Fbi Probing Suspect’s Claim That Scholar Was 1 Of 13 Victims

PEORIA – The FBI is investigating the claim by a former University of Illinois doctoral student that the visiting scholar from China he’s charged with killing was his 13th victim, even though no evidence has been found to indicate whether he was telling the truth, an FBI agent testified Monday. “We are continuing to investigate, and that’s as far as we can go at this time,” Agent Andrew Huckstadt said during Brendt Christensen’s federal death-penalty trial. He pointed out that not being able to corroborate the claim Christensen made to his girlfriend shortly after he allegedly killed Yingying Zhang in June 2017 is “not the same as saying it’s completely impossible.” Prosecutor Eugene Miller claimed in opening remarks last week that Christensen, who is over 6-foot, took Zhang to his apartment where he raped, choked and stabbed her in his bedroom, as the 5-foot-4 Zhang tried to fight him off.