当地时间6月12日上午9时，中国访问学者章莹颖被绑架致死案在美国伊利诺伊州皮奥里亚联邦法庭进行开案陈词。辩护律师当庭指出，被告克里斯滕森承认杀害了章莹颖。在辩方的开场陈词前，检察官花了45分钟时间概述了章莹颖死亡前的可怕细节↓
A federal attorney representing Brendt Christensen shocked observers only moments into his client’s capital trial when he admitted Christensen killed Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang.
在对布伦特·克里斯滕森的死刑审判开庭后不久，克里斯滕森的联邦律师代表承认被告杀害中国学者章莹颖。这一陈词，令所有人感到震惊。
“Brendt Christensen is responsible for the death of Yingying Zhang,” federal defender George Taseff told a packed court Wednesday inside the Peoria federal courthouse. “Brendt Christensen killed Yingying Zhang.”
“布伦特·克里斯滕森对章莹颖的死负有责任。”联邦辩护律师乔治·塔塞夫12日在皮奥里亚联邦法院中挤满人的法庭上说道，“布伦特·克里斯滕森杀害了章莹颖。”
The stunning opening line from Christensen’s defense team came after prosecutors spent 45 minutes outlining the gruesome details of Zhang’s death, claiming the visiting scholar was raped, beaten and decapitated inside Christensen’s Champaign apartment.
在辩方出人意料的开场陈词前，检察官花了45分钟时间概述了章莹颖死亡前的可怕细节。检方称，章莹颖在克里斯滕森位于香槟市的公寓内被强奸、殴打并斩首。
Despite the admission, Christensen is not changing his not guilty plea. The trial will continue, Taseef said, because Christensen is “on trial for his life” and there are several “factual issues” that must be debated before sentencing.
尽管克里斯滕森承认杀人，但并未改变无罪抗辩。塔塞夫说，庭审将继续进行，因为要对克里斯滕森的生死进行判决，在宣判前必须对几项“事实”做出辩论。
He is charged in federal court with kidnapping resulting in death and lying to FBI investigators. If convicted, he faces a possible death sentence.
克里斯滕森在联邦法庭被控犯绑架致死罪，并对联邦调查局作出虚假陈述。如果定罪，他可能将面临死刑。
Zhang, a 26-year-old visiting scholar studying photosynthesis and crop productivity at the University of Illinonis, was last seen alive on June 9, 2017.
时年26岁的访问学者章莹颖此前在伊利诺伊大学研究光合作用和作物产量。她最后一次出现是在2017年6月9日。
Surveillance footage shows Zhang entering a car allegedly driven by Christensen just after she missed a bus en route to an appointment to sign a new apartment lease for the 2017-18 school year.
监控录像显示章莹颖进入了一辆据称是由克里斯滕森驾驶的车，当时她正准备赴约签订2017-2018学年新住处的租房合同，却刚好错过了一辆班车。
She has not been seen since and her body has not been recovered. Prosecutors previously alleged Christensen tortured and killed Zhang, saying he had an “expressed desire” to be known as a killer.
此后章莹颖下落不明，尸体也未被找到。检方此前指控克里斯滕森折磨并杀害了章莹颖，并且被告表达了成为知名杀手的愿望。
Federal prosecutor Eugene Miller said Christensen had begun planning to abduct and murder someone months before he ever saw Zhang. Christensen compared himself to serial killer Ted Bundy, Miller said during his opening statements, and he bragged to his girlfriend that “I’m pretty good at this,” after investigators failed to locate Zhang’s remains.
联邦检察官尤金·米勒称，克里斯滕森在见到章莹颖的几个月前就开始计划绑架谋杀某人。米勒在开案陈词中说，克里斯滕森把自己比作连环杀手泰德·邦迪，在调查人员未能找到章莹颖的遗体后，他向女友吹嘘“我在这方面很在行”。
Christensen posed as an undercover officer to convince Zhang to get into his vehicle, Miller said, before taking her back to his apartment. There, he allegedly cut off her clothes and raped her before choking her for about 10 minutes, according to Miller, while Zhang continued fighting for her life.
米勒说，克里斯滕森假扮卧底警官说服章莹颖上了车，之后将她带回公寓。米勒表示，被告据称在家中撕毁了章莹颖的衣服并强奸了她，然后使受害人窒息大约10分钟。而整个过程中章莹颖一直在反抗。
He then took Zhang to his bathroom, where he allegedly hit her in the head with a Louisville Slugger baseball bat, splitting open her head. Christensen ultimately stabbed her and cut off her head, Miller said.
然后，克里斯滕森把章莹颖带到浴室，用一根路易斯维尔棒球棒击中并劈开了她的头部。米勒说，克里斯滕森最终用刀刺了她并砍断了头。
Miller said Christensen cleaned his apartment and vehicle extensively in an effort to cover up his crime. But investigators located blood spots on his mattress and the baseboard of his bed, as well as on drywall, underneath his carpet and on the baseball bat.
米勒说，克里斯滕森彻底清理了他的公寓和车辆，以掩盖罪行。但调查人员在他的床垫、床板以及干板墙、地毯下面和棒球棒上都发现了血迹。
DNA testing conducted on these samples matched the blood to Zhang.
这些样品的DNA检测结果与章莹颖的血液匹配。
“He kidnapped her, he murdered her, he covered up his crime,” Miller said.
米勒说：“他绑架了章莹颖，谋杀了她，并掩盖了罪行。”
Zhang’s father and other family listened to these statements in the courtroom through an interpreter. Christensen, who was seated at his defense table, did not appear to react.
Details of Zhang’s murder were apparently learned through a recording made by Christensen’s girlfriend, who was cooperating with the FBI and wore a wire to record their conversations, including during a vigil walk for Zhang.
这些细节是通过克里斯滕森女友的秘密录音获知的，她与FBI合作并佩戴窃听设备记录他们的谈话，包括在章莹颖守夜活动上的对话。
On that recording, Christensen allegedly said he wanted to attend the vigil “to see how many people are here,” he said. “They’re here for me.” He also added that Zhang’s body would never be found and that her family, who had traveled from China to help locate her, would be “leaving empty handed.”
据称，在守夜活动的录音中，克里斯滕森表示他想参加守夜活动，“看看有多少人在这里”。他说“这些人为我而来”。克里斯滕森还说，章莹颖的遗体永远不会被找到，她的家人从中国前来寻找她，将“空手而归”。
Taseff denied few of these details, but did take issue with the fact Christensen said on the recording that Zhang was his 13th victim. The attorney claimed Christensen had been drinking heavily before the vigil, adding that there is no evidence to show Christensen had ever killed anyone before Zhang.
塔瑟夫只否认了这些细节中的很小一部分，但对克里斯滕森在录音中称章莹颖是其第13个受害者的事实表示怀疑。辩方律师声称克里斯滕森在守夜活动之前曾大量饮酒，并补充说没有证据表明克里斯滕森在章莹颖之前曾杀过任何人。
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