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

[kittythehare]

Threats to tb no doubt. Remember mz is not in jail. She might have 'friends'

No, cos as 'JaneEyre stated, prosecutors would have been invited to meeting, tB state witness

 

[AnemoneBrown]

Visible endpoints? With blood ? Whose handprints ?

That's what I want to know. The news coverage doesn't specify. It would've had to be brought up during trial.

 

[kittythehare]

That's what I want to know. The new coverage doesn't specify. It would've had to be brought up during trial.

have you searched exhibits list for it?

 

[quiec]

Visible endpoints? With blood ? Whose handprints ?

I don't know why this was originally reported as blood/bloody handprint, because all the testimony in the case seemed to suggest that though there were many areas glowing under luminol, there was no way to say whether they were blood, and I believe it was highly suggested they more likely represented cleaning products having been used there. I don't believe any blood or dna was recovered anywhere on the wall, though it was on the tack strip below the area that the handprint appeared on. I had assumed that the print was BC's while he cleaned up the blood that was previously there. There were also outlines of the bottle of cleaner he used near there, if I recall correctly.

 

[kittythehare]

I don't know why this was originally reported as blood/bloody handprint, because all the testimony in the case seemed to suggest that though there were many areas glowing under luminol, there was no way to say whether they were blood, and I believe it was highly suggested they more likely represented cleaning products having been used there. I don't believe any blood or dna was recovered anywhere on the wall, though it was on the tack strip below the area that the handprint appeared on. I had assumed that the print was BC's while he cleaned up the blood that was previously there. There were also outlines of the bottle of cleaner he used near there, if I recall correctly.

correct. See photos in exhibits list of cleaning behind the bed, shows scrubbing patterns and where a hand rested.. possibly was trying to discern whether or not Christensen had help with clean-up.
Nothing suggested he had.

 

[kittythehare]

I just did a trawl for new reports.
I found none.
That's weird.

 

[kittythehare]

I'm trying to speculate on what both defense and prosecution will offer tomorrow. -
-I think there is probably enough evidence that he killed her.
=I doubt there's sufficient evidence to prove he did it in the way he said in vigil tape. I think the murder took place in the bedroom.
I just cannot believe this slob cleaned bathroom sufficiently of a decapitation, a stabbing and a batting not to have left at least a few vrumbs of bone fragments. There had been a shower curtain with all the rings and things in earlier photos in book of evidence. He didn't know the first thing about cleaning, cooking or washing. Apart from Michelle's testimony, it did sem clear from the texts to Bunny akaTB that he was in a panic regarding his life without Michelle.. he'd had 8 years of being indulged and he feared and resented the thought of having to show up at a job every day and earn his own keep. I doubt he cred much about Michelle leaving him for any other reasons, I doubt he was capable of any kind of emotional manifestation, it was simply not in his psyche.
-will defense present a 'storyline' of what actually happened? Fill in blanks?
I think they will lean heavily on his sob-story, tried so hard to get help for his drinking to save his failing marriage when the evidence shows the only reason he wanted to stop drinking was because he needed to lose weight, stud wanted to look better so he could pull more women.
Thoughts?

 

[Raptors001]

There was no mould, the building maintenance guy said in his statement.

If no blood, what did he clean ? I meant mold.

 

[Stratescoop]

Just a few thoughts on the search for YY. Some of my info is just MOO, some from news reports, some from court testimony, some from my knowledge of LE in Champaign County, some from my intinate knowledge of growing up and working on farms and having many farm friends in Champaign CO.

1. The FBI has only a few agents permanently assigned in the Champaign office. Their job in a missing person case is to liason with the much more numerous local LE agencies in the area for the search. The FBI did call in other agents from Springfield and Chicago but these agents were mostly tech experts and crime scene investigators.
2. From local news reports, from the 55 minute interview with BC around June 15, it was clear that LE was working extreme hours looking for YY. There were many tips reported that had to be followed up on, both the FBI agent and the UIPD officer said they (and I assume many others) were working till midnight on the search for those first 6 days.
3. The LE and citizen search efforts were not heavily reported by media and I don't know why. But the agencies involved included: FBI, UIPD, Urbana PD, Champaign PD, Champaign Sheriff Dept, Champaign County Search and Rescue with trained search dogs, LE dive teams, at least 600 U of I Chinese students, and unknown contributions from smaller PDs in Champaign CO. Many hundreds of hours of overtime were put in by these hundreds of LE officers searching for YY.
4. The remoteness of areas in Champaign CO has been quoted in this forum as "vast" to "most farmers know what goes on near their farms". Fom my experience as a high school student and U of I college student in the 80s, if we wanted to drive out to a remote cornfield using a dirt access road between or next to the field we could drive in 50 yards off the county road and be hidden by all cars passing by (if any, which weren't many, and sometimes none) and drink beer and play music all night if we wanted and nobody ever bothered us. We never left a mess so no one knew we were ever there.
5. There are literally thousands of remote turnouts in fields within 20-30 miles of CU in any direction: N,S,E,W. It wouldn't even take any "scouting" to locate a remote place like this, they are everywhere. And unlike this year with the wet fields, the corn crop was already fairly high in June 2017 as seen in the photo of YY out at a U of I field testing location.
6. It would only take approximately two hours max to drive from CU to one of the remote locations in the nearly completely unpopulated areas 20-30 miles from CU, bury a body Ted Bundy style, and be back home in CU. His vehicle had no GPS tracking system like OnStar, he left his disabled phone at home, disposed of YYs disabled phone and backpack no telling where unless he buried them too.
7. That would use around a quarter tank of gas which would leave another quarter tank to drive around campus looking for other victims prior to YY plus run errands to buy rum and cleaning supplies. You can pretty much drive every street in and around the U of I campus in a 30mpg Astra on a quarter tank of gas. The campus isn't that big area wise.

These are MOO based on my experience driving 75% of the country roads in Champaign County over the years. (I worked as a surveyor and in road construction in Champaign County for several years in addition to growing up in the country in the County).

 

[kittythehare]

If no blood, what did he clean ? I meant mold.

he cleaned the bedroom walls, his clothes, his sheets, the carpet,the furniture in the bedroom where there was blood.
he may have dragged her into bathroom at some stage to bag her, thus cadaver scent, from escaped body fluids, not blood
But that's all in the exhibit list

 

[kittythehare]

Just a few thoughts on the search for YY. Some of my info is just MOO, some from news reports, some from court testimony, some from my knowledge of LE in Champaign County, some from my intinate knowledge of growing up and working on farms and having many farm friends in Champaign CO.

1. The FBI has only a few agents permanently assigned in the Champaign office. Their job in a missing person case is to liason with the much more numerous local LE agencies in the area for the search. The FBI did call in other agents from Springfield and Chicago but these agents were mostly tech experts and crime scene investigators.
2. From local news reports, from the 55 minute interview with BC around June 15, it was clear that LE was working extreme hours looking for YY. There were many tips reported that had to be followed up on, both the FBI agent and the UIPD officer said they (and I assume many others) were working till midnight on the search for those first 6 days.
3. The LE and citizen search efforts were not heavily reported by media and I don't know why. But the agencies involved included: FBI, UIPD, Urbana PD, Champaign PD, Champaign Sheriff Dept, Champaign County Search and Rescue with trained search dogs, LE dive teams, at least 600 U of I Chinese students, and unknown contributions from smaller PDs in Champaign CO. Many hundreds of hours of overtime were put in by these hundreds of LE officers searching for YY.
4. The remoteness of areas in Champaign CO has been quoted in this forum as "vast" to "most farmers know what goes on near their farms". Fom my experience as a high school student and U of I college student in the 80s, if we wanted to drive out to a remote cornfield using a dirt access road between or next to the field we could drive in 50 yards off the county road and be hidden by all cars passing by (if any, which weren't many, and sometimes none) and drink beer and play music all night if we wanted and nobody ever bothered us. We never left a mess so no one knew we were ever there.
5. There are literally thousands of remote turnouts in fields within 20-30 miles of CU in any direction: N,S,E,W. It wouldn't even take any "scouting" to locate a remote place like this, they are everywhere. And unlike this year with the wet fields, the corn crop was already fairly high in June 2017 as seen in the photo of YY out at a U of I field testing location.
6. It would only take approximately two hours max to drive from CU to one of the remote locations in the nearly completely unpopulated areas 20-30 miles from CU, bury a body Ted Bundy style, and be back home in CU. His vehicle had no GPS tracking system like OnStar, he left his disabled phone at home, disposed of YYs disabled phone and backpack no telling where unless he buried them too.
7. That would use around a quarter tank of gas which would leave another quarter tank to drive around campus looking for other victims prior to YY plus run errands to buy rum and cleaning supplies. You can pretty much drive every street in and around the U of I campus in a 30mpg Astra on a quarter tank of gas. The campus isn't that big area wise.

These are MOO based on my experience driving 75% of the country roads in Champaign County over the years. (I worked as a surveyor and in road construction in Champaign County for several years in addition to growing up in the country in the County).

Were air searches conducted periodically or not?

 

[Stratescoop]

Were air searches conducted periodically or not?

No idea. But if you remember the satellite image I posted in the last thread, in the summer, even at an altitude of a couple thousand feet all you see is green.

When I flew into Champaign last month and looked across the landscape of Champaign County from 4-5000 ft on approach, with all the drainage ditches and small wooded areas, I just thought to myself "where the heck do you even start looking?" And this was at a time when none of the corn or soybean fields were planted. In the summer and fall when the fields are green from road to road, it's just mind boggljng how you could find remains or a grave out there.

 

[kittythehare]

No idea. But if you remember the satellite image I posted in the last thread, in the summer, even at an altitude of a couple thousand feet all you see is green.

When I flew into Champaign last month and looked across the landscape of Champaign County from 4-5000 ft on approach, with all the drainage ditches and small wooded areas, I just thought to myself "where the heck do you even start looking?" And this was at a time when none of the corn or soybean fields were planted. In the summer and fall when the fields are green from road to road, it's just mind boggljng how you could find remains or a grave out there.

The problem seems to be that there are no recorded movements of that car from very soon after he picked her up.
There is no way to know what he did.
Unless he confesses and the time for that was 2 yrs ago.
He never said he had destroyed her body, he said no-one will ever find her, possibly suggesting she was intact when he hid her.
Michelle left Thursday night.
It's quite possible he went stalking that night too.
No reported movements for Sunday either.
He planned on 'killing a person' according to superseding indictment.
He tortured her- blood evidence confirms that as does dNA evidence
He lied to FBI- confirmed and proved.
He definitely does fit the shoes of a serial killer in many respects.
If he were to keep her body, either intact or beheaded, is it not more likely he would have kept it close to his home, possibly to share with his new-found friends.
I'm disgusted no film footage or photographs were found. He had a declared interest in video-making on his fetlife profile.

 

[Webthrush]

<snip>....
Also I do wonder about the 'security matter' the judge felt impelled to discuss with Christensen's lawyers, without Christensen being present.
He announced it as court started on Friday.
WDH could that have been about???
'security concerns that have been brought to my attention' were exact words, far as I recall, was stupid-tired reading it, I posted it here immediately.
wHAT COULD THAT BE ABOUT???

My initial thought was that someone might be trying to feed outside information to a juror or a juror was seeking outside info... or some other sort of jury tampering -- a common grounds for mistrials. The word "security" is very vague (could be interpreted very narrowly or very broadly). I suspect another request for mistrial on Monday; maybe we'll find out then.
After Monday (or whenever verdict is reached) what's the timetable for the penalty phase and end of trial?

 

[AnemoneBrown]

As lay persons the prospect of finding a body, even in the city, feels overwhelming and daunting. Yes, where do you even start looking? My impression is that LE goes at this in a systematic and targeted way. Some serial killers select disposal areas that they are comfortable with or that holds some significance for them. Gacy and Dahmer mostly used their homes; the Green River killer got his name that way. Bundy traveled distances, so choosing one place with significance was impossible. However, the stationary killers choose a dump site; an area they've spent some time in and feel comfortable in. An area they can come back and revisit their handy work. BC was an aspiring and studied serial killer so I imagine LE would treat him as such.

Here is where the few close to him can be helpful. Are there rural areas around C-U in which BC spent time? Obviously, this technique is not infallible but I think LE would approach this in a structured way.

So yes, lay people like us should feel helpless trying to figure out where YYZ might be but LE with access to the FBI Study on Disposal methods (below) and current research on the topic would know these killers usually pick a place based on familiarity.

"Body disposal location/manner: The choice of a particular body disposal location may reflect the offender’s familiarity with the area . The manner of the body disposal can also reflect the nature of the relationship between the offender and the victim ."
https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/serialmurder-pathwaysforinvestigations.pdf

Spatial patterns of serial murder: an analysis of disposal site location choice
Spatial patterns of serial murder: an analysis of disposal site location choice. - PubMed - NCBI

Geographic profiling : target patterns of serial murderers

summit.sfu.ca/system/files/iritems1/6820/b17675819.pdf

I'm trying to speculate on what both defense and prosecution will offer tomorrow. -
-I think there is probably enough evidence that he killed her.
=I doubt there's sufficient evidence to prove he did it in the way he said in vigil tape. I think the murder took place in the bedroom.
I just cannot believe this slob cleaned bathroom sufficiently of a decapitation, a stabbing and a batting not to have left at least a few vrumbs of bone fragments. There had been a shower curtain with all the rings and things in earlier photos in book of evidence. He didn't know the first thing about cleaning, cooking or washing. Apart from Michelle's testimony, it did sem clear from the texts to Bunny akaTB that he was in a panic regarding his life without Michelle.. he'd had 8 years of being indulged and he feared and resented the thought of having to show up at a job every day and earn his own keep. I doubt he cred much about Michelle leaving him for any other reasons, I doubt he was capable of any kind of emotional manifestation, it was simply not in his psyche.
-will defense present a 'storyline' of what actually happened? Fill in blanks?
I think they will lean heavily on his sob-story, tried so hard to get help for his drinking to save his failing marriage when the evidence shows the only reason he wanted to stop drinking was because he needed to lose weight, stud wanted to look better so he could pull more women.
Thoughts?

No idea. But if you remember the satellite image I posted in the last thread, in the summer, even at an altitude of a couple thousand feet all you see is green.

When I flew into Champaign last month and looked across the landscape of Champaign County from 4-5000 ft on approach, with all the drainage ditches and small wooded areas, I just thought to myself "where the heck do you even start looking?" And this was at a time when none of the corn or soybean fields were planted. In the summer and fall when the fields are green from road to road, it's just mind boggljng how you could find remains or a grave out there.

 

[kittythehare]

My initial thought was that someone might be trying to feed outside information to a juror or a juror was seeking outside info... or some other sort of jury tampering -- a common grounds for mistrials. The word "security" is very vague (could be interpreted very narrowly or very broadly). I suspect another request for mistrial on Monday; maybe we'll find out then.
After Monday (or whenever verdict is reached) what's the timetable for the penalty phase and end of trial?

Juror be both prosecution and defense though..
Monday- closing statements , then jury sent out, not sure there's a gap before penalty phase commences.. injection could be quite a while away though, giving him plenty of time to destroy more people and wreck more heads.. Grrr

 

[tresir2012]

I’ve been trying to find that creepy video of BC when he was in high school....can’t find it anywhere...

I also want to know why Michelle filled up the car, why she gave BC the task of sharpening knives - weird and random, why she agreed to pay for a $50 6foot canvas bag to house a cat tree(?) for his new girlfriend, and why she was naked when detectives showed up after knowing BC was suspected in YY’s disappearance if their marriage was ending and she just got back from a weekend with her new boyfriend and she was sleeping on a “nosebleed” stain (was he even prone to them?) under that creepy black flag...so many many questions do I have about her

So was Michelle cross examined by the prosecution? Did they ask these questions? Could someone copy and paste a transcript of her testimony on here if possible? TIA.

 

[tresir2012]

bold added...
won't attempt answers for most of your questions, but for the first two I think there are innocent possibilities: if her car was near empty on Tues. I think she would fill it up on Wed. even if leaving town soon -- at least I know when my car gets below a certain point (of gas) I automatically fill it, even if I won't be using it the next few days.
My understanding of the knife-sharpening is simply that BC was lazy around the house and Michelle was trying to find tasks he was willing and good at doing (she said she was no good at it) -- I don't think it was necessarily related to the crime, just a typical married couple trying to divide up household chores.
One thing I'm just curious about is whether MZ heard of the Champaign crime while she was in Wisconsin, or did she only learn of it upon her return to Champaign on Sunday? (as I recall there wasn't a whole lot of national news coverage of it until Monday when the video of the Astra was released).

"A typical married couple trying to divide up chores"

Sorry, I must disagree not a typical married couple - no way at all.

 

[kittythehare]

All court reports have been posted on the thread.
Transcripts will be available on Pacer, for a fee after 90 days.
It may be possible to pay for a court transcript sooner by contacting clerk of the court.
Address is on the exhibits link.

 

[tresir2012]

I believe it was stated somewhere, maybe more than one place, that technically bc’s car was the camaro and he didn’t use the Astra as his regular car. She likely didn’t fill it up with the intention of him using it, but as was stated probably so she didn’t have to get it before work on Monday after she came back from her trip. She was well used to him being a freeloader and lazy most likely though, so probably it didn’t register much reaction for him to have used it. She was paying for his camaro gas too technically after all, and everything else his no-salary self purchased.

I have a suspicion that given what seems to be a codependent relationship, she may harbor some misplaced guilt in the way of if she hadn’t gone away that weekend or hadn’t wanted to see somebody else, YY wouldn’t be dead, and maybe the notion of 2 people being dead because of that choice via the death penalty of the second is more than and wants to hold for the rest of her life. Hope she gets herself some therapy.

Well, if it was me who had filled the tank and then came back after a week end away and noticed half a tank gone, I sure would have questioned my partner as to why, and where it had gone. Was she asked anything about that during cross examination?