The Murder of Narumi Kurosaki

Narumi Kurosaki came to Besançon to study French at the University of Franche-Comté. In early December 2016 she met Nicolas Zepeda, a Chilean former boyfriend who had traveled to France. After the night of December 4–5, Narumi was no longer seen. Her body has never been found.

Narumi Kurosaki

Narumi was 21 and had moved from Japan to eastern France as an exchange student. Reliable reporting describes her family — including her mother and two sisters — traveling repeatedly to France for the criminal proceedings. The absence of her body has remained a central source of pain and uncertainty for them.

The disappearance and investigation

Investigators reconstructed Zepeda's movements through travel records, rental-car data, surveillance footage, phone evidence and online activity. Prosecutors argued that he entered Narumi's residence in Besançon, killed her with premeditation and then disposed of her body. Zepeda has consistently denied killing her.

The inquiry crossed several countries. Zepeda returned to Chile, and French authorities sought his extradition. Chile extradited him to France in 2020 so he could stand trial.

The first two convictions — and why one was annulled

In April 2022, an assize court in Doubs convicted Zepeda of murdering Narumi and sentenced him to 28 years in prison. A second trial on appeal in 2023 reached the same result.

Those judgments do not tell the entire procedural story. In February 2025, France's Court of Cassation annulled the 2023 appeal judgment because of a procedural error connected to evidence presented during that trial. The annulment required another assize trial; it did not itself declare Zepeda factually innocent.

The third trial in Lyon

The new trial opened before the Rhône assize court in Lyon on March 17, 2026. Zepeda again denied killing Narumi. After eight days of proceedings, the court convicted him on March 26 of premeditated murder and concluded that he had made Narumi's body disappear.

The court imposed life imprisonment, a harsher sentence than the 28-year terms from the earlier trials. French and international reporting noted that the prosecution had requested a 30-year sentence, while the court chose life imprisonment.

Current status

Zepeda's lawyers announced immediately after the March 26, 2026 verdict that they would bring another challenge before the Court of Cassation. During this August 29, 2026 review, no reliable later ruling resolving that announced cassation challenge was located. The current case status is therefore solved by conviction, with the latest life sentence subject to an announced cassation appeal.

Narumi's body has still not been recovered. That unresolved physical fact does not erase the criminal conviction, but it remains an important distinction from cases in which a victim is found and the entire factual record is physically documented.

Timeline

1. December 4–5, 2016
   Narumi disappears in Besançon

   The Japanese exchange student is last known to be at her university residence after meeting Nicolas Zepeda.

2. 2020
   Zepeda is extradited from Chile

   He is transferred to France to face prosecution.

3. April 12, 2022
   First conviction

   An assize court convicts Zepeda of murder and imposes 28 years in prison.

4. December 2023
   Appeal court again convicts

   A second trial produces another 28-year sentence.

5. February 26, 2025
   Court of Cassation annuls the appeal judgment

   The highest court orders a new trial because of a procedural defect.

6. March 26, 2026
   Third trial ends with life sentence

   The Rhône assize court convicts Zepeda of premeditated murder and sentences him to life imprisonment.