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美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Atlanta Monster' Podcast Hopes To 'Close The Door' On 1970s Child Murders

时间:2018-02-11 02:06:08

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(单词翻译)

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Living in Atlanta in the late 1970s, early '80s, we heard this question every night.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?

KELLY: Do you know where your children are? And the reason that TV news started broadcasting that question every night was many people didn't know where their children were. Kids were disappearing. Their bodies would turn up in the woods, strangled. Between 1979 and 1981, at least 28 black children and young adults were killed in Atlanta. The Atlanta child murders - they're the focus of the true crime podcast Atlanta Monster. And the creators of that podcast, Payne Lindsey and Donald Albright, join me now. Welcome to you both.

PAYNE LINDSEY: Hey, how you doing?

DONALD ALBRIGHT: Thanks for having us.

KELLY: I was a kid in Atlanta then. I was 8 or 9 years old, so the same age as some of the kids who were disappearing. And I remember the fear that gripped Atlanta in those years. For those who don't know the story, I wonder if you would just recap briefly1 what started happening in 1979.

LINDSEY: It started with African-American kids just going missing. And the police had no idea what was going on. They didn't know if it was a serial2 killer3 or if there was any pattern to this at all. But as the numbers grew, the community in Atlanta became very paranoid and started lobbying for the government to do something about this.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: We are paying people to maintain the safety of the streets of the city of Atlanta. If the safety of the city of Atlanta is not maintained, then the people that we are hiring to do that job need to be looked at carefully. If that job is not done, then we need to look towards why we are paying people not to do a job.

LINDSEY: And as about two years went by, the number was near 30 African-American kids who had turned up murdered. And so all the law enforcement agencies were on this hunt for this mysterious serial killer. And the entire city and really the nation was on high alert.

KELLY: And, I mean, part of the, you know, uncertainty4 as this started unfolding was disagreement over whether this was a serial killer or not, what exactly was happening. I mean, even some of the parents weren't quite sure what to make of this situation.

ALBRIGHT: Yeah. I mean, there was up to, I think, at least 14 victims. They still weren't sure that this was a serial killer or that these were even patterned cases. So the FBI got involved after 14 children had been missing. Some had already been found murdered.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: St. Anthony's Church was crowded with Patrick Baltazar's family, his friends and classmates. The shock of his disappearance5 10 days ago had barely sunk in when they learned Friday that his body had been found. Patrick's fellow fifth-graders sat quietly, attentively6, wondering why their friend had been taken from them.

ALBRIGHT: You know, a lot of back-and-forth. And ultimately all the law enforcement organizations got involved. At the time, it was the largest task force ever assembled with over 400 agents. So, you know, it ended up getting the nation's attention and the attention of law authorities.

KELLY: Yeah. And part of what your podcast focuses on in telling this story is how differently different neighborhoods and communities in Atlanta viewed what was going on. I mean, people in black neighborhoods - and we mentioned this was - all the kids going missing were black - they saw this as city leaders and Atlanta police not stepping up to protect them. Is that right, Donald?

ALBRIGHT: Yeah. So what I see is, you know, they looked at these kids and said, OK, well, that kid is probably a runaway7. That's what they say a lot of times when it's a poor black child that goes missing - probably a runaway, probably turn up in a week or two or went to his friend's house. No big deal. And then these kids were gone for long periods of time. And then bodies were, you know, being discovered. And then it took - then it was the fight to get the deaths noticed. And it's just one of those things where I think people wish that it wasn't what it was. But the fact that these were victims that you could easily ignore - you know, I think that played a lot into it.

KELLY: Let me fast-forward us to May 1981. By this point, there was a huge manhunt underway. Cops were staking out bridges crossing the Chattahoochee River. And I remember that so vividly8 because the Chattahoochee River runs right past my old school. Our football field backed up to it. And on this one particular evening, a police surveillance team is staking out a bridge right there, and they hear a big splash.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MIKE MCCOMAS: And I remember getting on the radio and asking, you know, what's going on? And all I heard was something about a splash.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MCCOMAS: I had a '77 Ford9 LTD with 400 Big Block in it. And I can tell you I scorched10 tires getting up there because I said something's happening. And I just felt it.

KELLY: They were at the bridge on this stakeout that night because they had been finding children's bodies in the river. Is that right?

LINDSEY: That is correct.

KELLY: OK, so that's the moment where they see Wayne Williams, the man who would eventually be charged and convicted in connection with the child murders. What happened?

LINDSEY: A police recruit heard a splash down there in the water by the bridge. And that was FBI Special Agent Mike McComas. And he was in charge of the bridge stakeouts in Atlanta. There was about 14, 15 bridges they were staking out for 30 days. And this recruit hears a loud splash which he thinks is a body, shines his flashlight on the water, doesn't see anything, but sees ripples11. They see a car up there on the bridge. They stop it. And then they find Wayne Williams. And, you know, after that they began to tail Wayne Williams and look into this guy. And he was...

KELLY: They didn't arrest him right away.

LINDSEY: They didn't. They let them go that night.

ALBRIGHT: But three days later, the body of Nathaniel Cater12 was found about 500 yards downriver. So that's what clued them into that that must, you know - they theorized that was the body that he dropped that night. And it wasn't long after that that he was arrested.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Wayne Williams is an Atlantan (ph) born and bred, 23 years old, a product of the city's public school system. People who know Williams say he is a highly intelligent young man, a good student when he was in school.

KELLY: All that said and done, he was convicted and sentenced in 1982. But that was for the murders of two young adults. They never actually tried him or anybody else in court for the children's deaths. Why not?

LINDSEY: That's the biggest question that surrounds this case, is if Wayne Williams is the Atlanta monster, is the Atlanta child murderer, then why was he only convicted of killing13 two adults? And that's how the families feel. That's how some people in the community feel. It just doesn't add up all the way.

KELLY: And was part of it he was arrested and the killings14 stopped?

LINDSEY: That's one thing that the FBI kind of hangs their hat on, is that the killings stopped. Obviously, the killings didn't stop entirely15. Unfortunately, there's been other kids who have been murdered since 1982. I think what they really mean is that the patterned cases decreased.

ALBRIGHT: And it was a shaky pattern to begin with. Some of these kids had stab wounds. Some of them had genital mutilation. Some of them were beaten with objects. Some of them were just strangled. They were found in various places, various counties. So there's not a distinct pattern that you would think of like when you - you know, people who are accustomed to watching serial killer movies or hearing about these serial killer calling cards, there was nothing like that that definitively16 tied Wayne Williams to all these victims.

KELLY: It sounds like having spent months and months investigating this, you two have more questions now than when you began.

LINDSEY: Yeah. I mean, this case is so complicated, it's so convoluted17, there's information everywhere that sometimes, like you said, the more you dig, the more questions you have. But in that same process, you're answering some of the questions, too. And I think that there's just so much gray area in this case it's time to - for somebody, something, a project like this to close the door on this thing. It's been way too long. And this, to me, is one of the last chances to do it.

KELLY: Payne Lindsey and Donald Albright, creators of the true crime podcast Atlanta Monster, thanks to you both.

ALBRIGHT: Thank you. I appreciate it.

LINDSEY: Thanks.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 briefly 9Styo     
adv.简单地,简短地
参考例句:
  • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
  • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
2 serial 0zuw2     
n.连本影片,连本电视节目;adj.连续的
参考例句:
  • A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
  • Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗?
3 killer rpLziK     
n.杀人者,杀人犯,杀手,屠杀者
参考例句:
  • Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
  • The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。
4 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物
参考例句:
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。
5 disappearance ouEx5     
n.消失,消散,失踪
参考例句:
  • He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
  • Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。
6 attentively AyQzjz     
adv.聚精会神地;周到地;谛;凝神
参考例句:
  • She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时,她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着,把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 runaway jD4y5     
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的
参考例句:
  • The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
  • He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。
8 vividly tebzrE     
adv.清楚地,鲜明地,生动地
参考例句:
  • The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
  • The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。
9 Ford KiIxx     
n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过
参考例句:
  • They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上,所以我们只能涉水过河。
  • If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪,必须极度小心。
10 scorched a5fdd52977662c80951e2b41c31587a0     
烧焦,烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(植物)枯萎,把…晒枯; 高速行驶; 枯焦
参考例句:
  • I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
  • The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。
11 ripples 10e54c54305aebf3deca20a1472f4b96     
逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
  • The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。
12 cater ickyJ     
vi.(for/to)满足,迎合;(for)提供饮食及服务
参考例句:
  • I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
  • Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。
13 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
14 killings 76d97e8407f821a6e56296c4c9a9388c     
谋杀( killing的名词复数 ); 突然发大财,暴发
参考例句:
  • His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
  • The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
15 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
16 definitively bfa3c9e3e641847693ee64d5d8ab604b     
adv.决定性地,最后地
参考例句:
  • None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
  • Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此,没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网
17 convoluted NvnzlG     
adj.旋绕的;复杂的
参考例句:
  • The snake slithered through a convoluted path.蛇在羊肠小道上爬行。
  • The policy is so convoluted even college presidents are confused.这项政策太令人费解,甚至连大学校长们也是一头雾水。

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