CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) – Brendt Christensen’s lawyers say he previously offered to plead guilty and tell prosecutors where they could find Yingying Zhang’s remains.
The defense team for the man who kidnapped and killed Zhang on June 9, 2017 filed a motion Tuesday to keep testimony from Zhang’s family, which they believe would be inaccurate, from being said during the sentencing phase of the trial. They believe those claims would include an assertion that Christensen refused to help find Zhang.
"Such testimony would clearly imply to the jury that Mr. Christensen has refused to provide any information about what he did to Ms. Zhang," the lawyers said in the document. "In truth, however, within six months of his arrest, Mr. Christensen agreed to plead guilty to the charges against him, to cooperate fully with investigators and provide all information in his possession regarding the crime and the location of the victim's remains and to accept a sentence of life without possibility of release."
The motion did not say what prosecutors did in response to the plea offer. In the spring, U.S. District Judge Jim Shadid said a plea deal was possible, but it has not been discussed in open court since.
The Christensen defense team filed in March that a document needed to be sealed when it was filed to keep “sensitive information regarding plea negotiations from becoming public”.
Christensen, who was convicted of Zhang’s murder Monday, could be heard in wire recordings as he talked to his 2017 girlfriend boasting that the Zhang family would “leave empty-handed” and “no one will ever know where she is”.
Beginning on July 8, the process of determining whether Christensen will get the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of release will be decided.
The Zhang family said in Monday remarks it is holding out hope Zhang’s remains will be found so the family can find closure and she can be returned home to China.
The PDF document of the defense team's Tuesday night motion is attached to this story and is available for viewing.
