The 31-year-old Chilean, who had displayed almost flawless phlegm since the start of his trial, finally broke down on Thursday, agitated with tears, cries and tremors.
“I didn’t kill Narumi! I want to know too!“: in a cry mingled with sobs, Nicolas Zepeda persisted in his version Thursday, April 7, during a final interrogation under high tension before the Doubs Assize Court where he appears for the assassination of his ex-girlfriend Japanese Narumi Kurosaki.
Read alsoZepeda trial: “a woman’s shrill cries” the night of Narumi’s alleged assassination
The last outstretched hand came from his own lawyer, Me Jacqueline Laffont. “Are you able to help find this body today?she told him softly, looking him in the eye. “I don’t know where she is, I didn’t kill Narumi, I want to know too», answers Nicolas Zepeda. A sentence so repeated during the four hours of the summary interrogation, that he will end up crying in tears while banging his fist.
“Can we imagine that an argument would have turned out badly?“, suggests Me Laffont to his destabilized client. “Do you want to say something here, one last time?“. “There are many things you can blame me for, I’m not a perfect person, but I didn’t kill Narumi“, he persists.
The 31-year-old Chilean, who had displayed almost flawless phlegm since the start of his trial in Besançon on March 29, ended up breaking down, agitated with tears, cries and tremors, from the start of the afternoon. , pushed to the limit by Me Sylvie Galley, the lawyer for the family of the Japanese student who disappeared in December 2016 in Besançon.
“In your dreams, Mr. Zepeda, do you see Narumi dead or alive?», asks the lawyer. “I see her happyhe replies, bursting into tears. In an attempt to break the resistance of the accused in a particularly intense exchange, Me Galley had photos of Narumi projected, appealed to her filial love or to her Catholic faith. In vain. “He is unable to admit anything, even the most banal things. He’s the one who holds the keys and he won’t give them away“, regretted Me Galley at the suspension of hearing.
“What a night ?”
In the first moments of this interrogation, Nicolas Zepeda had nevertheless shown himself unshakeable. “It is established that you spent the night of December 4 to 5, 2016 with Narumi, that after that, no one saw her alive, unlike you who was seen again“, the apostrophe from the outset the president of the Assize Court of Doubs, Matthieu Husson.
“Do you want to tell us what happened?he urges again. “What night are you referring to?“replies the accused, triggering sighs in the courtroom. The date specified, he finally lets go: “I already answered this question, that night I was sleeping“.
Since the beginning of his trial, Nicolas Zepeda willingly answers questions with other questions, takes over the interpreters responsible for the simultaneous translation from Spanish to French and continues with vague explanations.
According to the prosecution, the Chilean traveled to Besançon to find Narumi Kurosaki, who had left him a few weeks earlier. He spies on her then meets her and spends the night of December 4 to 5, 2016 with her in her student room. From “female screechesare heard that night.
Also according to the prosecution, Nicolas Zepeda killed Narumi, disposed of her body in a forest in the Jura, then sent messages to the relatives of the 21-year-old student through his social media accounts to delay the launch. research, the time to return to Chile.
“Are you afraid of your daddy?”
Present since the start of the trial on the first bench of the public, the parents of Nicolas Zepeda, who came from Chile, were invited to the debate on Thursday.
“Do you fear your daddy, Mr. Zepeda?asks the president of the court. The young man had indicated that he had informed his mother of his trip to Europe in December 2016, but had hidden it from his father because “he would be angry“.
“What do you think of his reaction if you do something wrong?he insists, relaying an impression that the father’s presence plays a role in the son’s stubbornness. Here again, the accused is satisfied with the most vague answer. The pleadings of the lawyers and the requisitions must begin Monday before the verdict expected on Tuesday.