Four days after the news broke, a post went viral on Chinese social media, If the Yingying Zhang case took place in China, with attention from the entire country, whats the probability that it would be solved within 48 hours?. April 27, 2022. New information is expected to be provided on the search for her body in a . Prosecutors indicated in court filings that Christensen may have destroyed the remains. Wenbing Luo, Jian Wang, Yingying Zhang: Software Quality Evaluation Model based on Multiple Linear Regression and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011, but Christensen was prosecuted under federal law. Very new to the country, Zhang still hadnt settled down properly when a devastating state of affairs snuffed out her wonderful life. However, the jury was divided over the decision for the death penalty, as a result of which Brendt was awarded life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2018. "An attorney whos been representing the family is evidently holding a news conference this afternoon in Urbana to discuss information the government provided the family following trial based on statements Christensen made to his attorneys late last year and prior to trial," a spokesperson for the attorney's office said in a statement. They have since divorced. Referenced Authors. 37. She wanted to make a difference in the world.. On Friday, June 9, Yingying left the office during lunch hour to sign a lease for a new apartment across town. How Christensen may cause harm, or be harmed, within prison walls did not appear to be of concern. The defense pointed to inconsistencies in her claims. University of Illinois PoliceYingying Zhang. She played in a band and had ambitions of becoming a professor in China. It has been shown that a low BCAA diet can lead to dramatic changes in metabolism, including an increase in energy expenditure, enhancement of ketogenesis, upregulation of Fgf21, and a decrease in body weight in mice (Newgard et al, 2009; Lotta et al, 2016; Cummings et al, 2018; Karusheva et al, 2019; Zhou et al, 2019; Richardson et al, 2021 . Do It Right 2021' . Zhangs friends, too, had no idea about her whereabouts, and they were worried about the visiting student getting into trouble in an unfamiliar place. Two days later, he put her personal belongings including her clothes, backpack, cell phone, and books into a duffel bag, and drove around the Champaign-Urbana area, throwing them in various dumpsters. Among the hundreds of exhibits used in the trial, theres a 90-second clip. The last public execution took place in Kentucky in 1936, when 20,000 people gathered to watch the hanging of a young Black man convicted of rape. Yingying Zhang was a visiting scholar from China at UIUC. Photos of Yingying Zhang on a tree on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, Ill. Photo: Stephen Haas/The News-Gazette via AP, This is the last entry in Yingyings journal. Highly Influential Citations 1. In addition to this, a memorial stone with Zhangs name was placed on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After a mistrial, Hernandez, 56, was convicted at a second trial in 2017. Yingying Zhang. Penculikan dan pembunuhan Yingying Zhang terjadi di Urbana, Illinois, Amerika Serikat pada tanggal 9 Juni 2017 ketika Zhang, seorang sarjana tamu di Universitas Illinois Urbana-Champaign, diculik oleh Brendt Allen Christensen, seorang warga kota Champaign dan alumni jurusan fisika di universitas yang sama. Yingying ZHANG | Cited by 11,350 | of Tsinghua University, Beijing (TH) | Read 163 publications | Contact Yingying ZHANG I also recommend this Washington Post article, which links to a partial transcript of the trial. Zhang's father, Ronggao Zhang, said if the information Christensen gave prosecutors is true "it further confirms that he is a heartless and evil person.". Christensen is not a social, charismatic person, and so is unlikely to recruit others to commit violent acts on his behalf. Five jurors agreed with this point. The judge confirmed that its the former. She told police that her husband was a psychopath and that she was 80% certain he had kidnapped and killed the Chinese scholar. A world safe and free means that no one is left behind. He was found guilty in the kidnaping, torture and murder of foreign student Zhang. U. of I. Tropical Geography 2023, Vol. conference about Yingying Zhang's body at Steve Beckett's . Im surprised, though perhaps I should not be, by how little awareness there is. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois, John Milhiser, as he spoke, Zhang's mother, Lifeng Ye, sobbed and the woman standing next to her appeared to be holding her upright. Investigation Discoverys See No Evil: Far from Home chronicles the disappearance and the horrifying ordeal Zhang had to endure before her untimely death. To lure female victims into his car, Christensen claimed to be a police officer. HER BODY HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. Of course Yingying's Charley Project casefile has the basics. Red with rage, the old man exclaims: If the U.S. does not address this case properly, well kill one or two American students in China.. Thus, Zhangs family continues to mourn Zhangs death without even the smallest comfort of being able to lay her body to rest. At 2:38 p.m,, the apartment manager sent Zhang a text message and received no response. Body Discovered Date Never Found. Claim Author Page. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Jul 2021; Xu Junhao; Yingying Zhang . . I was terrified that he might see me from the other side of the screen, that he would find out I had visited his profile and make me his next target. Court records that had been sealed during the trial of Brendt Christensen, who was convicted in her death, were just turned over to the I-Team. According to Beckett, a follow-up investigation determined the dumpster where Christensen placed Yingying Zhang's body was picked up three days after her murder, and the contents were taken to a private landfill near Danville, where they were compacted at least twice. At the sentencing phase of the Christensen trial, one of the aggravating factors the jury agreed with was Yingyings particular vulnerability due to her small stature and limited ability to communicate in English. Ten thousand years of civilization and were still relying on physical size for protection. ABC 20/20 brings into focus the kidnapping and murder of a Chinese scholar named Yingying Zhang who went missing on 9 June 2017. On most days, its barely noticeable; then suddenly, the sharp end declares its piercing presence. The judge has denied bail for Christensen. The case was dismissed. In my proximity to both the victim and the perpetrator, Ive felt, however presumptuously, a particular responsibility: to bear witness to the case as it unfolded, and to try to wring some sense out of this senseless tragedy. He could have been a colleague, a classmate, someone I encountered at a conference: a white guy who takes whiteness and manhood for granted, who uses nonchalance to mask his insecurity, who can act polite but will never see me as his equal. At the end of the verdict form, the jury added a mitigating factor: Mr. With over 6,000 Chinese students, accounting for 12 percent of its student body, UIUC is home to the largest Chinese community among U.S. universities. Superior Unidirectional Water Transport and Mechanically Stable 3D Orthogonal Woven Fabric for Human Body Moisture and Thermal Management. Zhang's body has never been found. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. There were also statements from Christensen's wife at the time of the investigation in the newly unsealed records. What happened to Yingying could never have happened in China, she insisted, echoing the talking points on state media that U.S. authorities were only paying attention to the case because China is strong. Zhang, circa 2017; Brendt Christensen. By this time, Zhangs family flew in from China and helped in the search. The attorney argued he had mental health issues and the case was essentially to set up the next phase of the trial, Christensens sentencing. All Rights Reserved. Can we find that guys mother? she asks. Yingying Zhang was born in 1990 in China and by the time she was 27, she had graduated with a Master Degree and had traveled to the United States to conduct research on photosynthesis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Many in the comment section praised the efficiency of Chinese police and the capabilities of the countrys Skynet surveillance system. With the defense already admitting that Brendt killed Zhang, the jury did not take long to find him guilty of the crime. Her phone was disabled moments later. Yingyings life was precious. Revisiting Yingyings story at this moment is not only relevant, but also necessary. MRS Proceedings 1753 . Alpha was very healthy and energetic otherwise. About. Determined to find a closure to the case, authorities decided to turn to CCTVs as a last-ditch effort to locate her. The defense was signaling to the jury that life in prison is already a very harsh sentence and sufficient punishment for this crime. WTTW-TVs Matt Masterson also reported on Wednesday that Christensen has not and will not file an appeal to his convictions. The fund had already amassed more than $30,000 by Wednesday morning. A grief stricken Lifeng Ye, second from right, the mother of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, is supported by a friend Lin Guiping and Yingying's brother Zhengyang Zhang, right . According to the University of Illinois police, Zhang, a graduate student from China, disappeared on June 9, 2017. By 9:24 p.m., an associate professor reported that Zhang was missing. Yingying ZHANG, Professor (Full) | Cited by 438 | of China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou | Read 47 publications | Contact Yingying ZHANG . Facebook reminds me that I have a memory from four years ago. Illinois has outlawed the death penalty, but the case was tried in federal court. Zhang was observed on video walking to an intersection and standing at a bus stop. However, a few precise details matched Brendts Saturn Astra to the one seen on CCTV. The spectacle at the scaffold routinely attracted larger crowds than any other public event. Yingying Zhang - update. Brendt claimed that he had dropped the girl off at a place that looked like a residential area, but could not pinpoint the exact location providing further cause for doubt. Murderer Brendt Allen Christensen. Less than 10 percent of murders and 20 percent of rapes are committed by strangers. The kidnapping and murder of Yingying Zhang occurred in Urbana, Illinois on June 9, 2017, when Zhang, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was abducted by Brendt Allen Christensen, a Champaign resident and former physics graduate student at the university. What does the cage accomplish? The jury was not told about his death wish. I find a clue in the jury notes. One of them, a law student, noted that the presumption of innocence is a first principle and a literally foundational American value.. 116313 (2021) [j53] view. ABC Murdered University of Illinois student Yingying Zhang in a family photo. The drive from the airport is the longest distance in the world. Given the size of the landfill, the amount of time that has passed, and the amount of additional garbage since dumped in the landfill, Beckett said any attempt to find the body would be very costly. We now understand that finding her may be impossible," he said. Lifeng Ye, mother of slain University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang, cries out in grief as her husband, Ronggao Zhang, left, addresses the media after a jury found Brendt Christensen guilty . She stands by the bus stop beneath a tree. Around 2 pm, a CCTV camera spotted Zhang in a bus stand located directly opposite the universitys very own radio and television station. Yingyings disappearance quickly made headlines on both sides of the Pacific. All rights reserved, WATCH: Procession Escorts Body of Fallen Chicago Officer From Hospital, Storm System Could Bring Rain, Snow, and Gusty Winds to Chicago Area Friday, Chicago Police Officer Shot and Killed on Southwest Side, Secret Service, Police Seen Investigating Business in Suburban Lisle. Western critics point to this as another example of the countrys abysmal human rights record, while Chinese officials and prominent academics claim that the legitimacy of capital punishment is ingrained in Chinese tradition and endorsed by its people. The prison, as Angela Davis and Gina Dent explained, is a border. Ms Zhang's parents and . Previous research data suggested that Anemoside A3 (A3), a monomeric component of Pulsatilla Chinensis, could prevent and treat TNBC by converting M0 macrophages into M1 immunogen phenotypes. As per Zhangs family lawyers statements, the contents of the dumpster were taken to Danville, where it was compacted twice. The I-Team has also learned that soon after Christensen's arrest, he wrote a letter saying he wanted to end his life. Eager to clear her boyfriends name, Bullis agreed to wear a wire for the FBI and accompany her boyfriend on a memorial walk for Zhang. Reactions: ShHolmz, altojack, MajorHoople and 8 others. Students grouped together to find her, while the FBI was brought on to help the local police department. We share the same feelings. The female entered his vehicle and attempted to show Christensen where she needed to go through her cell phone map app.. However, soon, through the lenses of CCTVs, the police learned that the answer might be a lot closer to home than people thought. I pursued physics, the same discipline as her killer. The basics investigation Discoverys See no Evil: Far from Home chronicles disappearance! Others to commit violent acts on his behalf the Chinese scholar named Yingying &... S body at Steve Beckett & # x27 ; s parents and time. 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