章瑩穎案兇手被判終身監禁,章家父母希望獲知遺體下落

A former doctoral student has been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison in Illinois for kidnapping and killing of a 26-year-old scholar from China.

伊利諾伊州一名前博士生因綁架並殺害一名26歲的中國學者被判處終身監禁，免於死刑。

Jurors deliberated for eight hours over two days at the court in Peoria before announcing they were deadlocked on whether 30-year-old Brendt Christensen should be put to death for killing Yingying Zhang.

在皮奧里亞的法庭上，陪審員們在兩天的時間裏商議了8個小時，之後宣佈他們在30歲的布倫特·克里斯滕森是否應該因殺害章瑩穎而被判處死刑的問題上陷入僵局。

Their decision means he will receive a sentence of life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

陪審團的決定意味着克里斯滕森將被判終身監禁，不得假釋。

The jury took less than 90 minutes to convict Christensen last month.

上個月，陪審團用了不到90分鐘的時間就判定克里斯滕森有罪。

Prosecutors called for the death penalty, which Zhang's family also supported, but a jury decision on that had to be unanimous.

檢方要求判處克里斯滕森死刑，章瑩穎的家人也支持這一主張，但陪審團必須對此達成一致。

Christensen lowered his head and smiled at his mother when he heard that his life would be spared.

當克里斯滕森聽說他將被免於死刑時，他低下頭，對着母親微笑了一下。

Zhang's parents, who travelled from China to attend the trial, pleaded with Christensen to reveal what he did with their daughter's remains so that they can be taken back to their home country. Prosecutors indicated in court filings that Christensen may have destroyed Zhang's body.

章瑩穎的父母從中國趕來參加庭審，他們要求克里斯滕森透露他們女兒遺體的下落，以便將之帶回祖國。檢察官在法庭文件中指出，克里斯滕森可能已經毀滅了章瑩穎的屍體。

Speaking through an interpreter, her father, Ronggao Zhang, said: "If you have any humanity left in your soul, please end our torment. Please let us bring Yingying home."

章瑩穎的父親章榮高通過翻譯說：“如果你的靈魂中還殘存一絲人性，請不要再折磨我們。請讓我們帶瑩穎回家。”

Among the most poignant testimony during the penalty phase was from Zhang's mother, Lifeng Ye. She told jurors how the family was devastated by the loss of her beloved daughter, who had aspired to become a professor and to help her working class family financially.

在庭審階段，章瑩穎的母親葉麗鳳的證詞最讓人心酸。她告訴陪審員，她深愛的女兒離世讓全家遭受了沉重的打擊。她的女兒曾立志成爲一名教授，並在經濟上幫助這個工薪家庭。

"How am I supposed to carry on living?" she said in testimony by video. "I really don't know how to carry on."

她在視頻證詞中說：“我該怎麼活下去？我真的不知道怎麼活。”

She said Christensen dashed the dreams of Zhang, who was doing post-graduate research in agricultural science at the University of Illinois, and those of her family. Yingying was killed months before she had planned to get married.

她說，克里斯滕森粉碎了章瑩穎和她家人的夢想。當時來自中國的研究生章瑩穎正在伊利諾伊大學從事農業科學的研究，但她在計劃結婚前幾個月被殺害了。

"My daughter did not get to wear a wedding dress," Lifeng Ye said. "I really wanted to be a grandma."

葉麗鳳說：“我女兒還沒有穿上婚紗，我真的很想當外婆。”

Christensen's parents took the witness stand, too, and appealed to jurors to spare their son's life. Both said they loved him unconditionally.

克里斯滕森的父母也走上證人席，請求陪審員不要同意判處兒子死刑。兩人均表示他們無條件地愛他。

Michael Christensen said the thought of his son being executed was unbearable, prompting Brendt Christensen to break down crying in a rare display of emotion.

邁克爾·克里斯滕森說，他無法忍受兒子被處決，這番話使得極少表露情感的布倫特·克里斯滕森哭了起來。

Ellen Williams, his mother, told jurors that Christensen's crime was "horrible" and that she thinks about Zhang's family "at least five times a day and how horrible this must be for them". She said her son was extremely bright, kind and considerate.

他的母親艾倫·威廉姆斯告訴陪審員，克里斯滕森的罪行是“可怕的”，她每天“至少要想到章瑩穎的家人五次，這對他們來說是多麼可怕”。她說她的兒子非常聰明、善良和體貼。

Brendt Christensen was raised in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He began his studies in Champaign at the University of Illinois's prestigious doctoral program in physics in 2013.

布倫特·克里斯滕森在威斯康辛州的史蒂文斯角長大。2013年，他開始在伊利諾伊大學香檳分校攻讀物理學博士學位。

Despite his academic achievements, Christensen had suffered mental health problems for years, the defence said, and had tried to get help in dealing with homicidal fantasies in the months before killing Zhang.

辯方稱，儘管克里斯滕森在學術上取得了成就，但他多年來一直遭受精神健康問題的困擾，在殺死章瑩穎之前的幾個月裏，他曾試圖在應對殺人幻想方面尋求幫助。