3rd Ld Writethru: Christensen ruled guilty of kidnapping, killing Chinese visiting scholar

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PEORIA, the United States, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Brendt Christensen, a former doctoral student of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was ruled guilty on Monday of kidnapping and killing a visiting scholar from China in 2017.

A 12-member jury at a federal court of Peoria in the U.S. state of Illinois unanimously ruled that Christensen was guilty of all three counts of charge against him, namely, kidnapping resulting in the death of Zhang Yingying in 2017; and two counts of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

It took less than two hours for the jury to make the decision after the prosecutor and the defense finished their closing statements on Monday morning.

When Judge James Shadid read the verdict handed to him by the jury, Christensen looked straight ahead and emotionless.

In his 70-minute closing statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller stressed the preparedness of Christensen in committing the crime, and the readiness in making false statements to the investigators.

Since the prosecutor and the defense made opening statements on June 12, a total of 35 witnesses have testified in court in eight days -- 32 from the prosecutor and three from the defense. The evidences provided by the witnesses have painted the whole process of how Zhang was murdered, according to Wang Zhidong, legal advisor to Zhang's family.

"It is not easy. The prosecutors have done a perfect job that is comparable to textbooks," he said in an interview with Xinhua.

The defense has its consideration when admitting at the begining of the trial that Christensen kidnapped and killed Zhang, Wang said. "They are paving way for penalty sentence in the next step."

In a following press conference outside the courtroom, Zhang Ronggao, father of Zhang Yingying, told Xinhua he was satisfied with the verdict. "I thank the jury for this step towards justice."

He also expressed thanks to the prosecutor, the University of Iowa Police, the FBI and all people who helped with the investigation and trial of the case.

Zhang's father further hoped justice will be done in the upcoming penalty sentence, which is scheduled for July 8 when the same jury will decide whether Christensen deserves the death penalty.

"We have missed Yingying tremendously in the past two years," he said solemnly. "There is no word that can describe our pain and suffering."

Standing beside Zhang's father, Zhang's mother broke into tears.

"This has been a difficult process for Yingying's family," said Wang, in a statement on behalf of the family. "The jury's guilty verdict in this case is a step toward justice for Yingying."

Zhang Yingying, a 26-year-old Chinese scholar, went missing on June 9, 2017, after getting into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks away from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease.

Christensen was arrested on June 30, 2017, after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor.

However, he pleaded not guilty. Enditem

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