Where is the body of Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying? Killer Brendt Christensen offered to reveal location to avoid death penalty
- Victim’s family was wary of offer because ‘he had lied so many times in the past’
- Defence wants judge to bar statements in trial’s death-penalty phase that suggest Christensen refused to help locate Zhang’s remains
Lawyers for a former University of Illinois doctoral student who could face the death penalty for killing a visiting scholar from China said he offered after his arrest to plead guilty and divulge where her remains are in exchange for a life sentence.
The revelation came in a late Tuesday filing, a day after jurors convicted 29-year-old Brendt Christensen in the death of 26-year-old Zhang Yingying.
Prosecutors said Christenen abducted Zhang at a bus stop on June 9, 2017, then raped, tortured and killed her in his apartment in Urbana, 225km (140 miles) southwest of Chicago.
Christensen had offered to plead guilty and accept a life sentence in addition to telling authorities where the body is, his lawyers said. It was not clear whether prosecutors seriously considered the offer.
A statement from Zhang’s family, released by their Chicago-based lawyer, Zhidong Wang, said they were made aware of the offer at the time and told prosecutors they wanted “truthful” information from Christensen that would allow them to find the remains and take them home to China.
But they “were leery” of the offer because “he had lied so many times in the past”.
The defence filing did not say whether prosecutors seriously considered withdrawing the death penalty option.