B.C.'s highest court has granted a new trial to a man convicted of murdering a Japanese exchange student and stuffing her body into a suitcase in Vancouver's West End.
In a split decision, two of three B.C. appeal court judges allowed William Schneider's appeal Tuesday, quashing his conviction for the second-degree murder of Natsumi Kogawa in 2016.
The two judges agreed that the jury at the accused's original trial should never have heard evidence from his brother about a telephone conversation he claimed to have heard Schneider having with his wife in which he was allegedly heard to say "Have you heard the news in relation to Natsumi's death" and "I did it" or "I killed her."
>The two judges agreed that the jury at the accused's original trial should never have heard evidence from his brother about a telephone conversation he claimed to have heard Schneider having with his wife in which he was allegedly heard to say "Have you heard the news in relation to Natsumi's death" and "I did it" or "I killed her."