Chilean Nicolas Zepeda was charged with murder shortly after his extradition to France over the 2016 disappearance of his Japanese ex-girlfriend, prosecutors said on Friday.

Zepeda, 29, is the only suspect in the disappearance and alleged murder of Narumi Kurosaki, a case that has gripped Japan and France.

Kurosaki, then 21, vanished from her university in Besancon, near the French Alps, in December 2016 after having dinner with Zepeda.

Police drive Nicolas Zepeda (C), suspected in the disappearance of a Japanese student in France in 2016, to the airport to be extradited to France
Police drive Nicolas Zepeda (C), suspected in the disappearance of a Japanese student in France in 2016, to the airport to be extradited to France AFP / FRANCESCO DEGASPERI

France has been fighting for more than three years to have him extradited, and local prosecutor Etienne Manteaux confirmed he had been charged shortly after touching down in France.

By the time her disappearance was reported days later, Zepeda had returned to Chile.

French investigators believe he killed his ex in a jealous rage, though her body was never found.

Prosecutors believe Nicolas Zepeda, seen here in Santiago in March of 2020, killed his ex-girlfriend Narumi Kurosaki in the French city of Besancon in a jealous rage in 2016
Prosecutors believe Nicolas Zepeda, seen here in Santiago in March of 2020, killed his ex-girlfriend Narumi Kurosaki in the French city of Besancon in a jealous rage in 2016 AFP / Claudio REYES

He had been under house arrest in the seaside resort of Vina del Mar, 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Santiago.

The handover was delayed and complicated by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent border closures.

Chilean Nicolas Zepeda, accused of murdering his Japanese ex-girlfriend in the French city of Besancon in 2016, leaves the house where he was under house arrest in Valparaiso escorted by police, to be extradited to France.
Chilean Nicolas Zepeda, accused of murdering his Japanese ex-girlfriend in the French city of Besancon in 2016, leaves the house where he was under house arrest in Valparaiso escorted by police, to be extradited to France. AFPTV / Esteban GOMEZ

Zepeda's extradition marks the third Chilean suspect sent to France, even though French authorities refuse to send former Chilean guerrilla Ricardo Palma Salamanca back to his homeland to stand trial for the 1991 murder of right-wing senator Jaime Guzman.

"Three years have passed since my beloved daughter disappeared... I pray that Nicolas will be tried in France, I would give my life for this," Kurosaki's mother Taeko wrote in a letter presented to the court in Chile.

"We will never forgive Nicolas, who took Narumi's life and her from the whole family."

According to investigators, Zepeda, the son of a wealthy Chilean family, met Kurosaki in Japan in 2014.

After a breakup, he went to Besancon at the beginning of December 2016 to see her again, and on the evening of December 4 the pair entered her residence together.

French prosecutors say several students heard "howls of terror" that night, but nobody called the police.

At the time of her disappearance, Kurosaki was in a new relationship, which prosecutors said angered Zepeda who threatened her in an online video he later removed.

Investigators claim that after arriving in France in 2016, Zepeda hired a car and drove to Besancon, stopping on the way to buy matches, flammable liquid and bleach at a supermarket.

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