A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Brendt Christensen, a former University of Illinois doctoral student, to life in prison without possibility of release for the kidnapping and killing of Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang after a jury said it was unable to reach a unanimous decision on sentencing him to death or life in prison.
當地時間18日下午，美國伊利諾州中區聯邦法院一位聯邦法官正式宣布：2017年6月謀殺中國訪問學者章瑩穎的兇手克裡斯滕森被判處終身監禁且永不得保釋。因陪審團經過一天的閉門審議後，無法就判處死刑達成一致。
The jury deliberated for roughly eight hours over two days after more than a week of testimony in the trial's penalty phase during which they heard from Zhang's parents and brother, as well as her fiance. Zhang's family traveled to Peoria from their home in China for both the guilt and penalty phases of the trial.
在審判的量刑階段，陪審團聽取了章瑩穎的父母、哥哥以及她的未婚夫的證詞，經過一周多的時間，陪審團在兩天多的時間裡商議了大約8個小時。在審判的量刑和階段，章的家人也從他們在中國的家前往Peoria。
Zhang's father, Zhang Ronggao, called the loss of his daughter "completely unbearable," in court last week.
章瑩穎的父親章榮高上周在法庭上稱女兒的死亡「完全無法承受」。
"To tell you the truth, I do not know how to live the remainder of my life," he said through a translator.
說實話，我不知道如何度過我的餘生，」他通過翻譯說。
The same jurors took less than 90 minutes to convict Christensen last month of kidnapping and killing Zhang.
同樣是這些陪審員，在不到90分鐘的時間裡，就判定克裡斯滕森上個月綁架並殺害章的罪名成立。
Prosecutors and Zhang's family had pushed for the death penalty, but the jury's decision on that had to be unanimous. If even one juror opposed, then the life sentence was applied.
檢察官和章的家人曾要求判處死刑，但陪審團的決定必須是一致的。即使有一名陪審員反對，也會被判處無期徒刑。
Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011, but Christensen was prosecuted under federal law. If he had been sentenced to death, he would have been executed by lethal injection.
伊利諾斯州在2011年廢除了死刑，但克裡斯滕森被聯邦法律起訴。如果他被判死刑，他就會被注射死刑。
Christensen, 30, a former graduate student at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, the same school Zhang Yingying was attending, would have been the first person to be sentenced to death in a federal courthouse in Illinois since 2006, if the jury reached a unanimous verdict that he should be executed.
30歲的克裡斯滕森，是前伊利諾伊大學香檳分校大學的研究生,和章瑩穎同一所學校。如果陪審團就死刑達成意見一致的裁決，這將是伊利諾斯州聯邦法院，自2006年以來第一個被判處死刑的。
Zhang was last seen alive on June 9, 2017, getting into Christensen's black Saturn Astra on the University of Illinois campus after she missed a bus to an appointment. The two did not previously know each other.
章瑩穎最後一次露面是在2017年6月9日，當時她錯過了一輛去赴約的公共汽車，進入了克裡斯滕森的Saturn Astra。兩人之前並不認識。
Christensen's lawyers admitted in June 2017 that he raped and killed the 26-year-old Zhang, and they sought life in prison rather than the death penalty.
克裡斯滕森的律師在2017年6月承認，他強姦並殺害了26歲的章瑩穎，他們尋求的是終身監禁，而不是死刑。
Prosecutors said Christensen raped, choked and stabbed Zhang before beating her to death with a bat and decapitating her. Christensen has never revealed what he did with Zhang's remains.
檢察官說，克裡斯滕森強姦、掐死並刺傷了章，然後用球拍將她打死並斬首。克裡斯滕森從未透露過他是如何處理章瑩穎的遺體的。
FBI investigators testified they found her blood and DNA inside Christensen's Champaign apartment, where the former PhD candidate said he raped, beat and decapitated her, according to a statement he made to his then-girlfriend as they attended a memorial vigil for Zhang. Christensen was unaware his girlfriend was cooperating with the FBI and wearing a wire.
美國聯邦調查局調查人員作證稱，根據他對當時女友的一段在章瑩穎守夜儀式上的陳述，FBI在克裡斯滕森位於香檳的公寓裡發現了她的血液和DNA。克裡斯滕森不知道他的女友正在配合聯邦調查局的調查，而且身上還帶著一根通話線。
The defense tried to cast doubt on the recording, noting that he also claimed he had 12 other victims, a claim the FBI hasn't been able to corroborate. That tape was played for jurors multiple times during trial.
辯方試圖對這段錄音提出質疑，指出他還聲稱自己還有另外12名受害者，而FBI尚未能夠證實這一說法。這盤錄音帶在庭審期間曾多次播放給陪審員聽。
Prosecutors, in seeking the death penalty, presented aggravating factors such as Zhang's killing was pre-meditated, that she died during the commission of another crime – kidnapping, and she was particularly vulnerable because of her small size and limited English-speaking ability.
在尋求判處死刑的過程中，檢方提出了一些加重罪責的因素，比如章瑩穎被殺是有預謀的，她是在另一起犯罪—綁架過程中死亡的，而且由於她的身材嬌小和有限的英語能力，她特別容易受到傷害。
（圖片來源：新華社 記者汪平攝）
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，他們要求克裡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，克裡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。她的女兒曾立志成為一名教授，並在經濟上幫助這個工薪家庭。
poignant['pnjnt]：adj.尖銳的；辛酸的
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，克裡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。」
在宣判後的新聞發布會上，章瑩穎的父親章榮高用中文朗讀了一份聲明：
"While we do not agree with the result, ... we accept that he will spend the rest of his life in prison, which still reflects our loss in a meaningful way," her father said. "We hope that every day he spends in prison he feels the pain and suffering that we feel for the loss of Yingying."
「我們理解一位或幾位陪審員不能做出對被告判處死刑的決定。儘管我們不同意這樣的結果，我們可以接受罪犯將在監獄裡度過餘生，這將在一定意義上彌補我們的創傷。我們希望他在監獄裡面每一天都感受到我們失去瑩穎所感受到的痛苦。」
Reporter：ZHANG RUINAN and JUDY ZHU in Peoria, Illinois
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