Chilean authorities are likely to hand over to France a man suspected of killing a female Japanese student soon, probably in early July, in response to an extradition request from French prosecutors, a document from Chilean prosecutors and other sources showed Monday.
Four French police officials are expected to arrive in Santiago on around July 7 to extradite Nicolas Zepeda Contreras, according to the document submitted to the Chilean top court. Zepeda, 29, is suspected of killing a student from Japan's University of Tsukuba, in France in 2016.
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The whereabouts of Kurosaki have been unknown since she dined with Zepeda and returned with him to the dorm of her university in Besancon, eastern France, on Dec. 4 of that year. She was 21 years old at the time.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Zepeda will need to be quarantined for two weeks before his departure to France, and Chilean prosecutors have requested a court to place him under house arrest by Wednesday to that end.
Shortly after Kurosaki went missing, Zepeda returned to his native Chile. Kurosaki's body has not been found and Zepeda has denied killing her.
