Chilean Nicolas Zepeda, suspected of murdering his Japanese ex-girlfriend in France in 2016, is due to be extradited to Paris on Thursday, paving the way for a possible trial in this resounding case. This procedure relaunches this judicial soap opera which has held the Japanese media in suspense for more than 3 and a half years, cutting through the relative indifference of Chileans for this file.
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Presented to justice in Besançon
On Wednesday evening, earlier than expected, the Chilean police came to pick up Nicolas Zepeda at his home, in an opulent building in the seaside resort of Viña del Mar, some 120 kilometers from the capital, for his transfer to the airport. from Santiago. The sole suspect in the murder of Narumi Kurosaki, under house arrest to "avoid a possible danger of flight", according to Chilean justice, will then be officially handed over Thursday to French agents of the national transfer service two hours before boarding a Air France flight to Paris.
Nicolas Zepeda, 29, will be notified of the execution of his international arrest warrant upon his arrival at Paris Roissy airport, according to a source close to the investigation. The investigators will then take her to Besançon, a city in eastern France where the young woman resided, and will be brought before the courts which will rule on her placement in pre-trial detention.
"Screams of terror, cries"
Narumi Kurosaki, a 21-year-old student, lived on the Besançon university campus where she was last seen on December 4, 2016. Nicolas Zepeda, son of a wealthy Chilean family, was her former boyfriend. According to the investigation, shortly before Narumi's disappearance, the two young people had distanced themselves and the Japanese student had started a new relationship, arousing the jealousy of the Chilean, who was then in his country. The Besançon prosecutor Etienne Manteaux visited Chile in April 2019 with an examining magistrate and two investigators.
Seven months later, he announced that the investigation was "closed" and that the "34 months of investigations" justified "the request for extradition of Nicolas Zepeda to appear before the Assize Court of Besançon for the assassination of Narumi Kurosaki ". According to investigators, Nicolas Zepeda went to the city in early December 2016 to see the young woman. On the evening of December 4, the day before she disappeared, they returned to Narumi's home together. That night, according to the prosecutor, several students heard "howls of terror, cries", but "no one notified the police".
Geolocated in a wooded area of the Jura
Nicolas Zepeda had met the student in Japan in 2014. He fell head over heels in love with her and introduced her to his family. According to the geolocation of his rental car, on December 6, 2016 at dawn, the suspect went to a wooded area in the Jura mountain range, where investigators believe he got rid of the body. A few days earlier, he had bought matches and a can of flammable product, according to the investigation. Despite extensive research, the body has never been found.
In a letter sent by the suspect to the Chilean authorities, Nicolas Zepeda had recounted going to see Narumi in Besançon in early December 2016 and that they then "realized that they were still in love". He said he spent part of the night of December 4 to 5 with her, but then said he left alone.