No.13 章莹颖绑架谋杀案

第十三天:两年前，中国访问学者章莹颖在美国遭绑架后失联，至今下落不明。纵然已有大量证据指向嫌犯克里斯滕森的绑架和谋杀罪行，但他却一直矢口否认。不过，在这个月中旬的庭审中，案件终于有了实质性进展：克里斯滕森承认了谋杀事实，并且交代了残害章莹颖的详细过程，手段残暴至极，令人发指。但是，克里斯滕森承认杀害章莹颖后，却仍然拒绝认罪，这到底是怎么一回事呢？ Defence in China student's beheading in Illinois says he did it 中国学生在伊利诺伊州被斩首案件辩方：人确实是他杀的 Brendt Christensen, 29, could face the death penalty if he is convicted in the June 2017 abduction and murder of Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 如果 29 岁的布伦特·克里斯滕森在 2017 年 6 月的章莹颖绑架谋杀案中被判有罪，他可能会面临死刑。章莹颖是伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校的一名 26 岁的学生。 Christensen's defence lawyer acknowledged in his opening statementthat his client killed Zhang but disputed the prosecution's version of events. "You need to know who Brendt was and what he was going through — a downward spiral in his life," George Taseff told the jury as he sought to protect his client from the death penalty. 克里斯滕森的辩护律师在他的开庭陈词中承认，他的当事人杀害了章莹颖，但却否认了检方对事件的说法。辩护律师乔治·塔瑟夫在尽力保护他的当事人免受死刑时，他向陪审团表示：“你们要知道布伦特当时是一个什么样的人、以及他当时正在经历些什么——他的生活状态急速恶化”。 While the state of Illinois has outlawed capital punishment, a federal trial allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty. 虽然伊利诺伊州已经废除了死刑，但是联邦法院的审判则允许检方申请死刑。 Eugene Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney for central Illinois, said Christensen was obsessed with Bundy, who killed dozens of women in 1970s, and other serial killers. 美国伊利诺伊中区联邦地区法院的助理检察官尤金·米勒称，克里斯滕森痴迷于邦迪以及其他连环杀手，邦迪曾在上世纪 70 年代杀害了几十名女性。 Christensen took Zhang to his apartment where she fought for her life as he hit her over the head with a baseball bat, raped her and stabbed her in the neck before cutting off her head, Miller said. 当时克里斯滕森把章莹颖带回了他的公寓，在那里，克里斯滕森用棒球棒击打了她的头部、强奸了她，并且刺伤了她的脖子，随后将她斩首。这期间章莹颖曾奋力求生。 "Her blood ran down the wall," Miller said, as Zhang's relatives listened to an interpreter through headsets. "Thousands of miles away from her parents, alone with a stranger, she breathes her last breath." 米勒表示，“她的血顺着墙壁流了下来，她在距离父母几千公里外的地方，独自面对一个陌生人，咽下了最后一口气。”此时，章莹颖的家属在耳机里听着翻译。 Zhang's body has never been found. Her then-boyfriend Xiaolin Hou told the court on Wednesday: "We will never give up hope to find her." 章莹颖的尸体至今未被找到。她当时的男友侯霄霖周三在法庭上表示：“我们永远也不会放弃找到她的希望。”