A federal judge has set an April 2019 trial date for a former physics student accused of kidnapping and killing Zhang Yingying, a University of Illinois student from China….
A federal judge has set an April 2019 trial date for a former physics student accused of kidnapping and killing Zhang Yingying, a University of Illinois student from China.
The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that US District Court Judge Colin Bruce set the date during a hearing on Monday. Prosecutors announced on January 19 that they would seek ythe death penalty in the case.
They say Brendt Christensen allegedly tortured 26-year-old Zhang before killing her.
Neither prosecutors nor Christensen’s lawyers objected to the new trial date. The trial had been expected to begin later this month, but both prosecutors and defence lawyers requested that it be delayed.
Christensen was arrested last June, three weeks after Zhang disappeared.
