“Narumi was afraid of him”: the Japanese friends of Narumi Kurosaki testified Thursday, on the third day of the trial of Nicolas Zepeda, accused of having murdered her in Besançon in 2016, returning to the complicated relationship between the Japanese student and her Chilean ex-boyfriend.
The young women, who were studying with Narumi Kurosaki in Besançon when she disappeared in early December 2016, were heard from 8:00 a.m. by the Doubs Assize Court, by videoconference from the Tokyo court where it was 3:00 p.m.
During an evening at the end of November between Japanese students, “Narumi said that she had a problem with her ex-boyfriend (Nicolas Zepeda)” who “had hacked her Facebook account” and was watching her on the internet, said Kaori Nishida .
“Even when they were dating, there were similar problems,” continued the young woman with long black hair, in a white blouse. “Once separated, Narumi was afraid of him,” she said.
In Besançon, Narumi Kurosaki was in a relationship with a Frenchman, Arthur Del Piccolo, but Nicolas Zepeda “continued to write to her and she told me about her persistent attachment”, abounded Miharu Kimura. “He had told her that he would come to find her in France, she did not know what to do”, she assured, “she was very annoyed”.
Japanese students are among the first to worry about her disappearance, which occurred on December 5, 2016, and to report her absence: “Narumi was very serious and, all of a sudden, she no longer came to class”. His friends then receive strange messages from him, but they soon suspect that someone is writing for him.
A few days later, when opening his room in Cité U, Miharu Kimura noticed that a suitcase was missing, as well as a blanket: “I had the feeling that something gloomy had happened”.
White shirt and fitted tie, Nicolas Zepeda, who firmly denied having killed the Japanese student from the first day of the trial, listened very carefully to these testimonies from the dock.
His first questioning on the facts, scheduled from 2:00 p.m. Thursday, should be a highlight of the trial.
“Let’s be optimistic, maybe we can expect the truth from Nicolas Zepeda, and tell us what actually happened with Narumi,” Arthur Del Piccolo’s lawyer told reporters on Wednesday. Mr. Randall Schwerdorffer.
The 31-year-old Chilean faces life imprisonment. The trial is scheduled to continue until April 12.