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Associated Press

A bloody handprint and the responses of a cadaver-sniffing dog are being used by US prosecutors to build a case that Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying was killed in the flat of former University of Illinois student Brendt Christensen.
Federal prosecutors revealed evidence in a recent series of filings that they say will help prove Christensen kidnapped and killed Zhang in Urbana, Illinois, in 2017.

His trial begins April 1. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
In a filing Wednesday, prosecutors disclosed that the handprint was found in Christensen’s flat, though it’s unclear if they believe it’s Christensen’s or Zhang’s.
Trial date set in kidnap-murder case of missing Chinese student Yingying Zhang
Christensen’s lawyers want the judge to bar much of the forensic evidence.
Prosecutors previously said Christensen tortured 26-year-old Zhang before killing her. Her body has never been found.
Zhang disappeared June 9, 2017, on her way to sign a lease for an off-campus apartment in Urbana, 140 miles (225km) southwest of Chicago. She had just missed a bus when Christensen, then 27, lured her into his car, prosecutors say. Her disappearance prompted a massive search.

Christensen was arrested three weeks later.
Suspect in kidnap and killing of Zhang Yingying may blame his mother’s pregnancy diet
Prosecutors say a cadaver-sniffing dog detected traces of a dead body in the bathroom near the door and sink of Christensen’s flat. Other evidence includes the possible presence of blood on a bedroom wall and floor.
Christensen’s lawyers have asked the judge to bar much of that evidence, saying Sage, the sheriff’s department’s cadaver-sniffing dog, is unreliable because of inadequate training.
Defence lawyers also said initial indications of blood in some locations couldn’t be confirmed in subsequent tests. They argued some forensics techniques employed by investigators are error-prone and others simply signaled blood was present in the apartment, but couldn’t show definitively that the blood was Zhang’s.
In a response, prosecutors said the defence might have had a point if investigators had relied solely on such tests. But they said the traces of blood corroborated other evidence pointing to Christensen as the killer, including secret recordings of Christensen explaining how he forced Zhang into his apartment.
Zhang, who received her master’s degree in environmental engineering in China in 2016, had hoped to eventually land a professorship and help her family in China out financially. Her father, a truck driver, travelled from China to Illinois in 2017 to help look for his daughter.



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Crime

Evidence against suspected killer of Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying includes bloody handprint and cadaver dog’s reaction in Illinois flat

FILE - This photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen. Prosecutors are building a case based partly on a bloody handprint and responses of a cadaver-sniffing dog that Christensen, a former University of Illinois student, killed a Chinese scholar in his apartment near campus. Prosecutors revealed more of their evidence in a series of public filings, on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, saying it will help prove to jurors that Christensen kidnapped, tortured and killed Yingying Zhang in 2017. (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

This 2016 selfie photo provided by her family shows Yingying Zhang in a cap and gown for her graduate degree in environmental engineering from Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. She chose the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for its highly regarded agriculture program. Zhang had been doing research on crop photosynthesis and was to begin her doctoral work in September 2017. (Family Photo via AP)

Zhang Yingying went missing from the University of Illinois in June 2017. Photo: University of Illinois Police Department/TNS

Trial date set in kidnap-murder case of missing Chinese student  Yingying Zhang

This undated file photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. Investigators have said they believe Zhang is dead, although her body hasn't been found. Brendt Christensen is accused of kidnapping Zhang on June 9 in Urbana, Illinois and his trial has been set for April 2019. Photo: University of Illinois Police Department via AP

Ronggao Zhang, left, and Lifeng Ye, display a photo them with their missing daughter, Yingying Zhang, in Urbana, Ind., Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. They had hoped to stay in the United States until the remains of their daughter were found. But after months of agony, they are ready to return to China, where they will wait for answers half a world away. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FILE - This photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen, a suspect in the kidnapping of visiting University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scholar Yingying Zhang. Authorities have not said how Zhang died. (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP File)

Suspect in kidnap and killing of Zhang Yingying may blame his mother’s pregnancy diet, court filings reveal

This photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Illinois, shows Brendt Christensen, who is accused of kidnapping and killing Zhang Yingying. Photo: AP

People react at a bond hearing for Brendt Christensen outside of the U.S. Courthouse Monday, July 3, 2017 in Urbana, Ill., who allegedly kidnapped visiting scholar Yingying Zhang. (Alexandra Wimley/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Yingying Zhang, visiting scholar missing from University of Illinois, in June 2017. (University of Illinois Police Department/TNS)

Lawyers for man accused of murdering Zhang Yingying try to delay case

This undated photo provided by The University of Illinois Police Department shows Zhang Yingying. The lawyers for the man accused of killing her are trying to delay his trial. Photo: University of Illinois Police Department via AP

Family of kidnapped Chinese student Zhang Yingying asks Trump for help

An undated file picture of Zhang Yingying. Photo: Associated Press

Ronggao Zhang reads a letter he sent to President Trump during a news conference at the I-Hotel in Urbana, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. Zhang is the father of visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang who went missing on June 9. (Rick Danzl/News-Gazette via AP)

Lifeng Ye, seated-center, is comforted by her son Xinyang Zhang, left, and Xiaolin Hou, right, after a news conference at the I-Hotel in Urbana, Ill., Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017. Lifeng Ye, is the mother, Xinyang Zhang is the younger brother, and Xiaolin Hou is the boyfriend of visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang who went missing on June 9. (Rick Danzl/News-Gazette via AP)

We will forgive you, but please let her go, father of missing Chinese student Zhang Yingying begs kidnapper

Zhang Yingying poses for photos during graduation at the entrance to Beijing University in China in 2016. Photo: Zhao Kaiyun via AP

This undated photo provided by The University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. Police said the FBI is investigating the disappearance of Zhang, a Chinese woman from a central Illinois university town, as a kidnapping. Zhang was about a month into a yearlong appointment at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign when she disappeared June 9, 2017. (Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP)

Yingying Zhang boarded an MTD Teal line bus at the south shelter at Orchard Downs at 1:35 p.m. on Friday, June 9. A University of Illinois student Ying-Ying Zhang, 26-year-old has been reported missing. PHOTO : HANDOUT

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US prosecutors believe Zhang Yingying was killed by Brendt Christensen in his flat in 2017, although her body was never found


US prosecutors believe Zhang Yingying was killed by Brendt Christensen in his flat in 2017, although her body was never found.


Chinese overseas

United States

Evidence against suspected killer of Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying includes bloody handprint and cadaver dog’s reaction in Illinois flat

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}US prosecutors believe Zhang Yingying was killed by Brendt Christensen in his flat in 2017, although her body was never found

.css-jfmysa{display:inline;word-break:break-word;}.css-1ankfgb{cursor:pointer;display:inline;word-break:break-word;}Trial date set in kidnap-murder case of missing Chinese student Yingying Zhang

US prosecutors believe Zhang Yingying was killed by Brendt Christensen in his flat in 2017, although her body was never found

Trial date set in kidnap-murder case of missing Chinese student Yingying Zhang