Closing arguments to start in Illinois man's death penalty case

[June 24, 2019]  (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers were due to make their closing arguments on Monday in the trial of an Illinois man accused of kidnapping and killing a Chinese graduate student two years ago.

Brendt Christensen, 29, could face the death penalty if he is convicted in the June 2017 abduction and murder of Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her body has not been found.

While the state of Illinois has outlawed capital punishment, a federal trial allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Christensen, who received a master's degree in physics from the university, has been charged with murder, kidnapping and lying to federal investigators. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Christensen's defense attorney, George Taseff, acknowledged his client killed Zhang but disputed the government's account of events, hoping to persuade the jury to spare Christensen's life by arguing that a downward spiral with alcohol and drugs led his client to do the "unthinkable."

Eugene Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney for central Illinois, said Christensen was obsessed with serial killers including Ted Bundy, who murdered dozens of women in the 1970s.

Brendt Christensen, 28, arrested in connection with the disappearance of Yingying Zhang, 26, on June 9, 2017, is shown in this booking photo in Champaign, Illinois, U.S., provided July 5, 2017. Macon County Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS

Miller said Christensen took Zhang to his apartment where she fought for her life as Christensen hit her over the head with a baseball bat, raped her and stabbed her in the neck before cutting off her head.

Investigators were led to Christensen after surveillance cameras in Urbana, 130 miles (210 km) south of Chicago, recorded Zhang getting into a black car that authorities later traced to him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit by an FBI agent.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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