Nicolas Zepeda trial: what he says about the sensitive points of the investigation

The suspect in the murder of Narumi Kurosaki, his ex-girlfriend, is tried in court. before the Vesoul Court of Appeal.

This Tuesday, December 19, marks the eleventh day of interrogation in the trial of Nicolas Zepeda, a 33-year-old Chilean. He appeared before the courts for the second time after a first prison sentence. 28 years of imprisonment during his trial at first instance in 2022. He is accused of of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Narumi Kurosaki, a 21-year-old Japanese student. The young woman was killed on the night of December 4 to 5, 2016, at Besançon. The accused was 26 years old at the time.

Since December 4 and until December 22, Nicolas Zepeda appeared before the Court of Appeal of Vesoul in Haute-Saône, where he was convicted. he continues to deny the accusations made against him, as during his first trial. This Monday, December 18, he affirmed: Be ready to take on respond to "this horrible accusation for something he didn't do", as relayed by Le Monde. 

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However, this second trial is marked by the confused and sometimes contradictory comments of the accused. This Tuesday, December 19 in the morning during the opening of the hearing, Sylvie Galley, the lawyer for the victim's family, questioned him about his purchases matches and a can of gasoline near Dijon in November 2016. The accused came to barely arriving in France from Chile to surprise his girlfriend. According to him, it was an “impulsive purchase”. And to add that "sometimes (he) makes stupid purchases," by AFP. That November night, the accused then went to the forest in the Dole sector. Why? The young man assures that he was looking for his route and where to go. he would have seen "villages, with Christmas lights" and would therefore have decided to to linger there. For investigators, it is possible that this wooden space either the place where Nicolas Zepeda filed the body of the victim, never found.

When the accused was interviewed on the facts of the night of the tragedy, one of the lawyers for the civil parties, Randall Schwerdorffer, affirmed that in front of journalists this Monday that the version he gave is "diametrically opposed to what" “the one he gave at first instance.” Nicolas Zepeda affirmed; that he and his girlfriend had a protected intimate relationship at night but no trace of a condom was found. found in the student's room. For the lawyer these are "phenomenal lies". Renaud Portejoie, the accused's lawyer, himself admitted that his client's answers were sometimes confused, specifying that he " “presses in a certain way” as shown. in the South-West.

This Tuesday, December 19, Me Schwerdorffer asked &àgrave; the accused why the latter was not worried? when he learned of Narumi's disappearance on December 6 when he returned to Chile. Indeed, Nicolas Zepeda claims to have telephoned her. &àgrave; the young woman from Chile. France 3 shared this Tuesday morning the lawyer's statements: "The appeal to Narumi from Chile does not exist sir. Under the control of Mr. President, the victim's phone never indicated your call”. This àgrave; what did the accused do? replied: "That is incorrect." The trial is due to conclude this Friday, December 22.