French prosecutors on Monday demanded lifetime imprisonment for a Chilean man accused of murdering his former Japanese girlfriend who went missing at age 21 in Besancon, eastern France, in 2016.
At a court session, prosecutors sought the maximum sentence for Nicolas Zepeda Contreras, 31, claiming the alleged crime had been premeditated. France does not practice capital punishment.
Prosecutors indicted Zepeda with the belief that he murdered Narumi Kurosaki over a quarrel. The Chilean man has denied the allegation and the body of the Japanese has not been found despite a massive search by investigators.
The French court is scheduled to hand down a verdict on Tuesday.
Kurosaki, who dated Zepeda in Japan when she was a student at the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo in the mid-2010s, came to France as an exchange student in September 2016.
French authorities launched an official murder investigation after the suspect was extradited from Chile in July 2020. The trial started on March 26 this year.
Kurosaki has been missing since she dined with Zepeda and returned with him to her university dorm in Besancon on Dec. 4, 2016. Some students who were at the dormitory told investigators they heard a scream, which served as circumstantial evidence pointing to Zepeda as the suspected killer.
Shortly after Kurosaki's disappearance, Zepeda, who had also studied at the Japanese university, returned to his native Chile.
Last Wednesday, Kurosaki's mother appeared in court during the trial and called Zepeda a "big liar," saying he should not be allowed to evade accountability.
Recalling a series of troubles between the two shortly before Kurosaki's departure for France, the mother said she felt her daughter was in danger due to Zepeda's selfish behavior.
The mother also revealed to the court that she had warned of the possibility of Zepeda visiting Kurosaki in France after their breakup in the fall of 2016.
In accordance with French criminal justice procedures, Kurosaki's family filed a damages suit against the Chilean man when prosecutors indicted him on the murder charge.
