Opening statements took an unexpected turn, in the Brent Christensen capital murder trial in Peoria Wednesday. Federal public defender George Taseff said that Christensen is responsible for the death of University of Illinois visiting scholar Yingying Zhang, despite his “not guilty” plea.

Opening statements begin Wednesday morning in Peoria in the federal capital murder trial of Brent Christensen, charged in connection with the disappearance of Yingying Zhang..