Missing Chinese scholar’s family seeks to block change of venue for alleged kidnapper

Prosecutors and the family of missing Chinese visiting scholar Zhang Yingying have asked a judge to keep the trial for her alleged kidnapper and killer, Brendt Christensen, in Urbana, Illinois, the local newspaper News Gazette reported.

Defense lawyers requested a change in venue to Peoria in central Illinois, citing extensive media coverage, negative online comments and a poll showing 76.5 percent of respondents in the Urbana area were familiar with the case, compared with than 59 percent of respondents in the Peoria area.

"We strongly hope the venue of the case against her alleged killer remains in the federal court in Urbana," Zhang’s family wrote in a statement filed to the court by the prosecutors this week, the News Gazette reported. "This would be most convenient for us, provide us with the most emotional support, and keep us close to the place our daughter was last seen alive."

"While we understand that Peoria is a nice place, it would not be able to provide us with the support we have received in Urbana-Champaign," the family wrote.

Prosecutors also argued that a trial in Peoria would be inconvenient for witnesses, most of whom live in Urbana-Champaign area.

"This is likely to be a lengthy trial and forcing all of the witnesses to travel and wait to testify while far from home will cause inconvenience for all of them, and significant additional expense for the government," US Attorney John Childress wrote.

"Factually correct and non-inflammatory press reports, comments on social media, and a bought-and-paid-for survey do not overcome the constitutional command and public interest in" a jury trial "in the District and Division where the crimes were committed," Childress wrote.
Zhang went missing from Urbana on June 9, 2017. She was last seen then entering Christensen's car near a bus stop on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Police arrested the 28-year-old Christensen, a former UIUC doctoral student, charging him with kidnapping, torturing and killing Zhang.

Prosecutors filed responses his week to more than two dozen motions filed by the defense in August, according to the News Gazette.

Prosecutors said they fairly obtained statements from an informant at the Macon County Jail where Christensen was held in 2017.

Christensen allegedly told the informant "that he lured Ms. Zhang into his car by showing her a badge and telling her he was a police officer," prosecutors wrote, adding that the informant happened to be placed next to Christensen, built a relationship and came to law enforcement about the statements Christensen made.

The defense lawyers argued that the informant was acting under the direction of law enforcement authorities.

In the motions, prosecutors also asked for more time to respond to motions questioning the reliability of the government's body-sniffing dog and its blood and DNA experts.

Christensen had an open marriage with his wife, the News Gazette reported last week, and his wife has filed for divorce.

Prosecutors also filed motions defending the constitutionality of the federal death penalty, which Christensen faces if convicted. Illinois has abolished prisoner executions, but because the case is charged in federal court, the death penalty remains an option.

Contact the writer at ruinanzhang@chinadailyusa.com