Slain Chinese scholar’s family to give $20K for help in case

From left: father Ronggao Zhang, mother Lifeng Ye and brother Xinyang Zhang during the announcement of Yingying’s Fund

The parents of a University of Illinois scholar from China who was abducted and killed two years ago are giving at least $20,000 to people who provided authorities with crucial information that led to the arrest and conviction of their daughter’s killer.

The money will come from a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $161,000 from more than 3,500 people since Yingying Zhang disappeared in June 2017, The (Champaign) News-Gazette reported.  According to a campaign update, part of that money will help to pay for the family’s “final U.S. expenses.” Another $30,000 will be used as an endowment through the University of Illinois Foundation called “Yingying’s fund” to help support international students and their families in crisis.

Steven Beckett, an attorney for the Zhang family, declined to say yesterday [Macau time] who would receive reward money or how it might be divided up. But during the course of the investigation into Zhang’s 2017 killing and the trial of former University of Illinois doctoral student Brendt Christenen, which ended in June, the names of two possible recipients emerged: Terra Bullis and Emily Hogan.

Perhaps the most riveting evidence was provided by Bullis, Christensen’s ex-girlfriend. During the trial, she testified that she wore a wire for the FBI, jurors heard recorded conversations in which Christensen told Bullis in gruesome detail how he killed the 26-year-old Zhang, explaining how he raped and beat her to death.

Hogan testified about being approached by Christensen on the same day he offered Zhang a ride and then kidnapped her. She said after she refused to get into Christensen’s car she called police and then later identified Christensen in a photo lineup.

After the federal trial, in which Christensen was convicted of killing Zhang and sentenced to life in prison, Beckett and another attorney for the Zhang family, Zhidong Wang, issued a statement in which they praised Bullis and Hogan.

“Terra’s courage is self- evident, and the assistance she gave to law enforcement was invaluable,” they said. “Emily’s willingness to come forward and testify about the defendant’s conduct toward her was also a key part of the case.”

Even the judge was impressed, praising the women as being among the many “heroes” who helped authorities capture and convict Christensen, noting in particular the willingness of Bullis to wear a wire for the FBI. AP