Christensen's Father Wants Son's Life To Be Spared: 'He Has Too Much To Offer'

CHICAGO (CBS) --  Emotional testimony on Wednesday in the sentencing trial of a former University of Illinois student convicted of killing a Chinese scholar.

Brendt Christensen's father testified Wednesday that he can't bare the thought of his son getting the death penalty.

A jury is preparing to decide whether the former University of Illinois student deserves the death penalty for killing Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang.

CBS 2's Tim McNicholas has the latest from Peoria.

Brendt Christensen has shown very little emotion in this trial, but on Wednesday, he broke down in tears and put his head down in his hand while his father also fought through tears during his testimony.

Michael Christensen told the courtroom "I am just so sorry that my son was the cause of the pain" for Zhang's family.

He testified that he struggles to even think about Christensen's possible death sentence.

"A couple days ago I had a flash of him on the table getting injected. I had to stop. I had to put it away," he said. "He has too much to offer."

Defense attorneys have tried to paint Brendt Christensen as a man who struggled with alcoholism and depression who does not deserve the death penalty.

His dad smoked a cigarette outside the courthouse after testifying that Brendt had tried to kill himself at age 15. He said Brendt jumped off a deck and then ran into a car that had been driving down the road.

"He knew he was trying to kill himself," Michael said. "But he could not explain why."

Defense attorneys called on Brendt's uncle Mark Christensen in an effort to show that a family history of alcoholism may have contributed to Brendt's own problems.

"I was an alcoholic and I still am," Mark said. "But I quit drinking about 36 years ago."

Defense attorneys also highlighted that Christensen's own mother and several other direct relatives were alcoholics.

Christensen confessed to University of Illinois counselors months before the 2017 murder that his own drinking drove him to a dark place.

Tuesday, Zhang's family testified about the unbearable pain and suffering Christensen caused by killing Zhang.

His defense team and now even his own father acknowledge Christensen murdered Zhang, but he still has not said what he did with her body.

After the defense rests their case, the jury will deliberate on whether Christensen deserves the death penalty.

The other option is life in prison.

In:
• University of Illinois
• Peoria
• Murder