Former University of Illinois graduate student Brendt Christensen could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted on new charges filed Tuesday alleging he kidnapped and killed a visiting scholar from China in June. 
 
 Christensen, 28, of Champaign, was charged in a superseding indictment with one count of kidnapping resulting in a death stemming from the disappearance of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, whose body has not been found. 
 
 The federal grand jury returned the four-page indictment with the special finding that Christensen committed the offense “in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim,” and that the crime occurred after “substantial planning and premeditation.” 
 
 The indictment also charged Christensen with two new counts of making false statements to FBI agents. 
 
 Christensen could face the death penalty if convicted on the new kidnapping charge, although the decision whether to seek it will be made at a later date by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Urbana. If the death penalty is not sought, a conviction on the kidnapping count would call for mandatory life without parole. 
 
 Christensen, who is being held without bond, is tentatively set to go to trial Feb. 27 before U.S. District Court Judge Colin Bruce. Reached by telephone Tuesday, his lawyer, Robert Tucker, said he had not seen the superseding indictment and had no comment. 
 
 The new charges were the latest twist to a case that rattled the University of Illinois campus and sent shock waves throughout China. 
 
 Prosecutors allege Zhang, who began her research appointment in April was on her way to sign a lease at an apartment building the afternoon of June 9 and unsuccessfully tried to flag down a bus before walking to another stop. Shortly after, federal authorities allege that Christensen approached Zhang in his car and lured her inside. 
 
 Surveillance video from a nearby parking garage captured the exchange in which Zhang could be seen speaking to the driver for several moments before getting into the front passenger seat. One of Zhang's professors reported her missing by that evening, after several calls and texts went unanswered. 
 
 The investigation homed in on Christensen after police concluded his Saturn Astra was the car seen in the footage. He initially told the FBI he was home all day playing video games on the day Zhang disappeared. When he was questioned a second time three days later, Christensen changed his story, telling agents he was driving on campus, came across an Asian woman looking distressed and offered her a ride because she said she was late to an appointment. 
 
 Christensen said the woman panicked after he made a wrong turn, and he let her out of his car a few blocks from where they met. Meanwhile, police also searched his car and determined that the area where Zhang would have been sitting had been cleaned in a way to conceal evidence, FBI agents alleged in court documents. 
 
 Police also searched his phone and found visits to a sadomasochism fetish website with discussion threads on kidnapping fantasies. 
 
 The FBI also conducted audio surveillance on Christensen for several days, including when he attended a campus walk and vigil in Zhang's honor on June 29. There, Christensen was caught on tape pointing out people in the crowd and describing his "ideal victim." 
 
 Other surveillance tapes recorded Christensen allegedly admitting to having kidnapped Zhang, and describing how she fought back as he held her against her will, prosecutors said. 
 
 Police and prosecutors have not revealed the source of the recordings. 
 
 jmeisner@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Twitter @jmetr22b ||||| (CNN) A man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a visiting Chinese graduate student last seen June 9 on the University of Illinois campus, the US attorney's office for Central Illinois said Friday. 
 
 Investigators with the FBI think the student, Yingying Zhang, 26 , is probably dead, a news release from the attorney's office said. 
 
 Brendt Christensen, 27, of Champaign, Illinois, will face a charge of kidnapping, the news release said. 
 
 Christensen was under surveillance Thursday when agents overheard him saying he kidnapped Zhang, a criminal complaint says. Christensen said he took Zhang back to his apartment, the complaint adds. 
 
 "Based on this, and other facts uncovered during the investigation of this matter, law enforcement agents believe that Ms. Zhang is no longer alive," the statement from the US attorney's office and FBI said, without offering further details. 
 
 The court document also says a search of the suspect's car revealed the front passenger door, next to where Zhang would have been sitting, was cleaned to a "more diligent extent." 
 
 The FBI says Christensen was driving the black Saturn Astra that was captured on security camera video picking up Zhang the afternoon of June 9. 
 
 She was shown entering the front passenger side of the vehicle, which then drove away. 
 
 On June 15, Christensen admitted picking up Zhang, the complaint says, but he told the FBI that day her let her out just a few blocks away. 
 
 "Our thoughts are with Yingying's family, loved ones. Please support fellow community members tonight," police at the University of Illinois said 
 
 Also in the criminal complaint is the allegation that Christensen had used his phone in April to visit online forums with titles such as "Abduction 101," "Perfect abduction fantasy," and "planning a kidnapping." 
 
 Accusations surprise people on campus 
 
 Christensen was a graduate student in the physics department and a teaching assistant until May, a University of Illinois professor told CNN. 
 
 Brendt Christensen in a photo posted to Facebook on April 12. 
 
 "Everybody is shocked by this," said Lance Cooper, an associate head for graduate studies in the department. "There were no flags, no discipline issues with him, no problem with his teaching, no problems with his coursework." 
 
 Cooper said he didn't think Christensen would have had any academic interactions with Zhang, who came to the United States within the past two months. 
 
 David Meldgin, a teaching assistant in the physics department, said he had an office next door to Christensen for two years but they spoke only a few times. 
 
 "He was a quiet person in meetings, but he always helped students who needed help." Meldgin said. "I'm really surprised." 
 
 Concern in China 
 
 There are more than 300,000 Chinese students and scholars attending US universities. Zhang's disappearance triggered widespread concern in China, with discussion of the case dominating both social and traditional media. 
 
 Zhang had a year-long position at the university's department of natural resources and environmental sciences. She graduated from Beijing's prestigious Peking University last year with a master's degree in environmental engineering, according to a department webpage. 
 
 Christensen's first court appearance is at 10 a.m. Monday in federal court in Urbana. It is unclear whether Christensen, who is still in custody, has an attorney.
– A man who liked to surf kidnapping-fetish websites will face the death penalty in the disappearance of a Chinese graduate student. A federal grand jury on Tuesday slapped Brendt Christensen, 28, with one count of kidnapping resulting in the death of Yingying Zhang, 26, whose body has not been found, the Chicago Tribune reports. The indictment, updating existing charges, says Christensen killed the University of Illinois student "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner" involving "torture or serious physical abuse to the victim." Christensen, an ex-grad student, allegedly carried out the crime after "substantial planning and premeditation." The FBI questioned the suspect after determining his Saturn was the car captured on surveillance video that picked up Zhang, who was late for an appointment, at a campus bus stop on June 9. She is missing and presumed dead. Christensen is also charged with two counts of lying to the FBI when he said he was playing video games and sleeping on the day Zhang disappeared, when, the indictment says, "he knew full well" he offered her a ride. He allegedly lied again when he said he dropped her off a short time later. The FBI says he took Zhang back to his apartment. A lawyer for Christensen , who is being held without bail, had no comment, but an attorney for Zhang's family calls the new charges "not unexpected," per CBS News. Christensen's trial is set for Feb. 27. Cops say he was recorded at a vigil for Zhang describing the "characteristics of his ideal [kidnapping] victim."