Crown appeals retrial granted to former Vernon man in death of Natsumi Kogawa

Photo: Surveillance images

William Scheider and Natsumi Kogawa seen at a Vancouver mall in 2016.

Crown counsel is appealing a decision by the B.C. Court of Appeal to grant a retrial to a former Vernon man convicted in the death of a Japanese exchange student.

William Victor Schneider was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2018 in the case of Natsumi Kogawa, whose decomposed body was found stuffed into a suitcase on the grounds of a vacant Vancouver mansion in 2016.

He was granted a retrial last month in a split decision by the B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver.

Schneider successfully appealed the conviction on the grounds that the trial judge erred in admitting an overheard telephone conversation in which he was heard by his brother, Warren, to have said "I did it."

Spokesperson Dan McLaughlin confirmed the B.C. Prosecution Service is appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.

"The appeal is brought pursuant to the provisions of section 693(1)(a) of the Criminal Code. This section grants the Crown the right to appeal when there is a dissenting judgment in the court of appeal," McLaughlin said in an email to Castanet.

No date has been set for a hearing of the appeal.

Meanwhile, Schneider remains in custody on his guilty plea to indignity to a human body – but also due to a "provincial remand of detention" pending his new trial.

Schneider's next appearance in B.C. Supreme Court on that matter is set for March 10.

If the Crown is successful in its appeal, there would be no second trial on Kogawa's killing.

On Feb. 26, the Parole Board of Canada ordered a detention review for Schneider.

The review will determine if Schneider is eligible for statutory release now that he's reached the two-thirds point of his sentence on the indignity conviction or if he is a danger to reoffend and should remain behind bars.

In a decision rendered Feb. 26, the parole board noted the 53 year old has a criminal history dating back to a young age, with 40 convictions as an adult, including violent offences such as robbery, assaulting a peace officer, assault causing bodily harm, and others.

The parole board report stated Schneider is "an untreated violent and sexual offender," and a psychologist's report said he "would present a high risk of future violence."

Kogawa was a 30-year-old Japanese citizen who came to Canada on a student visa. She was reported missing Sept. 12, 2016. Her body was located about two weeks later, folded into a suitcase on the grounds of a vacant mansion in Vancouver’s West End.

An autopsy revealed Kogawa had Zopiclone and Lorazepam in her system. The first typically used as a sleeping medication, and the second an anti-anxiety medication with a sedative effect. Neither medication had been prescribed to her.