Boxes are seen in the courtroom ahead of the arrival of Nicolas Zepeda from Chile, on the opening day of his appeal trial after he was sentenced at first instance for murdering Japanese student Narumi Kurosaki, in Vesoul, France, February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - A French court of appeals on Thursday confirmed a Chilean man was guilty of murdering his Japanese ex-girlfriend in 2016 and upheld a 28-year prison sentence, French news agency AFP reported on Thursday.
The verdict confirms a lower court ruling from last year against the now 33-year-old Nicolas Zepeda. In the appeal case, which lasted three weeks, the general counsel requested a life sentence and expulsion from the French territory once the term has been served.
Zepeda continued to claim his innocence.
Last year, Zepeda was found guilty of murdering 21-year-old Narumi Kurosaki, whose body has never been found, in the eastern French town of Basancon, in a trial that made national headlines in France, Chile and Japan.
(Reporting by Piotr Lipinski, Editing by Franklin Paul)
