Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #8 *Arrest*

[Webthrush]

<snip>
...I keep wondering if, after all these defense motions are thrown out, the defense will try to go back to plea deal negotiations and work on offering a guilty plea and life in prison in exchange for her remains.

Yup, that’s my fear too; after wasting all this time the Defense will do what they could’ve done over a year ago (& saved people a lot of anguish).… we’ll get some horridly grisly answer to our questions and BC will get free, taxpayer-paid housing, food, and health-care for the rest of his life (at his age, potentially 50+ yrs.!), instead of what he deserves.

 

[Bavarian]

I’m not clear where you’re drawing the idea of him ‘cutting her up and flushing down the toilet’ from??? So far as I can tell all that’s been indicated is that blood was found in the plumbing, which more likely means the bathtub or bathroom sink plumbing. As a practical matter I can’t imagine how he could’ve chopped a body up in small enough pieces to flush entirely down a toilet, without creating a far greater mess (and noise) than he did.
Likewise, as a practical matter I don’t think he could’ve stored enough acid or other chemical on-hand to dissolve her body in the bathtub (though I do find mention of that form of disposal in “American Psycho” interesting). For now, I still believe, following a violent death in the apt. he took her body elsewhere.
By the way, if anyone recalls any other of his favorite books or movies, it would be interesting to know of.

I’m not clear where you’re drawing the idea of him ‘cutting her up and flushing down the toilet’ from??? So far as I can tell all that’s been indicated is that blood was found in the plumbing, which more likely means the bathtub or bathroom sink plumbing. As a practical matter I can’t imagine how he could’ve chopped a body up in small enough pieces to flush entirely down a toilet, without creating a far greater mess (and noise) than he did.
Likewise, as a practical matter I don’t think he could’ve stored enough acid or other chemical on-hand to dissolve her body in the bathtub (though I do find mention of that form of disposal in “American Psycho” interesting). For now, I still believe, following a violent death in the apt. he took her body elsewhere.
By the way, if anyone recalls any other of his favorite books or movies, it would be interesting to know of.

i am not sure of that was just attention grabbing by the narrator or if they have more i formation... but he did say, that evidence was washed down the drain and thet when christensen was done with her there was nothing left of yingying zhang. Thats what made it sound like that she was cut up and flushed down.

 

[kittythehare]

i am not sure of that was just attention grabbing by the narrator or if they have more i formation... but he did say, that evidence was washed down the drain and thet when christensen was done with her there was nothing left of yingying zhang. Thats what made it sound like that she was cut up and flushed down.

No, that is not what the article you referenced stated Bavaria. Nor is it suggested anywhere in the document here http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wls/documents/2019/020719-wls-iteam-christensen-blood-handprint.pdf
where the FBI were asked to justify their already well proven evidentiary tests.. From Pg 27 of above document
Here, the blood was not identified as a small stain on the bottom of a shoe; it was identified in significantly larger areas, including handprints, in the defendant’s apartment. Some of the samples have been positively identified as blood (through confirmatory testing) with the victim’s DNA located in those same samples. Moreover, unlike in Moody, the other evidence in the case, including the defendant’s own statements, establish the presence of the victim’s blood, making the presumptive test results tending to establish the location of the blood highly relevant.

There was never, in any report I read ever , a suggestion that nothing remained of her, it's just that she was never found.
And at this stage we have no idea how he dealt with her body post mortem or how he disposed of it.

We have a science graduate grasping at straws and citing inappropriate and inadequate testing in a desperate attempt to destroy what little evidence the fBI analysed and proved already.

YY is still a missing person.

I'm not finding proof absolute of death from that laboratory result, proof of presence in his apartment and proof her blood is there is what exists.

Whereas it is possible he dismembered her body post mortem, it is unlikely and improbable that he did it in order to flush it down a toilet.
The defence must be costing the state a considerable amount of money.

 

[Bavarian]

No, that is not what the article you referenced stated Bavaria. Nor is it suggested anywhere in the document here http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wls/documents/2019/020719-wls-iteam-christensen-blood-handprint.pdf
where the FBI were asked to justify their already well proven evidentiary tests.. From Pg 27 of above document
Here, the blood was not identified as a small stain on the bottom of a shoe; it was identified in significantly larger areas, including handprints, in the defendant’s apartment. Some of the samples have been positively identified as blood (through confirmatory testing) with the victim’s DNA located in those same samples. Moreover, unlike in Moody, the other evidence in the case, including the defendant’s own statements, establish the presence of the victim’s blood, making the presumptive test results tending to establish the location of the blood highly relevant.

There was never, in any report I read ever , a suggestion that nothing remained of her, it's just that she was never found.
And at this stage we have no idea how he dealt with her body post mortem or how he disposed of it.

We have a science graduate grasping at straws and citing inappropriate and inadequate testing in a desperate attempt to destroy what little evidence the fBI analysed and proved already.

YY is still a missing person.

I'm not finding proof absolute of death from that laboratory result, proof of presence in his apartment and proof her blood is there is what exists.

Whereas it is possible he dismembered her body post mortem, it is unlikely and improbable that he did it in order to flush it down a toilet.
The defence must be costing the state a considerable amount of money.

i was refering to the abc news video in this link.
Feds reveal gory scene in apartment of accused Chinese scholar killer

at 0.35 seconds he says and i quote "when it was over there was nothing left of yingying zhang" a little later at 0.43 seconds he said evidence was washed down the drain....

 

[kittythehare]

i was refering to the abc news video in this link.
Feds reveal gory scene in apartment of accused Chinese scholar killer

at 0.35 seconds he says and i quote "when it was over there was nothing left of yingying zhang" a little later at 0.43 seconds he said evidence was washed down the drain....

video not available

 

[Hatfield]

i was refering to the abc news video in this link.
Feds reveal gory scene in apartment of accused Chinese scholar killer

at 0.35 seconds he says and i quote "when it was over there was nothing left of yingying zhang" a little later at 0.43 seconds he said evidence was washed down the drain....

JMO
From that article it seems obvious to me he killed her in his own apartment.

"The dog detected that a dead body had been near the bathroom sink, prosecutors say."

Its scary to think what he did with her while she was there.

I tend to think he at some point removed most of her body. There were reports early in this case about someone saw him with a duffle bag in the parking lot if I remember that right.
I suppose he could have removed her in a duffle bag or something like that.

 

[kittythehare]

UPDATE: 'If we kick it to October, then we do what? Watch Netflix?'

Julie Brain, the defense attorney handling the mental-health aspect of his case, said Monday that she "struggled mightily" to find a psychiatrist who was experienced, qualified and willing to work on the case.

She said academics and researchers "wouldn't touch this case with a 10-foot pole."

It wasn't until three months ago that a psychiatrist was retained, the defense pointed out.

Then, on Nov. 3, 2018, Brain said, that psychiatrist told an April trial was too soon to be properly prepared for. She apparently told the psychiatrist that an April trial date wouldn't happen.

"I was intending to say I understood," Brain said, not that she didn't think the psychiatrist should prepare for an April trial.

'Bailing you out'
Shadid asked why he wasn't notified about this exchange earlier and said he never gave any indication the trial would be delayed.

"The only thing at issue now is me bailing you out," he said.

Without even hearing the prosecutors' opposition to a delay, he denied the motion, but said he was open to reasonable proposals.

With jury selection set to begin on April 1, followed by the guilt phase, the penalty phase isn't expected to start until May.


Shadid also expressed frustration over the delay for a request because most of the other pretrial motions have been taken care of.

"If we kick it to October, then we do what?" Shadid asked. "Watch Netflix?"

The remainder of this article discusses the dog, interesting reading.

 

[JaneEyre]

UPDATE: 'If we kick it to October, then we do what? Watch Netflix?'

Julie Brain, the defense attorney handling the mental-health aspect of his case, said Monday that she "struggled mightily" to find a psychiatrist who was experienced, qualified and willing to work on the case.

She said academics and researchers "wouldn't touch this case with a 10-foot pole."

It wasn't until three months ago that a psychiatrist was retained, the defense pointed out.

Then, on Nov. 3, 2018, Brain said, that psychiatrist told an April trial was too soon to be properly prepared for. She apparently told the psychiatrist that an April trial date wouldn't happen.

"I was intending to say I understood," Brain said, not that she didn't think the psychiatrist should prepare for an April trial.

'Bailing you out'
Shadid asked why he wasn't notified about this exchange earlier and said he never gave any indication the trial would be delayed.

"The only thing at issue now is me bailing you out," he said.

Without even hearing the prosecutors' opposition to a delay, he denied the motion, but said he was open to reasonable proposals.

With jury selection set to begin on April 1, followed by the guilt phase, the penalty phase isn't expected to start until May.


Shadid also expressed frustration over the delay for a request because most of the other pretrial motions have been taken care of.

"If we kick it to October, then we do what?" Shadid asked. "Watch Netflix?"

The remainder of this article discusses the dog, interesting reading.

Of course. He wouldn’t be the first to fool a psychiatrist, and everyone knows he’s an intelligent guy. Who would want to take the chance of being manipulated by this psychopath and have that on your conscience?

 

[kittythehare]

Of course. He wouldn’t be the first to fool a psychiatrist, and everyone knows he’s an intelligent guy. Who would want to take the chance of being manipulated by this psychopath and have that on your conscience?

True. And DP cases go on for years, appeal after appeal after appeal... what's the rush?

It's ludicrous- for the murder- 'I'm sane and innocent
'When you find me guilty, I have a psychiatric condition that will probably stop your punishment anyway.'
He may well be perceiving this as a win/win for himself,
Trouble is that immeasurable state resources are being put into maintaining this delusion.

I just have a gut feeling that he is enjoying all these maneuvers and possibly feels he is masterminding them too.
In which case, we are all his victims.

 

[altojack]

After reading the last few posts I accept I acted hastily. I should have read through Bavarians post again and listened a few times to the video. I'm not usually a person to accept at first hearing what is said, but I'm allowed to be wrong sometimes lol.

I've got hold of a book to read! £2 from eBay and free postage. Trouble is even wearing my glasses it's going to take some reading, the print is so small.

From unthread, I agree he could be playing games with the defence team. He wouldn't be the first killer to act out being locco. Stalling for more time, costing more money. A waster.

 

[dm92]

i was refering to the abc news video in this link.
Feds reveal gory scene in apartment of accused Chinese scholar killer

at 0.35 seconds he says and i quote "when it was over there was nothing left of yingying zhang" a little later at 0.43 seconds he said evidence was washed down the drain....

I think the "washed down the drain" thing comes from a positive luminol stain on (or in) the bathroom sink trap. The filings citing the luminol indication for the possible presence of blood in the bathroom isn't clear if it was on the outside of the pipes of the trap, or actually inside the trap pipe. Certainly, one would expect him to wash his bloody hands in the sink, or to get into the cabinet to pull out some sort of cleaner -and to wash any blood on things he used down the sink as well.

None of the court filings mention anything directly about things being washed down the drain -only reference to a drain is mentioning possible presence of blood on the sink trap.

 

[dm92]

i was refering to the abc news video in this link.
Feds reveal gory scene in apartment of accused Chinese scholar killer

at 0.35 seconds he says and i quote "when it was over there was nothing left of yingying zhang" a little later at 0.43 seconds he said evidence was washed down the drain....

It's difficult to say where he's getting all that about stuff being mopped up and washed down the drain, and "nothing left" of her. Nothing like that is revealed in the filings. Some more information may have been disclosed during oral arguments at the hearing, and that may be where "mopped up and washed down the drain" came from -they could have actually mentioned in oral arguments what evidence they have of his extensive cleaning. but the "nothing left" part is puzzling. That "nothing left" may just be him alluding to the fact that she is still missing and her remains have never been found.

The Feds clearly don't think there is "nothing left." They are *still* looking for her body, and the main reason they are monitoring all of BC's communications in jail is to listen for any indication as to where her remains are...

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilcd.70076/gov.uscourts.ilcd.70076.142.0.pdf

Page 1:
A federal grand jury charged the defendant, Brendt A. Christensen, with kidnapping Yingying Zhang and further alleged that he intentionally killed her in an especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner after substantial planning and premeditation. (R.26) The defendant has not revealed the location of Ms. Zhang’s remains to law enforcement. On July 5, 201 7,...........

Page 2:
The recordings of those phone calls have been received by the United States and immediately turned over to the defendant. (In fact, defense counsel was given direct access to those phone calls and has been aware of those phone calls since early in the prosecution.) As would be expected, the United States has reviewed those phone calls for evidence, including any indication as to the location of Ms. Zhang’s remains. The defendant now requests that this Court suppress those jail communications, and any “fruits” thereof,..........

Page 8-9:
It is a common practice for federal and state investigators to review recorded jail calls to obtain evidence that can be used in a criminal prosecution. More importantly, in this case, the public, in general, and the victim’s family, in particular, have a compelling interest in locating Ms. Zhang’s remains, and they still do. It would be a gross oversight of law enforcement to not pursue every legal means available to locate Ms. Zhang’s remains, including by listening to lawfully recorded jail calls. Thus, to imply the sole purpose of reviewing the calls was to put the defendant to death is a grossly unfair exaggeration, particularly to the particular prosecutor whose internal e-mail work-product was referenced.


It is entirely possible he found a way to destroy her body, or was able to dismember her and disperse her remains in a way that would make them difficult to find. This may, in fact, be why there has been no plea deal yet. Her parents want the death penalty, but they are willing to trade life in prison for her remains. He may not have made a deal because he knows he *can't* make a deal; either there is nothing left of her, or her remains were scattered and now even he doesn't have any idea where they would be.

Even so, it is very hard to imagine he could have completely destroyed her remains in the apartment and cleaned everything up within two days of his wife returning, and even harder to imagine he could have chopped her up and flushed her down the toilet. At the risk of sounding too graphic, I'll just say that it would be highly unlikely he could butcher her into small enough pieces to flush down the toilet without risk of it backing up.

 

[kittythehare]

thanks for doing all that work dM, it's important. I was not able to access that video referenced in Bavaria's second post, it was not linked in the first post .I searched and searched and thinking it may be because of EU restrictions, I was able to access all other vids on that channel , no prob.
Last thing anybody needs at this stage is an unfounded rumor doing the rounds.

However we do need the court transcripts. There are some good people agitating for changes in Pacer right nw, it is slightly possible that changes are imminent, just to keep an eye on it...

and, yes, the fBI are supposedly still searching for her body. Recent cell searches and interviews with other inmates is proof of that.

 

[Webthrush]

It's difficult to say where he's getting all that about stuff being mopped up and washed down the drain, and "nothing left" of her. Nothing like that is revealed in the filings. Some more information may have been disclosed during oral arguments at the hearing, and that may be where "mopped up and washed down the drain" came from -they could have actually mentioned in oral arguments what evidence they have of his extensive cleaning. but the "nothing left" part is puzzling. That "nothing left" may just be him alluding to the fact that she is still missing and her remains have never been found.

The Feds clearly don't think there is "nothing left." They are *still* looking for her body, and the main reason they are monitoring all of BC's communications in jail is to listen for any indication as to where her remains are...

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilcd.70076/gov.uscourts.ilcd.70076.142.0.pdf

Page 1:
A federal grand jury charged the defendant, Brendt A. Christensen, with kidnapping Yingying Zhang and further alleged that he intentionally killed her in an especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner after substantial planning and premeditation. (R.26) The defendant has not revealed the location of Ms. Zhang’s remains to law enforcement. On July 5, 201 7,...........

Page 2:
The recordings of those phone calls have been received by the United States and immediately turned over to the defendant. (In fact, defense counsel was given direct access to those phone calls and has been aware of those phone calls since early in the prosecution.) As would be expected, the United States has reviewed those phone calls for evidence, including any indication as to the location of Ms. Zhang’s remains. The defendant now requests that this Court suppress those jail communications, and any “fruits” thereof,..........

Page 8-9:
It is a common practice for federal and state investigators to review recorded jail calls to obtain evidence that can be used in a criminal prosecution. More importantly, in this case, the public, in general, and the victim’s family, in particular, have a compelling interest in locating Ms. Zhang’s remains, and they still do. It would be a gross oversight of law enforcement to not pursue every legal means available to locate Ms. Zhang’s remains, including by listening to lawfully recorded jail calls. Thus, to imply the sole purpose of reviewing the calls was to put the defendant to death is a grossly unfair exaggeration, particularly to the particular prosecutor whose internal e-mail work-product was referenced.
It is entirely possible he found a way to destroy her body, or was able to dismember her and disperse her remains in a way that would make them difficult to find. This may, in fact, be why there has been no plea deal yet. Her parents want the death penalty, but they are willing to trade life in prison for her remains. He may not have made a deal because he knows he *can't* make a deal; either there is nothing left of her, or her remains were scattered and now even he doesn't have any idea where they would be.

Even so, it is very hard to imagine he could have completely destroyed her remains in the apartment and cleaned everything up within two days of his wife returning, and even harder to imagine he could have chopped her up and flushed her down the toilet. At the risk of sounding too graphic, I'll just say that it would be highly unlikely he could butcher her into small enough pieces to flush down the toilet without risk of it backing up.

I agree the casual “nothing left” part of the newsman’s comments was probably just a poorly-worded way of saying no remains were left in the apt. to be found. I suspect police are still looking for skeletal pieces/bone fragments, teeth, and the like elsewhere (but not a body), and also for any of her belongings (I’m a bit surprised none of that has turned up).

Like Kitty I suspect somewhere in his book, movie, or online entertainment interests (or the fetish site or anime sites) there is a clue to what he did with the body, but there’s just too much stuff to work through. I think all his actions were fed by junk he put into his mind and created his own warped/delusional reality. (JMO)

 

[kittythehare]

The Role of Hypermasculinity in Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho

This is a well-written thesis on hypermasculinity and American Psycho.
I'm still reading it but having to remind myself that Brendt was the dominant one in his relationships.
He liked his woman (TEB) to be the submissive.
The ultimate dominance is the power of life and death .

 

[Niner]

Brendt Christensen defense team's motion to exclude cadaver dog evidence denied

Sat, 02/16/2019 - 7:00am | Ben Zigterman

PEORIA — U.S. District Judge James Shadid ruled Friday that prosecutors can present evidence about a cadaver-sniffing dog at the trial of accused kidnapper and killer Brendt Christensen.

His attorneys tried to exclude the testimony, arguing at a hearing Monday that the dog wasn't properly trained and its alert was unreliable.
[.....]
Shadid ruled against them, concluding that he found Sage and Bruketta reliable.

"Although Defendant has raised legitimate concerns about the practice of training a dog to detect multiple odors, the possibility of false alerts, and the frequency with which Sage was trained on human remains detection, dogs do not need to follow ideal best practices to be considered reliable," Shadid wrote.

This was Motion #119

 

[dm92]

Brendt Christensen defense team's motion to exclude cadaver dog evidence denied

Sat, 02/16/2019 - 7:00am | Ben Zigterman

PEORIA — U.S. District Judge James Shadid ruled Friday that prosecutors can present evidence about a cadaver-sniffing dog at the trial of accused kidnapper and killer Brendt Christensen.

His attorneys tried to exclude the testimony, arguing at a hearing Monday that the dog wasn't properly trained and its alert was unreliable.
[.....]
Shadid ruled against them, concluding that he found Sage and Bruketta reliable.

"Although Defendant has raised legitimate concerns about the practice of training a dog to detect multiple odors, the possibility of false alerts, and the frequency with which Sage was trained on human remains detection, dogs do not need to follow ideal best practices to be considered reliable," Shadid wrote.

This was Motion #119

He also issued another ruling denying yet another of their motions to find the death penalty unconstitutional.

I don't think there are many motions left. I don't recall any action on the motion to exclude statements from the jailhouse informant, but the defense may have withdrawn that. I can't remember....

 

[kittythehare]

Brendt Christensen defense team's motion to exclude cadaver dog evidence denied

Sat, 02/16/2019 - 7:00am | Ben Zigterman

PEORIA — U.S. District Judge James Shadid ruled Friday that prosecutors can present evidence about a cadaver-sniffing dog at the trial of accused kidnapper and killer Brendt Christensen.

His attorneys tried to exclude the testimony, arguing at a hearing Monday that the dog wasn't properly trained and its alert was unreliable.
[.....]
Shadid ruled against them, concluding that he found Sage and Bruketta reliable.

"Although Defendant has raised legitimate concerns about the practice of training a dog to detect multiple odors, the possibility of false alerts, and the frequency with which Sage was trained on human remains detection, dogs do not need to follow ideal best practices to be considered reliable," Shadid wrote.

This was Motion #119

Sweet.
Also that dog was trained in underwater detection, not all dogs can do that particular training.. so she must be pretty good.
and quite some time had passed since YY's demise.
Is it proof absolute of YY's death? I'm not sure 'cos for all we know he could have killed many people, male and female, people that nobody ever missed.
I kinda like that it was an animal that betrayed him, him who had no respect for innocence or beauty get's bitten in the bum when he least expected it.
But no time for triumphalism either, she's still missing. Along with a blue holdall(michelle's statement) and a copy of American Psycho.

we still have some time to find her.

I went looking for disposal methods again, last night, found 2 that were considered effective, one was a wood chopper thing and the other was feeding to pigs. Both were said to be methods that left no trace.

Where is nearest pig farm? Is it within a half tank of petrol distance away?

Other question on back of my mind is whether he kept trophies or some kinds of records of his deeds, including video?

Again, he was broke, unlike his hero in AP...
cadaver =+
dNA=+
Blood=+

Transcript of Michelle's first interview should tell a lot.


Oh God, there's loads of pig farms, all probably within a half tank of petrol, here's the link with a map
https://www.google.com/search?q=whe...5;tbs:lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2

 

[Chambana]

Pig farms are numerous and scattered all throughout rural Champaign. In fact, quite a few pig farms on the very edge of the U of I campus. Two thing that bother me about transporting her body, it seems very very likely her death was violent with lots of blood, how did he get her out of his apartment, down a hallway, into his car and leaving absolutely no trace amounts of blood?? Did they luminol his car? Did a cadaver dog ever sniff his Saturn astra???

 

[kittythehare]

Pig farms are numerous and scattered all throughout rural Champaign. In fact, quite a few pig farms on the very edge of the U of I campus. Two thing that bother me about transporting her body, it seems very very likely her death was violent with lots of blood, how did he get her out of his apartment, down a hallway, into his car and leaving absolutely no trace amounts of blood?? Did they luminol his car? Did a cadaver dog ever sniff his Saturn astra???

Well, like, there's plastic. It's usually used for things like this.
who knows?
Perhaps he drained all her body fluids prior to moving her? Perhaps she was dismembered.

I don't recall which tests the did on his car, but they took it away for testing, ok.
Recall the initial inspection of his car? One side was visibly cleaner than the other.

bTW, the pig farm is merely a theory froma not too scientific book about ways of disposing of dead bodies post mortem. It was a toss-up between feeding it to pigs who would be certain to devour it or putting it through a wood chopper thing which was guaranteed to chop even bones to nothingness... It's possibly wholly inaccurate. We're just killing time as best we can, me with inane theories, I'm just hoping against hope that the pig theory is a myth, I really really am.t is pure speculation and nothing else.