The appeal trial of Nicolas Zepeda, accused of the assassination of his ex-partner Narumi Kurosaki in 2016 in Besançon, continues in Vesoul (Haute-Saône). Follow the debates of the third day, minute by minute, in this article. The trial takes place from December 4 to 22, 2023.
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The hearing is suspended for 15 minutes.
11:09 a.m. : Nicolas Zepeda, gets up in his box, to now respond to Me Schwerdorffer. He begins by asking her to clarify her question with some confidence. Besançon’s lawyer asks him why he didn’t say he saw Narumi Kurosaki. The accused launches into his demonstration and details the course of events since Jérémie B.’s call while he was in Chile.“I dispute the fact that the question: ‘have you seen Narumi’ was asked”said the accused. “So he’s lying?” »asks Mr. Schwerdorffer. “No, but that’s not true. », replies Nicolas Zepeda. The witness stands by his statements. “Did you have any problems with Mr. B. before this call in December 2016?continues Me Schwerdorffer. “We don’t have a close relationship, but what he says is very true (…)”, reveals Nicolas Zepeda without forgetting, to everyone’s surprise, to reveal the witness’s infidelity and to specify that he was roommates with the latter’s ex-girlfriend. The witness frowns. “I have no quarrel with him. And I don’t see the connection with the rest”replies the witness.
10:52 a.m. : “Arthur Del Piccolo was very involved in Narumi’s research”, replies Jérémie B. following a question from Etienne Manteaux, general counsel, concerning the victim’s boyfriend at the time. Me Cormier, lawyer for Nicolas Zepeda, takes up the questions. Same strategy as the day before, the lawyer from the Lyon bar tries to blur the role of Arthur Del Piccolo. For information, the latter should testify during this trial, by videoconference. His intervention is particularly awaited.Me Schwerdorffer defends his client Arthur Del Piccolo. “He hides nothing”insists the tenor of the Bisontin bar. “Do you feel like you were mistreated by Mr. Zepeda?” » asks Me Portejoie, lawyer for Nicolas Zepeda. ” Yes of course. He lied to me “, replies the witness. The Clermont-Ferrand lawyer reveals that the witness participated in the television programs Sept à Huit and Crimes, on the case. “It’s not trivial”said Me Portejoie, suspecting the witness of ” settle accounts “.
10:10 a.m. : The lawyers move on to questions from the witness, Jérémie B. Me Galley, lawyer for the victim’s family, questions him about the Zepeda-Kurosaki couple and asks him to clarify linguistic notions in relation to the Japanese language, still in the aim of demonstrating that Nicolas Zepeda used the victim’s phone to send messages to his loved ones. Me Schwerdorffer, replaced by Me Pichoff the first two days of the trial, in turn questions Jérémie B. on the basis of testimony from the time. “No, not really, I haven’t heard from Narumi recently.” I heard from someone that people were wondering where she was. »Nicolas Zepeda responded when Jérémie B. asked him about Narumi Kurosaki. “Why is he lying? Why didn’t he tell me he was with Narumi the week before? He didn’t want anyone to know that he was with her in Besançon.”analyzes the witness.
9:43 a.m. : Jérémie B.’s girlfriend at the time was a very good friend of Narumi Kurosaki. The thirty-year-old, dressed in a dark suit and a sky blue scarf, specifies that he knew the profile of Nicolas Zepeda as “of someone jealous, possessive. A bit of a burden in Narumi’s life ». “My friend actually told me about these character traits of Nicolas Zepeda. » Nicolas Zepeda appears to be taking notes on a sheet placed on his knees, listening attentively to the witness.
9:29 a.m. : The latter contacted Nicolas Zepeda directly, in December 2016, to find out if he had news of the victim, after his disappearance. “I made the link between the absence of Nicolas Zepeda on Tsukuba and the lack of contact with Narumi. I said to myself that perhaps Nicolas could have some news from him. »indicates Jérémie B. “He explained to me that he was in Chile. He sent me a photo of himself on a white background with the flag of Chile. I wondered why he sent me this photo. I had doubts about whether he was really in Chile,” explains Jérémie B. The Chilean is in Santiago and proves it by making a video with passers-by. At this time, Nicolas Zepeda does not speak to him at all about his recent meeting with Narumi Kurosaki and even tells him that he has not seen him for a long time. However, he had seen her the previous week, in Besançon. Nicolas Zepeda also explains to him that Narumi Kurosaki tends to disappear. “He explained to me Narumi’s sometimes difficult character. » The accused also told him that Narumi Kurosaki “exploited”.
I had doubts about the veracity of what he told me. It was a hunch. I was the first to think it might be him, right from the start. Apparently I wasn’t wrong.
Jérémie B., close to Japanese students
9:09 a.m. : Jérémie B. takes the stand. At the time of Narumi Kurosaki’s death, he was a reference teaching professor for exchanges between the University of Tsukuba (Japan) and that of Besançon. He was in Japan. He is of French nationality and therefore speaks in French, live on the stand.The latter knew Nicolas Zepeda. “I had the opportunity to meet him during periods of festivities. He seemed to me to be a very nice person. And I knew about his relationship with Narumi”, explains the man. He spoke with several protagonists in this case at the time of Narumi Kurosaki’s disappearance: Arthur Del Piccolo, Narumi Kurosaki’s boyfriend and Shintaro Obata, Narumi’s friend, for example.Jérémie B. said he heard about the “difficulties in the relationship between Narumi and Nicolas”. It was a close friend of Narumi Kurosaki who confided these facts to her.
9:06 a.m. : The hearing resumes. Nicolas Zepeda multiplies the questions to his lawyers, seated right in front of his dock. He seems to be giving them instructions.
The hearing is expected to begin at 9 a.m. with two new witnesses presented by the defense.. The latter did not testify at first instance.
The second day of the trial of Nicolas Zepeda, accused of the assassination of his Japanese ex-girlfriend Narumi Kurosaki in Besançon in December 2016, was devoted to the hearing of several witnesses. Former classmates and roommates, by videoconference from Japan, spoke of the “feminine” cries heard the night of the disappearance in the Crous residence in Besançon, without being able to locate them precisely.Two friends of the Japanese student confirmed that Nicolas Zepeda was putting pressure on his girlfriend by, for example, hacking her Facebook account.“He harassed her. Nicolas Zepeda tried to stay in touch with her”for example confided one of them.A friend of Nicolas Zepeda also testified. She paints an exemplary portrait of the Chilean woman, actively participating in humanizing the accused:“calm, supportive, caring and very empathetic”in his words.
As a reminder, Nicolas Zepeda was sentenced to 28 years in prison at first instance. He faces life imprisonment. The victim’s body was never found by investigators, despite considerable resources deployed over two years to find his trace.
► (Re)read the full progress of the second day of trial, Tuesday December 5, 2023.
ARCHIVES. From the disappearance of Narumi Kurosaki to the conviction at first instance of Nicolas Zepeda for assassination:
From December 4 to 22, 2023, follow the ongoing debates live in the courtroom of Nicolas Zepeda’s appeal trial in Vesoul. Visit the “LIVE” article on our website every morning.
► Find all our articles on the assassination of Narumi Kurosaki.
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