[Law] The New York Times: 50 Years Later, a Break in a Boston Strangler Case

50 Years Later, a Break in a Boston Strangler Case

By JESS BIDGOOD
Published: July 11, 2013

Mary Sullivan, seen here in a photo displayed at a 2000 news conference, was the final victim of the Boston Strangler, officials said Thursday. They plan more DNA tests on the evidence.
(在星期四的正式新聞聲明中表示，照片中的女性就是波士頓勒殺案的最後一位受害者Mary Sullivan。這張照片發表於2000年的新聞記者會中。)

1) BOSTON — Investigators said Thursday that they had linked the man believed by many to have been the Boston Strangler to DNA found in the home of a woman thought to be the Strangler’s last victim in a string of unsolved murders that petrified this city in the early 1960s and has perplexed it ever since.

波士頓新聞：調查小組在星期四表示他們已經找出被大多數人採信是波士頓勒殺案的罪犯與在自家遇害女子的DNA之間的關聯性。這位受害女子被認為是在1960年代早期在波士頓發生的一連串懸而未決的勒殺案當中的最後一位受害者。 波士頓也因為這一連串的勒殺案飽受驚嚇，自此此案件也迷樣般困惑著所有人。

2) Over the course of about 20 months from 1962 to 1964, 11 women ages 19 to 85 were brutally murdered here and in nearby cities, many sexually assaulted and killed in their homes. Mary Sullivan, 19, the last of the victims, was found raped and murdered in her apartment in January 1964.

在1962年到1964年之間的20個月當中，11位年齡介於19到85歲之間的女性在波士頓以及鄰近城市被殘暴殺害，這當中有許多女性是被性侵並死於家中。最後一位受害者，年約19歲的Mary Sullivan, 於1964年1月在家中被姦殺。 

3) “We may have just solved one of the nation’s most notorious serial killings,” said Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts attorney general, at a news conference at Boston Police Headquarters.

麻塞諸塞州(簡稱麻州)的司法部長Martha Coakley在波士頓警察總署的記者招待會說；「我們可能只是解決了這個國家其中一起最兇殘的連續殺人案件。」

• 司法部長; 檢察總長: attorney general (A.G.)

4) District Attorney Daniel F. Conley of Suffolk County said investigators, who included members of the Boston Police Department’s cold case team and the attorney general’s office, had recently tested seminal fluid samples taken from Ms. Sullivan’s body, and the blanket on which it was found.

麻州沙福克縣的地方檢察官Daniel F. Conley表示偵查小組包括波士頓警署冷案組以及司法部最近已經從Sullivan女士身上和找到的毯子上採樣精液。

• 地方檢察官: District Attorney (D.G.)

5) They identified a near-certain match with Albert DeSalvo, the man who confessed to the murders (and two more), but was never prosecuted for the crimes.

偵查小組發現有一個人幾乎完全符合精液採樣比對: 他就是坦承犯了兩起以上的兇殺案卻從未被起訴的Albert DeSalvo.

• 把…(与…密)切联系;认为…(与…)有关联: (v) If you identify one person or thing with another, you think that they are closely associated or involved in some way.
• 起诉；控告；检举: (V) prosecute
• 他因两项刑事罪名受到起诉: He is being prosecuted for two criminal offences.

5) For almost five decades, the only link between Albert DeSalvo and Mary Sullivan was his confession,” Mr. Conley said. “That confession has been the subject of skepticism and controversy from almost the moment it was given.”

Martha Conley說: 「將近這五十年以來, Albert DeSalvo和Mary Sullivan唯一的關連性就是前者的供詞, 而這供詞幾乎是從被說出口的當下就一直被懷疑以及備受爭議。」

6) The new testing brings an element of modern scientific proof to one murder in a case that seemed likely never to be solved, especially after Mr. DeSalvo was killed in 1973 in prison, where he had been sentenced to life for unrelated sexual assault and robbery charges.

Albert DeSalvo曾因一些與他毫無關聯的性侵案以及多起搶劫案而被判處無期徒刑。一件謀殺案更在他1973年在獄中被殺之後，真相彷彿永遠石沉大海；而新進行的案件偵查藉由現代科學的證據為這起謀殺案帶來了一線曙光。

7) It comes as the city revisits two other notorious crimes. Earlier this year, authorities announced they had identified the thieves who robbed the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. And the crime boss James (Whitey) Bulger is standing trial on a sweeping racketeering indictment after he spent more than 16 years on the lam.

這得回溯到福克縣的另外兩起殘暴犯罪案。在今年初，官方宣布他們已經確認了在1990年犯下Isabella Stewart Gardner 博物館搶案的搶匪；而犯罪首腦James (Whitey) Bulger在歷經逃亡超過16年之後因被控以大範圍的敲詐勒索罪而現正接受

審判中。

• 接受審判: stand trial 
• 敲詐勒索犯: (n) recketeer
• 起訴: (n) indictment
• 逃亡, 在逃: on the lam (= at large)

8) Don Hayes, of the Boston Police Department crime lab, found the blanket among a trove of police evidence in 1998, and the department received slides with the sample taken from Ms. Sullivan’s body in the early 2000s. But early attempts to recover usable DNA samples were inconclusive. So Mr. Hayes stored the samples and waited for technology to improve. Last fall, investigators sent the samples to two private labs for another try — and this time got a DNA profile for an unknown male.

1998年，波士頓警署犯罪研究室的Don Hayes在一批警方證據中發現了那條毯子；2000年代早期，警署也從Mary Sullivan身上採樣到微細證據。但一開始他們想要嘗試看看能否復原之前這些可用的DNA樣本，卻是無法做出定論；所以Don Hayes將這些樣本保存起來等待著未來科技的進步或許能幫得上忙。去年秋天，調查人員將樣本送到兩間私人實驗室，試試看能得到甚麼。而這次，我們得到了一位不知名男性的DNA序列。

9) “The evidence in this case never changed, but the scientific ability to use that evidence has surpassed every hope and expectation of investigators who were first assigned to the case,” Mr. Conley said.

Martha Coakley表示：「這起案件的證據從來都沒有改變過，但現代科學能做到的卻已經超越了每個調查人員的希望與期待。」

10) Those DNA profiles matched one from a water bottle that had recently been used and discarded by a nephew of Mr. DeSalvo’s, which investigators had obtained by trailing him. Investigators said they used a test of male chromosomes passed from generation to generation, and found a match that gave them virtual certainty of Mr. DeSalvo’s guilt.

調查人員跟蹤Albert DeSalvo的姪子時取得他使用過並丟棄的水瓶中也驗出相同的DNA序列。調查小組表示他們透過世代遺傳的DNA圖譜，發現相符合的染色體讓他們找到相符的對象，也讓他們更加肯定是Albert DeSalvo所犯下的罪。

• 感謝生科系博士候選人廖振捷先生的奉獻，讓DNA profiles正名為DNA"序列"，而非原先由我這個門外漢翻的"排列"；以及對於人類染色體的詳盡解說，拯救了我那個因為想破腦還是想不出來到最後只好用"代代相傳"的翻譯能變得不那麼爆笑。(獻花)

11) A Superior Court judge in Boston granted permission on Wednesday to exhume Mr. DeSalvo’s remains so that a final identification could be made. That process could conclude as early as next week.

波士頓高等法官星期三時正式批准挖出Albert DeSalvo的遺骸以做出最終判決。最快下星期可得到結論。

• 正式批准: grant permission
• 挖掘; 挖出, 掘出(屍體): (v) exhume

12) In the early 2000s, investigators hired by the families of Mr. DeSalvo and Ms. Sullivan discovered DNA on Ms. Sullivan’s body that did not belong to her or to Mr. DeSalvo. That and inconsistencies between Mr. DeSalvo’s confession and police fact-finding about the case led some investigators to conclude he had not committed that murder.

2000年代前期，由Albert DaSalvo的家人以及Marry Sullivan所聘僱的調查人員在Sullivan女士的身上發現了並不屬於她也不屬於Albert DaSalvo的DNA。 這項發現，以及Albert DaSalvo的供詞與警方找到的證據之間的不一致，讓有些調查人員認為他並沒有犯下這起謀殺案。

13) It all added to a body of speculation that the Boston Strangler was more than one man — a possibility that was often raised by lawyers for the DeSalvo family and by Casey Sherman, who is the son of Ms. Sullivan’s sister.

這所有的事情加在一起引發了大幅度的猜測，且這可能性是常被DeSalvo家族的律師以及Sullivan女士的妹妹的兒子Casey Sherman所提及的：波士頓勒殺者不只有一人。

14) But the new evidence “provides an incredible amount of closure to myself and my mother,” said Mr. Sherman, 44, an author who wrote a book about the Strangler case. “I’ve lived with Mary’s memory every day, my whole life.”

44歲的Sherman女士，同時也是寫過一本關於勒殺者案件的書的作者說：但這新的證據「對於我自己跟我媽媽來說，提供的是一種令人難以置信的結論。」「我這一生每天，都活在Mary的記憶裡。」

15) The lawyer who represents the DeSalvo family, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, said that the family took umbrage at having been trailed for a DNA sample — and that while the evidence was strong, she did not find it conclusive.

代表DeSalvo家族的律師Elaine Whitfield Sharp說DeSalvo家族的人對於曾經被跟蹤採樣DNA這件事感到很憤怒，並表示就算證據確鑿，仍無法令人信服。

16) “Just because you find DNA that matches somebody on their body doesn’t mean that they murdered them,” Ms. Sharp said.

Sharp女士說：「就只是因為你在某個人身體裡找到了相符合的DNA也不代表他犯下謀殺案。」

17) While the authorities say the evidence about Mr. DeSalvo’s role in Ms. Sullivan’s death is all but decisive, they acknowledged that it applied only to her murder, not to any of the others to which Mr. DeSalvo confessed.

官方表示所有的證據說明了Albert DeSalvo在Sullivan女士的死所佔的角色是極為肯定的，但他們也承認這僅能證明Sullivan女士的死與他有關，但並不能用來證明其他任何Albert DaSalvon所坦承犯下的謀殺案與他的相關性。

18) “We don’t claim with certainty that Albert DeSalvo is a suspect in each of them,” Mr. Conley said. “But we do believe that we stand on the threshold of unprecedented certainty regarding Mary Sullivan’s murder.”

Conley說：「我們並不能肯定Albert DeSalvo就是這每一起謀殺案的嫌犯，但關於Mary Sullivan謀殺案，我們的確確認了以前難以確定的事情，而這只是個開端。」

•  (某事发生或改变的)界限，阈，起始点：(n) A threshold is an amount, level, or limit on a scale. When the threshold is reached, something else happens or changes.