Laura Dhillon Kane February 02, 2021 - 1:16 PM
VANCOUVER - A man convicted of second-degree murder and interfering with a body in the death of a Japanese student in Vancouver will receive a new trial.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled in a split decision Tuesday to allow an appeal filed by William Schneider, who was convicted of killing 30-year-old Natsumi Kogawa.
Schneider pleaded guilty to interfering with her body, admitting that he disposed of her remains in the city s West End in 2016, but denying that he killed her.
He was convicted on both counts following a jury trial and filed an appeal, arguing the judge erred in admitting an overheard telephone conversation as evidence.
Schneider pleaded guilty to interfering with her body, admitting that he disposed of her remains in the city s West End in 2016, but denying that he killed her.
He was convicted on both counts following a jury trial and filed an appeal, arguing the judge erred in admitting an overheard telephone conversation as evidence.
Two of three Appeal Court judges agreed that the phone call overheard by Schneider s brother should not have been admitted and ordered a new trial for the man.
The brother testified he heard Schneider say, I did it, or I killed her, but didn t hear the other side of the conversation and didn t know if he d been asked an unrelated question.
February 02, 2021 - 1:00 PM A Vernon man found guilty of murdering a Japanese exchange student in 2016 has won an appeal to have a new trial. In a B.C. Court of Appeal Decision published Feb. 2, two of three sitting judges ruled that errors were made during William Victor Schneider s original trial and that these mistakes warranted a new trial. In October 2018, Schneider was sentenced to life in prison without parole eligibility for 14 years, after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the death of 30-year-old Japanese exchange student, Natsumi Kogawa. Schneider was arrested in Polson Park the day Kogawa’s body was found at an abandoned mansion in Vancouver in September 2016.