'People listened': Mother of murdered Japanese student grateful for guilty verdict
The mother of murdered Japanese student Natsumi Kogawa expressed relief and gratitude after a B.C. Supreme Court jury found William Schneider guilty of second-degree murder Friday.
Emiko Kogawa said she would tell her daughter she was heard.
"People listened. People understood you. It wasn't your fault," Kogawa said, in tears, through her interpreter outside the courtroom.
The eight-woman, four-man jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict.
Over the course of the two-week trial, the court heard sordid details of the condition in which Kogawa, 30, was found dead in Vancouver's West End two years ago.
Her body was found hidden in a suitcase outside Gabriola Mansion, a historic building on Davie Street.
The discovery was made three weeks after she went missing, when Schneider's brother, Warren Schneider Jr., tipped off police.
RCMP arrested William Schneider, 51, in Vernon, B.C., on Sept. 28, 2016 — the same day they found Kogawa's body.
A 'difficult' trial
During the trial, Schneider pleaded guilty to the charge of interfering with human remains or offering an indignity to a dead body as lawyers were set to begin their final arguments.
However, Schneider maintained his not-guilty plea to the second-degree murder charge.
Crown counsel Geordie Proulx said the jury made the right decision, noting the trial was particularly hard on the Crown witnesses and the family of the deceased.
"We had the death of a young woman not associated in any way with any criminal lifestyle and she's found dead in a suitcase on the grounds of a mansion — if that's not enough to make it difficult, I don't know what is," Proulx said.
"It's not TV. It's real life."
The count of second-degree murder comes with a mandatory life sentence, with parole eligibility to be determined. The count of interfering with human body comes with a maximum five-year sentence.
Schneider is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 1.
A caring daughter with 'big dreams'
Emiko Kogawa attended every day of the trial. Through an interpreter she said she wanted people to see her daughter Natsumi as a caring, positive person.
"She was always the core member of the family that bonded us together," Kogawa said.
"She was open to everybody, very curious. She always wanted to learn more and had big dreams."
The mother and daughter spoke frequently, with Natsumi encouraging her mother to visit Vancouver, which she described as a beautiful city where "she was surrounded by wonderful people."
In their last conversation, Kogawa said her daughter encouraged her to go to bed because it was late in the evening in Japan.
Asked what she would like to say to her daughter today, Kogawa said "Watch us from heaven."
With files from Rafferty Baker
