Supreme Court of Canada restores conviction of B.C. man in Japanese student’s murder
Posted October 7, 2022 3:45 pm.
Last Updated October 7, 2022 4:12 pm.
The Supreme Court of Canada has restored the second-degree murder conviction handed to a B.C. man for the 2016 slaying of a visiting Japanese student, even though the prosecution relied on evidence not usually admissible in court.
In a 7-2 ruling, the high court overturned a February 2021 B.C. Court of Appeal decision that ordered a new trial for William Schneider following his conviction for the killing of 30-year-old Natsumi Kogawa.
Related articles:
-
Mother of murdered student wants killer to get max sentence
-
Killer of murdered Japanese student gets life sentence, no parole for 14 years
Schneider, who is now in his mid-50s, was charged in September 2016, shortly after Kogawa’s body was found in a suitcase dumped at a vacant Davie Street mansion in Vancouver’s West End, two weeks after she was reported missing.
Schneider was arrested the same day Kogawa’s body was discovered.
Schneider’s brother confronted the accused after recognizing him in a photo circulated by police, telling the court he then overheard Schneider admitting to the murder during a phone conversation.
The trial judge ruled the overheard conversation was admissible and Schneider was found guilty in 2018. He was handed a life term with 14 years before parole eligibility, but his conviction was set aside on appeal because of its reliance on hearsay evidence.
In writing for the majority, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Malcolm Rowe has upheld the Crown appeal of the overturned conviction, finding the trial judge was correct to admit the overheard conversation.
The mother of Natsumi Kogawa, a Japanese student who was killed in 2016 and whose body was found in a suitcase at a vacant Vancouver mansion, holds up a photo of her daughter at the trial of William Schneider. (Marcella Bernardo, CityNews Photo)
Kogawa’s mother, Emiko Kogawa, told reporters through a translator in 2018 that she wanted Schneider to spend as long as possible in prison and get the maximum sentence.
She also said at the time that her daughter deserved to live a long life, sharing a heartfelt message to Natsumi.
Natsumi was on a student visa and had come to Canada only a few months before she was killed.
