The Alleged Murder of Yingying Zhang

choi

(1) Wednesday afternoon (Oct 11), defendant was arraigned upon superseding indictment at US district court for Central District of Illinois, at Urbana (case no 17-CR-20037; CR = criminal, CV = civil).
(2) Grand Jury Returns Superseding Indictment that Charges Champaign Man with Kidnapping Resulting in Death. US Department of Justice, Oct 3, 2017
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdi ... idnapping-resulting
(attached was a PDF file of superseding indictment)

My comment: The superseding indictment did not mention the evidence of victim's death or torture. The federal jurisdiction, according to the superseding indictment, is based on the following: "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, in committing and in furtherance of the commission of the offense."  Brendt Christensen was arrested on June 30, 2017 for the June 9 disappearance, and will stand trial on Feb 27, 2018 (a date set after the previous (first) indictment). The superseding indictment brings charges that carries death penalty or life imprisonment at minimum, though prosecutors have not announced whether US will seek death penalty, which would require prior approval from US attorney general.