CHICAGO _ Federal prosecutors announced Friday they will seek the death penalty for a former University of Illinois graduate student accused of kidnapping, torturing and killing a visiting scholar from China in June.
In making the announcement, prosecutors alleged for the first time that Brendt Christensen "choked and sexually assaulted" another victim in 2013 in the Champaign-Urbana area, that he has claimed additional victims and has expressed a "desire to be known as a killer."
Christensen, 28, who is being held without bond, had tentatively been set to go to trial Feb. 27 in federal court in Urbana on a charge of kidnapping resulting in a death stemming from the disappearance of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, whose body has not been found.
The four-page indictment alleged that Christensen committed the offense "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim," and that the crime occurred after "substantial planning and premeditation."
The indictment also charged Christensen with two new counts of making false statements to FBI agents.
Friday's decision to seek the death penalty _ which required the approval of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions _ means that the trial will likely be delayed for months.
In their five-page motion Friday, prosecutors said the death penalty was warranted because Christensen "is likely to commit criminal acts of violence in the future that would constitute a continuing and serious threat to the lives and safety of others."
No details of the 2013 sexual assault case in Christensen's past were provided other than the initials of the victim, "M.D."
.png?w=600)
