A few hours before the verdict, Nicolas Zepeda said once again that he was not guilty of the murder of his Japanese ex-girlfriend in the Doubs, of which he is accused.
Until the end, Nicolas Zepeda denies the crime for which he is accused. The Chilean currently on trial in Besançon for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Narumi, said a few hours before the verdict that he was not the culprit. “I’m not who I want, but I’m not an assassin … I’m not Narumi’s assassin,” he said Tuesday morning, quoted by “L’Est Républicain”. “I never wanted to be in the middle of Narumi’s family pain. I never wanted to be in the middle of my poor family’s pain, in the middle of my own pain,” he added. Many elements overwhelming the young man were presented during the two weeks of trial. And if his lawyers confirmed that he had come from Chile to Besançon to watch his former Japanese girlfriend, who came to study in France, they assured that he was not his murderer. No more than the manipulator described by the relatives of the victim.
Narumi disappeared on the night of December 4–5, 2016. She had just shared a meal with her former companion who claims to have brought her back to her room and then left. CCTV footage shows the suspect walked out of her home alone. However, the body of the young woman was not found at her home. “L’Est Républicain” indicated at the time that the building located on campus has an emergency door at the back. On the landing of this door, traces were found ten days after the disappearance of the victim. A fingerprint corresponding to that of Nicolas Zepeda was found on a cup. On Monday, CCTV footage was revealed showing a mysterious prowler walking under Narumi’s window at the time of her disappearance. This individual was filmed at the exact moment when Nicolas Zapeda’s car was itself geolocated on campus. Even more disturbing, the description of this person corresponds to that made at the time by at least two witnesses, resembling the former companion of the victim.
“We need these answers to mourn”
At the start of the trial, relatives of the student said that she had told them of her fears about her ex, who she said had started harassing her and had even hacked into her Facebook account. He couldn’t stand her dating another boy. Videos showing him threatening the girl also resurfaced on the Internet at the start of the investigation. Another overwhelming element for him: this day of November 17, 2016, when, from Chile, he reserved a car in France. A car used from November 30 to December 7, during which the man went near his ex’s university residence. The police noted during their investigation that he then chained the journeys between Besançon and Dijon, passing several times in wooded areas, forests and near rivers. “I am speaking to Nicolas Zepeda, to obtain an answer to what happened on the night of December 4 to 5, 2016… Why, how, under what circumstances… And above all a very important question: where is Narumi ? We need these answers to mourn,” the victim’s boyfriend said on Tuesday, looking directly at the accused.
After the alleged crime, Nicolas Zepeda returned to his home in Chile, earning him an international arrest warrant. It took months for the Chilean justice to agree to extradite the young man to France in 2020, when there is no official agreement between the two countries. He was then officially charged.