Brendt Christensen is the University of Illinois-Champaign resident’s alma mater as well as a former graduate student in physics. Since 2013, he has worked as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then at the University of Illinois-Champaign. However, he is serving time in federal prison for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of visiting Chinese researcher Yingying Zhang. The incident took place on June 9, 2017.

On the day of the incident, Christensen lured Zhang into his car to drive her to a bus stop on campus after she missed a bus. Unfortunately, he took her to his apartment where he raped and murdered her. At the time, his wife was out of town for the weekend. After weeks, on June 30, 2017, the FBI arrested and charged Christensen in federal court.

Additionally, he was arrested with the charge that he was convicted of one count of kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of making false statements to FBI agents. For his crime, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on July 18, 2019. Also, according to reports, during this time he was struggling with his married life.

BRENDT CHRISTENSEN: BIOGRAPHY, FAMILY, CAREER

He was born as Brendt Allen Christensen around 1989 which makes him around 31 years old as of 2020 in United States of America. There isn’t much information about his parents, siblings, or early years in the media. Regarding his education, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009. Then in 2013, he received his bachelor’s degree in physics with honors as well as in mathematics. After that, he joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013 and earned his Ph.D. diploma.

According to his LinkedIn profile , after completing his Ph.D. A candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he earned a Ph.D. research student at the university for more than seven months. Since 2013, he has worked as a graduate teaching assistant and ranked himself as an excellent teaching assistant at the time. Prior to that, he worked as a research assistant for one year from May 2012 to May 2013 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

BRENDT CHRISTENSEN: PERSONAL LIFE AND WIFE

Christensen, who is currently serving his life sentence in prison, was previously married to his wife Michelle Zortman. Also, there are not many details about their married life. According to sources, he was in an open marriage but they divorced and no information about their children.

Speaking of his income, he must have earned a good income from his teaching career before serving in prison. According to 2018 Payscale data, earn between $18 and $28 per hour, which equates to between $32,000 and $57,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications. Hence, his net worth could be estimated at over $30,000.

BRENDT CHRISTENSEN: BODY MEASUREMENTS

He has an average structured body having a height of over 6 feet with unknown body weight as well as body measurements. He has dark brown eye color with dark brown hair color.