Lawyer says client admits killing scholar

An attorney for Brendt Christensen, who is charged with kidnapping and killing Chinese visiting scholar Zhang Yingying in 2017, told a United States federal court judge in Illinois on Wednesday that Christensen has admitted to killing the young woman.

"Brendt Christensen is responsible for the death of Yingying Zhang," defense attorney George Taseff said during his opening statement in the trial in US District Court in Peoria, Illinois. "Brendt Christensen killed Yingying Zhang."

Taseff said Christensen, 29, faces the death penalty, and is "on trial for his life". There are several "factual issues" that must be debated before sentencing, according to media reports.