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Suspect pleads not guilty in kidnapping of Chinese scholar

Suspect pleads not guilty in kidnapping of Chinese scholar | iNFOnews.ca
This undated photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. Police said the FBI is investigating the disappearance of Zhang, a Chinese woman from a central Illinois university town, as a kidnapping. Zhang was about a month into a yearlong appointment at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign when she disappeared June 9, 2017. (Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP)

URBANA, Ill. – A 28-year-old man charged in the abduction of a University of Illinois scholar from China has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Brendt Christensen is accused of kidnapping 26-year-old Yingying Zhang on June 9 in Urbana, 140 miles (225 kilometres) southwest of Chicago. He is a recent graduate student in physics at the university.

Under questioning Thursday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long, Christensen revealed he is taking Klonopin “as an anti-depressant.”

Christensen said the medication did not affect his ability to understand the charges against him.

Investigators say Zhang was abducted after she left campus to sign an apartment lease. They believe Christensen lured her into his car.

Investigators have said they believe Zhang is dead, although her body hasn’t been found.

The judge set a Sept. 12 trial date for Christensen.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com

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