Abduction suspect makes first appearance in court
CHICAGO » Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal courthouse Monday as the suspect in the kidnapping of a Chinse scholar at the University of Illinois made his first court appearance since he was arrested last week.
During the nine-minute hearing, 28-year-old Brendt Christiansen did not speak other than to acknowledge to the federal judge that he understood his rights. U.S. Magistrate Eric Long ordered Christiansen held without bond in the kidnapping of Yingying Zhang. Authorities say facts in the case indicate the 26-yearold Zhang is dead, although her body hasn’t been found.
Long ordered Christiansen to return to the court in Urbana on Wednesday to determine bond. A preliminary hearing was set for July 14, but that would be waived if a grand jury returns an indictment before then. The federal kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The (Champaign) NewsGazette reported that about 45 people attended the hearing Monday morning, with another crowd in the courthouse lobby and yet more people across the street, many chanting “Justice for Yingying.”
After the hearing, Christiansen’s attorney Evan Bruno said he has talked to Christiansen a few times, but that “this case is very young and we haven’t had a really full opportunity to develop everything yet.”
Bruno asked the public to “be patient, to keep an open mind, wait ‘till the evidence comes in.”
Zhang went missing on June 9. Authorities announced that they believed she was abducted after viewing surveillance video showing her climbing into a vehicle. Authorities charged Christiansen on Friday after federal agents heard him tell someone that he’d kidnapped Zhang and held her against her will.
Authorities say Zhang was trying to hurry to an apartment to sign a lease and had been unsuccessful in flagging down a bus when a car stopped. The video shows a woman authorities have said is Zhang climb into the vehicle in Urbana, 140 miles southwest of Chicago.
Since then, details have emerged about Christiansen, who had just earned a master’s degree in physics from the U of I this year, and the events leading up to Zhang’s disappearance.
According to authorities, a website that hosted an “Abduction 101” forum linked Christiansen to the kidnapping of Zhang. According to the federal complaint, Christiansen’s phone was used April 19 to visit that website, FetLife.com, including to view threads titled “Perfect abduction fantasy” and “planning a kidnapping.”
FetLife describes itself as “the Social Network for the BDSM, Fetish & Kinky Community,” stressing in online policy statements that it is a place for consenting adults to trade advice and images of themselves, and to arrange to meet. The acronym BDSM stands for bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism. Users provide their ages, genders and roles they wish to play, but otherwise remain anonymous.