30年冷案终结：绑架杀害7岁女童的凶手被判终身监禁、不得假释
Bowling Green 位于肯塔基州 Warren County。11月2日，联邦法院在 Bowling Green 对 61 岁的 Robert Scott Froberg 作出量刑：终身监禁、不得假释。1996 年，他在当地绑架并杀害 7 岁女童 Morgan Violi，这桩悬了 30 年的冷案就此终结。据 WBKO 报道，主审法官 Gregory Stivers 表示，这桩案件困扰 Bowling Green 整整 30 年；新刑期与 Froberg 在阿拉巴马州所服的刑期接续执行，他当庭签署文件放弃上诉。
案发经过回到 1996 年。司法部起诉与认罪材料显示，Froberg 于 1988 年在阿拉巴马州因持械抢劫被捕，1996 年 4 月 3 日从阿拉巴马州惩教系统脱逃；同年 5 月，他在宾夕法尼亚州 Mount Carmel 试图把一名 7 岁男孩骗进树屋，未遂后被捕、关入 Northumberland County 监狱；7 月 16 日，他再次脱逃，逃往俄亥俄州 Dayton。
7 月 23 日，Froberg 在父母住所附近盗走一辆栗色 Chevrolet 面包车，南下前往阿拉巴马州 Huntsville。7 月 24 日，他在 Bowling Green 的 Colony Apartments 公寓区先试图掳走 Morgan 的一名玩伴，对方挣脱逃开；随后他抓住 Morgan、把她扔进偷来的面包车，沿 I-65 公路南逃，在田纳西州 White House 出口附近一座谷仓旁停车，将 Morgan 勒死，把遗体留在谷仓附近后逃离现场。遗体约三个月后才在田纳西州被发现。
此后 30 年，尽管执法部门持续追查，案件始终未破。司法部表示，1990 年代以来 DNA 检测技术大幅进步，全国性的 DNA 联合索引系统（CODIS）建成后，调查人员要求对旧物证追加实验室检测——遗弃面包车内一根毛发的比对结果指向当时正在阿拉巴马州服刑的 Froberg，案件由此取得突破。2026 年 2 月 26 日，联邦大陪审团前置的刑事诉状正式起诉 Froberg；据司法部起诉材料，他在接受讯问时供认将 Morgan 驾车带入田纳西州并将其勒死。
2026 年 7 月 22 日，Froberg 在联邦地方法院对一项「绑架致死」罪认罪，并同意接受终身监禁。联邦检察官 Kyle G. Bumgarner 当时表示：「很难想象还有比绑架并杀害一名 7 岁儿童更恶劣的罪行。这一恶行让 Morgan 的家人陷入绝望，开启了 30 年没有答案的追问与折磨般的悲伤。Morgan 的绑架案是这个社区 30 年来未愈的伤口。」
联邦监狱系统没有假释制度，终身监禁意味着 Froberg 将在监狱中度过余生。此案由联邦调查局 FBI 的 Bowling Green 办公室、Bowling Green 警察局与田纳西州 Robertson County 警长办公室查办，联邦检察官 Kyle G. Bumgarner、第一助理检察官 Brian Butler 与助理检察官 Kayla Campbell 负责起诉。（来源：美国司法部）
30-Year Cold Case Ends: Man Who Kidnapped and Murdered a 7-Year-Old Girl Sentenced to Life Without Parole
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Bowling Green is in Warren County, Kentucky. On November 2, a federal court in Bowling Green sentenced Robert Scott Froberg, 61, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 1996 he kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old Morgan Violi here, and the sentence closes a cold case that haunted this community for 30 years. According to WBKO, U.S. District Judge Gregory Stivers said the case has haunted Bowling Green for the last 30 years; the new sentence runs consecutively to the sentence Froberg is serving in Alabama, and he signed papers in court waiving his right to appeal.
The crime dates to 1996. According to Justice Department charging and plea filings, Froberg was arrested for armed robbery in Alabama in 1988 and escaped from the Alabama Department of Corrections on April 3, 1996. That May, in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, he tried to lure a 7-year-old boy into a treehouse; the boy ran to his mother, and Froberg was arrested and jailed in Northumberland County. On July 16, 1996, he escaped again and fled to Dayton, Ohio.
On July 23, Froberg stole a maroon Chevrolet van near his parents' home and drove south toward Huntsville, Alabama. On July 24, at the Colony Apartments in Bowling Green, he first tried to abduct a friend of Morgan's, who broke free. He then grabbed Morgan, threw her into the stolen van and fled south on I-65, exiting at White House, Tennessee, where he pulled over near a barn, strangled Morgan and left her body there. Her remains were found in Tennessee about three months later.
For three decades, despite tireless investigative efforts, the case remained unsolved. The Justice Department says advances in DNA processing since the 1990s, including the creation of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), led investigators to request additional laboratory testing of old evidence; a hair found in the abandoned van was associated with Froberg, who was then serving a long sentence in Alabama. A federal criminal complaint was filed on February 26, 2026; according to the complaint, Froberg confessed in an interview to driving Morgan into Tennessee and strangling her.
On July 22, 2026, Froberg pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of kidnapping resulting in death and agreed to a life sentence. U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner said at the plea: 'It is hard to envision a more egregious crime than the abduction and murder of a 7-year-old child. This evil act left Morgan's family devastated and began 30 years of unanswered questions and torturing sadness. Morgan's abduction has been an open wound in our community for 30 years.'
There is no parole in the federal system, so the life sentence means Froberg will remain in prison for the rest of his life. The case was investigated by the FBI's Bowling Green office, the Bowling Green Police Department and the Robertson County, Tennessee, Sheriff's Office, and prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Butler and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kayla Campbell. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于 Bowling Green 的 Warren County Justice Center（资料图）。OPMaster 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Warren County Justice Center in Bowling Green. By OPMaster, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
