美女自导自演泼硫酸毁容案 震惊美国

源济

美联社    2010-09-17 16:10:16

    据9月17日美联社、美国有线新闻网(CNN)等报道，过去半个月来，一桩毛骨悚然的硫酸毁容案成了美国民众关注的焦点：28岁的受害人、华盛顿州温哥华市女子贝桑尼·斯托罗称自己8月30日晚遭一名陌生黑人女子泼硫酸，导致脸部严重烧伤毁容。当贝桑尼的恐怖毁容照曝光后，震惊全美。贝桑尼一夜之间成为媒体红人，脱口秀女王欧普拉也邀请她上节目。然而警方最新调查发现，这起案件竟是贝桑尼一手自导自演的骗局，她自己把硫酸泼到脸上才导致毁容的。

　　贝桑尼本是一名相貌清甜可人的美女。按照贝桑尼向警方提供的说法，8月30日晚，她独自开车到市中心的繁华商业街购物，买了一幅太阳镜。晚7点15分，她将车停在一家星巴克咖啡店门口。戴着太阳镜的贝桑尼刚一下车，一名手拿杯子的黑人陌生女子就走到她面前并问：“嗨，漂亮女孩，你想喝杯这种饮料吗？”

　　贝桑尼称，还没等她反应过来，那名黑人女子竟将杯子里的“饮料”朝她脸上猛地泼去。贝桑尼顿时感到一阵撕心裂肺的剧烈疼痛。贝桑尼称，她疼得大声尖叫呼救，然而等她意识到杯中“饮料”可能是硫酸的时候，那名黑人女子已无影无踪。

　　硫酸导致贝桑尼的脸部严重烧伤毁容。不幸中的万幸，贝桑尼的眼睛奇迹般地没受到任何伤害。贝桑尼称，这多亏她当时正戴着刚刚买的太阳镜。

当这桩毛骨悚然的硫酸毁容案曝光后，震惊全美。贝桑尼躺在病床上的恐怖毁容照片更是令无数美国人动容。案发后，警方立即组成专案组展开全面调查，警方根据贝桑尼描述的嫌犯特征“一名梳着马尾辫的黑人女子”，制作了一幅嫌犯的模拟素描画，并反复通过电视台播放，呼吁民众提供线索。一时间华盛顿州温哥华市人心惶惶，所有人都怕自己成为下一个受害人。

　　连日来，全美各大电视新闻网都不断播出与硫酸毁容案有关的各种报道，贝桑尼多次接受采访含泪讲述自己的惨痛遭遇，她也收到大量好心人寄来的捐款捐物。

　　16日，警方宣布，最新调查发现，这起案件是贝桑尼一手自导自演的骗局，贝桑尼已经向调查人员承认。但警方称，目前仍不清楚贝桑尼究竟是不慎，还是故意把硫酸泼到自己脸上，她这么做的动机仍是一个谜。调查人员将对贝桑尼的精神状态作进一步检查。

　　真相曝光后，再次震惊全美。警方宣布将会把好心人捐给贝桑尼的所有钱物全数退还。警方透露，目前贝桑尼对于这一骗局引发的巨大关注感到“非常沮丧”，因为她也没有想到事情会闹得如此之大。

源济

Police: Washington state woman made up acid attack story
By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

    * A Washington state woman made up her claim of an attacker throwing acid, police say
    * Bethany Storro, who was hospitalized, now may face charges
    * Police conducted search of her residence

Read more about this story at CNN affiliate KATU.



(CNN) -- A 28-year-old woman who said an unknown assailant threw a cup of caustic liquid in her face has admitted her injuries were self-inflicted, Vancouver, Washington, police said Thursday.

Bethany Storro was being interviewed by detectives, and whether she will be charged will be up to prosecutors, police said.

"She is extremely upset," said police Commander Marla Schuman. "She is very remorseful. In many ways it got bigger than she expected."

Police would not speculate on Storro's motives, only saying the August 30 incident did not occur as she described and that there were discrepancies in her account, including wearing sunglasses in the evening.

They also had questions about the liquid's splash patterns on Storro's face.

Officers acquired a search warrant and conducted a search Thursday morning. They removed several undisclosed items, but said they did not find a substance that might have caused her injuries.

Vancouver had searched for an assailant, described as an African-American woman with an athletic build and slicked-back hair pulled into a pony tail.

Storro was released from an Oregon hospital on September 5 after undergoing surgery for her injuries after the alleged attack.

Police spent hundreds of hours on the case and the community came together to offer donations for Storro's treatment.

"It has had an impact on our community," said Police Chief Clifford Cook. "It has brought negative attention on our community that is undeserved."

Storro's family was also being interviewed, police said. They described her as being in a fragile mental state.

Storro credited a new pair of sunglasses -- which she said she bought just 20 minutes before the attack -- with saving her eyesight.

"God is watching over me," Storro, of Vancouver, told CNN affiliate KATU in Portland, Oregon, at the time. "I believe in him. That his hands are on me and I can't live the rest of my life like that -- in fear. I can't let what she did to me wreck my life."

Storro told KATU that she had stopped at a Vancouver Starbucks about 7:15 p.m., just after she had gone back to buy a pair of sunglasses that she had seen earlier. The woman walked up to her and said, "Hey pretty girl, do you want to drink this?"

When Storro declined, the woman threw the contents of the cup in her face and ran off, Storro claimed at the time.