing it.
why was he so afraid to undergo prosecution psyche examination?
His psych preliminary diagnosis was absolute nonsense, it made no sense and was not congruent with actual psychiatric conditions he listed.
The Zhang family are being forced to endure this nonsense day after day, hour after hour ... still hoping he will give them back their child.
This is an absolute farce.

 

[kittythehare]

Ben
UI psychiatrist will not be allowed to testify, and court is done for the day. (1/8)

"I don't like making that decision," Judge Shadid said, but he said it's the only one he can make. (2/8)

He repeatedly noted that Christensen's lawyers withdrew their mental health defense, and that the psychiatrist is a mental health expert. (3/8)

She saw Christensen 9 times from Jan. '16 to Feb. '17. The defense said she changed his prescriptions once because they weren't working. (4

she apparently diagnosed him with persistent depressive disorder. Defense was gonna ask if someone with that would be expected to still have it, which Judge Shadid earlier said wouldn't be allowed (5/8)

Also, His UW Madison physics professor, Matthew Herndon, testified about how good a student Christensen was. Christensen eventually worked for him (6/

He wrote a letter of recommendation to get Christensen in to UI physics program. Said he expected him to excel as a grad student. (7/

Asked on cross whether he knew anything about the decisions Christensen made after he left UW, Herndon said, "not until I saw him in the news." (8/8

LIVE: Christensen sentencing phase, Day 4