Former University of Illinois graduate student Brendt Christensen could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted on new charges filed Tuesday alleging he kidnapped and killed a visiting scholar from China in June. 
 
 Christensen, 28, of Champaign, was charged in a superseding indictment with one count of kidnapping resulting in a death stemming from the disappearance of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, whose body has not been found. 
 
 The federal grand jury returned the four-page indictment with the special finding 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. 
 
 Christensen could face the death penalty if convicted on the new kidnapping charge, although the decision whether to seek it will be made at a later date by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Urbana. If the death penalty is not sought, a conviction on the kidnapping count would call for mandatory life without parole. 
 
 Christensen, who is being held without bond, is tentatively set to go to trial Feb. 27 before U.S. District Court Judge Colin Bruce. Reached by telephone Tuesday, his lawyer, Robert Tucker, said he had not seen the superseding indictment and had no comment. 
 
 The new charges were the latest twist to a case that rattled the University of Illinois campus and sent shock waves throughout China. 
 
 Prosecutors allege Zhang, who began her research appointment in April was on her way to sign a lease at an apartment building the afternoon of June 9 and unsuccessfully tried to flag down a bus before walking to another stop. Shortly after, federal authorities allege that Christensen approached Zhang in his car and lured her inside. 
 
 Surveillance video from a nearby parking garage captured the exchange in which Zhang could be seen speaking to the driver for several moments before getting into the front passenger seat. One of Zhang's professors reported her missing by that evening, after several calls and texts went unanswered. 
 
 The investigation homed in on Christensen after police concluded his Saturn Astra was the car seen in the footage. He initially told the FBI he was home all day playing video games on the day Zhang disappeared. When he was questioned a second time three days later, Christensen changed his story, telling agents he was driving on campus, came across an Asian woman looking distressed and offered her a ride because she said she was late to an appointment. 
 
 Christensen said the woman panicked after he made a wrong turn, and he let her out of his car a few blocks from where they met. Meanwhile, police also searched his car and determined that the area where Zhang would have been sitting had been cleaned in a way to conceal evidence, FBI agents alleged in court documents. 
 
 Police also searched his phone and found visits to a sadomasochism fetish website with discussion threads on kidnapping fantasies. 
 
 The FBI also conducted audio surveillance on Christensen for several days, including when he attended a campus walk and vigil in Zhang's honor on June 29. There, Christensen was caught on tape pointing out people in the crowd and describing his "ideal victim." 
 
 Other surveillance tapes recorded Christensen allegedly admitting to having kidnapped Zhang, and describing how she fought back as he held her against her will, prosecutors said. 
 
 Police and prosecutors have not revealed the source of the recordings. 
 
 jmeisner@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Twitter @jmetr22b ||||| SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A federal grand jury on Tuesday returned a superseding indictment against a man accused in the abduction of a University of Illinois scholar from China. 
 
 The new indictment accuses Brendt Christensen, 28, of kidnapping resulting in the death of Yingying Zhang. If convicted of the charge, Christensen faces the death penalty or mandatory life in prison. 
 
 Christensen was initially charged with the 26-year-old Zhang of Nanping, China. The new indictment alleges Christensen intentionally killed Zhang in "an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner." It contends her death involved torture or serious physical abuse and that he did so "after substantial planning and premeditation." 
 
 The new indictment also alleges Christensen used a cellphone and a vehicle, both instruments of interstate commerce, to commit the offense. 
 
 Zhang disappeared June 9, weeks after arriving at the central Illinois campus. Even though her body hasn't been found, authorities believe Zhang is dead. 
 
 The indictment also charged Christensen with two new counts of making false statements to FBI agents. It states Christensen lied when he told the FBI he stayed at his apartment and slept and played video games all day on June 9, "when he knew full well that he drove around the University of Illinois campus on the afternoon of June 9, and picked up Y,Z. as she was waiting for a bus." 
 
 It alleges Christensen lied when he said he dropped of an Asian female in a residential area shortly after picking her up. 
 
 Christensen has been held in the Macon County jail since his arrest by U.S. Marshals. He is tentatively set to go to trial Feb. 27. 
 
 Christensen's lawyer, Robert Tucker, said he had not seen the superseding indictment and had no comment. 
 
 Attorney Steve Beckett, who represents Zhang's family, said he had not spoken to them Tuesday but said the superseding indictment "is not unexpected." 
 
 Beckett said Zhang's family remains in the Urbana area and intends to stay until she is found. ||||| 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 central Illinois. He also has claimed “additional victims” and expressed a “desire to be known as a killer,” according to prosecutors. 
 
 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 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. 
 
 The death penalty was abolished in Illinois state court in 2011 after years of allegations of deep flaws in the state’s justice system. In certain cases, though, it remains a tool for federal prosecutors, but its use in federal courts is still rare. It also can take years for an execution to actually be carried out. 
 
 The last person to be sentenced to death in a federal courtroom in Illinois was Dr. Ronald Mikos, who was convicted in 2005 in Chicago of murdering a former patient to keep her from testifying against him in a Medicare fraud trial. 
 
 Mikos, 69, whose appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied nearly a decade ago, is still awaiting execution in federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., federal records show. 
 
 The announcement in Christensen’s case marks at least the third time in recent weeks that Sessions has opted to push for the death penalty. Earlier this month, it was revealed prosecutors would seek the death penalty against Billy Arnold, an alleged gang member accused of killing two rivals in Michigan. In December, Sessions greenlighted pursuit of the death penalty against Jarvis Wayne Madison, a Florida man who allegedly kidnapped and killed his estranged wife. 
 
 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 alleged 2013 sexual assault by Christensen were provided other than the initials of the victim, “M.D.” The alleged assault occurred the year Christensen was admitted to the university’s highly competitive physics graduate program. 
 
 Four years later, Zhang's sudden disappearance rattled the U. of I. campus and sent shock waves throughout China. 
 
 Zhang, who began her research appointment last April, tried unsuccessfully to flag down a bus before walking to another stop the afternoon of June 9. Shortly after, federal authorities allege, Christensen approached Zhang in his black Saturn Astra sedan and lured her inside. 
 
 Surveillance video from a nearby parking garage captured the exchange in which Zhang could be seen speaking to the driver for several moments before getting into the front passenger seat. 
 
 The investigation focused on Christensen after police concluded his Saturn was the car seen in the video. He initially told the FBI he was home all day playing video games on the day Zhang disappeared. 
 
 Yingying Zhang, 26, a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois, has been missing since June 9, 2017. Authorities say she is presumed dead. Brendt Christensen, 28, has been charged with kidnapping Zhang. 
 
 When he was questioned a second time, Christensen changed his story, telling agents he got the date mixed up, according to court records. He said he was driving on campus, came across an Asian woman looking distressed and offered her a ride because she said she was late to an appointment, authorities said. Christensen said the woman panicked after he made a wrong turn, and he let her out of his car a few blocks from where they met, prosecutors said. 
 
 Meanwhile, police searched Christensen’s car and determined that the area where Zhang would have been sitting had been cleaned in a way to conceal evidence, according to prosecutors. Police also searched his phone and found visits to a sadomasochism fetish website with discussion threads on kidnapping fantasies, prosecutors said. 
 
 On June 29, Christensen attended a campus rally for Zhang with a girlfriend, who unbeknownst to him was wearing an FBI wire. He was captured on audio recordings describing his "ideal victim" as he pointed out people in the crowd, prosecutors have previously said. 
 
 Other recordings made that day captured Christensen admitting to having kidnapped Zhang and describing how she fought back as he held her against her will, according to prosecutors. 
 
 Earlier this week, a defense filing revealed that a few hours before Zhang’s kidnapping, a female U. of I. graduate student reported to police that a man wearing aviator sunglasses had pulled up to her in a black sedan and flashed a badge. She refused to get in the car and he drove off. 
 
 A few days later, the woman picked out Christensen’s photo from among six shown her by the FBI, but Christensen’s lawyers are seeking to block the testimony, saying she couldn’t be certain because of the sunglasses. 
 
 She did say that of the six photos, Christensen "shared the most characteristics" of the man because of his "short, dark hair and tan face," the filing said. 
 
 jmeisner@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Twitter @jmetr22b 
 
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– A man who liked to surf kidnapping-fetish websites will face the death penalty in the disappearance of a Chinese graduate student. A federal grand jury on Tuesday slapped Brendt Christensen, 28, with one count of kidnapping resulting in the death of Yingying Zhang, 26, whose body has not been found, the Chicago Tribune reports. The indictment, updating existing charges, says Christensen killed the University of Illinois student "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner" involving "torture or serious physical abuse to the victim." Christensen, an ex-grad student, allegedly carried out the crime after "substantial planning and premeditation." The FBI questioned the suspect after determining his Saturn was the car captured on surveillance video that picked up Zhang, who was late for an appointment, at a campus bus stop on June 9. She is missing and presumed dead. Christensen is also charged with two counts of lying to the FBI when he said he was playing video games and sleeping on the day Zhang disappeared, when, the indictment says, "he knew full well" he offered her a ride. He allegedly lied again when he said he dropped her off a short time later. The FBI says he took Zhang back to his apartment. A lawyer for Christensen , who is being held without bail, had no comment, but an attorney for Zhang's family calls the new charges "not unexpected," per CBS News. Christensen's trial is set for Feb. 27. Cops say he was recorded at a vigil for Zhang describing the "characteristics of his ideal [kidnapping] victim."