The appeal trial of Chilean Nicolas Zepeda, sentenced in April in Besançon to 28 years in prison for the assassination of his Japanese ex-girlfriend Narumi Kurosaki, will be held from February 21 to March 10, 2023 in Vesoul, said Friday, October 7 a judicial source.
The first president of the Besançon Court of Appeal issued an order on Wednesday fixing the date of the session of the Assize Court of Haute-Saône and the Territory of Belfort, which will be exclusively devoted to the appeal trial of Nicolas Zepeda .
28 years of imprisonment
The public prosecutor of Besançon, Étienne Manteaux, will again represent the public prosecutor during this appeal trial scheduled for a maximum of three weeks, but which could be shorter depending on the content of the debates, according to the same judicial source.
During the first instance trial which was held over a fortnight in March and April last before the Doubs Assize Court, Étienne Manteaux had requested life imprisonment for the 31-year-old Chilean.
He was sentenced on April 12 to 28 years in prison for the murder of Narumi Kurosaki in December 2016 in Besançon, where the 21-year-old was studying.
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Nicolas Zepeda did not cease throughout his trial to proclaim his innocence, despite numerous incriminating elements, appealed against his conviction.
He strongly denied killing his Japanese ex-girlfriend whose body was never found.
The young man had been extradited in the summer of 2020 by Chile to be tried in France.
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