US Attorney General Instructs Federal Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty

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(1) Press release: Government Files Intent to Seek Death Penalty Against Champaign Man Charged with Kidnapping, Death of Chinese Scholar. US Attorney's Office Central District of Illinois, Jan 19, 2018.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdi ... -charged-kidnapping
(Government files in court "Notice of Intent to Seek a Sentence of Death: US attorney "pursuant to the requirements of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3593(a), hereby gives notice to the Court and Defendant Brendt A Christensen that it believes the circumstances of the offense * * * are such that, in the event of a conviction, a sentence of death is justified under Chapter 228 (Sections 3591 to 3599) of Title 18 of the United States Code")

The Notice went on to say, "The United States proposes to prove the following factors as justifying a sentence of death with regard to Count One of the Superseding Indictment":
(a) I Intent Factors: 18 USC § 3591(a)(2)(A) ("intentionally killed the victim"), (B) ("intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury that resulted in the death of the victim"), (C) ("intentionally participated in an act, contemplating that the life of a person would be taken or intending that lethal force would be used in connection with a person, other than one of the participants in the offense, and the victim died as a direct result of the act"), and (D) ("intentionally and specifically engaged in an act of violence, knowing that the act created a grave risk of death to a person, other than one of the participants in the offense, such that participation in the act constituted a reckless disregard for human life and the victim died as a direct result of the act").
(b) II Statutory Aggravating Factors: 18 USC § 3592(c)(1) ("death during commission of another crime"), (6) ("heinous, cruel, or depraved manner of committing the offense"), and (9) ("substantial planning and premeditation").  With respect to 18 USC § 3592(c)(6), Government deviated the statutory language to explain:
"in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim, YZ."

(2) Michael Tarm, Suspected Kidnapper's Girlfriend Fainted Helping FBI. Associated Press, Jan 16, 2018.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/new ... fbi-yingying-zhang/

(3) Press release: Grand Jury Returns Superseding Indictment That Charges Champaign Man with Kidnapping Resulting in Death. US Attorney's Office Central District of Illinois, Oct 3, 2017.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdi ... idnapping-resulting
(superseding indictment filed that day: Count One: 18 USC § 1201(a)(1) (kidding: "uses the mail or any means, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in committing or in furtherance of the commission of the offense"), Count Two: 18 USC § 1001(a)(2) (false statement: on June 12, 2017 stating to FBI agents "that he stayed at his apartment and slept and played video games all day on June 9, 2017, when he knew full well that he drove around the University of Illinois campus in the afternoon of June 9, 2017 and picked up YZ as she was waiting for  a bus"), and Count Three: 18 USC § 1001(a)(2) (false statement: on June 15, 2017 stating to an FBI agent "that he dropped off an Asian female in a residential area shortly after picking her up in his Saturn Astra on June  9, 2017, when he knew full well that he did not drop the female off shortly after picking her up, nut instead, took her back to his apartment")

Note:
(a) Alterring or adding charges, a "superseding indictment replaces (supersedes) the original indictment": from the Web.
(b) Because murder is mostly a local crime -- prosecuted and tried in a state court -- Count One of the superseding indictment mentioned basis of federal jurisdiction: "used and caused to be used a means, facility, and instrumentality of interstate commerce, namely, a Motorola cellular telephone and a Saturn Astra motor vehicle, i committing and in furtherance of the commission of the offense [kidnapping]."