A federal jury on Monday deliberated for less than two hours before finding Brendt Christensen guilty in the kidnapping and slaying of Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang in 2017.
The 12-member panel will now be asked to decide whether Christensen, 29, should be sentenced to death for the crime. That process is expected to begin July 8.
Outside the federal courthouse, Zhang’s father, Ronggao Zhang, read a statement in Chinese.
“We hope and believe that this trial will eventually bring justice to Yingying and us. Our wish has always been to find Yingying and bring her home. We will not give up.”
Zhang's mother broke into tears standing beside Zhang's father.
(With inputs from Xinhua)
