Killer of Japanese student jailed for at least 14 years
A man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for at least 14 years for murdering a Japanese student in Vancouver, a crime the judge called senseless and horrific because he “treated her body like garbage.”
William Schneider, 51, was handed the sentence Friday for the second-degree murder of Natsumi Kogawa, 30, two years ago.
Schneider showed no emotion as he was escorted away to begin serving his sentence, shortly after it was handed down by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow.
Earlier Friday, he read a brief apology to Kogawa’s mother, saying he was sorry for her pain and that he knew how he’d feel if something tragic happened to his son.
Emiko Kogawa had attended the trial but returned to Japan before Friday’s sentencing. Her victim impact statement recounted her sadness at losing her daughter and the horror of knowing she was murdered.
Schneider said the words “bit right through me.”
Schneider had been found guilty last month by a jury after several days of deliberation. Near the end of the trial, he had pleaded guilty to a second charge of improperly or indecently handling of a body, and he was sentenced to 3.5 years to be served concurrently.
The ineligibility for parole for second-degree murder ranges from 10 to 25 years and the Crown was asking for 17 years. Defence argued 10 years was appropriate because Schneider showed remorse and revealed the location of the body. But Gerow said aggravating factors upped the sentence above the 10-year minimum and included that the “circumstances were strange as there was no motive.”
She called the murder random, impulsive and unprovoked and noted there was no hostility or conflict between the two and Kogawa was a “completely innocent young woman” who had no reason to be fearful of her killer.
She also noted Schneider took steps to cover up the crime by concealing her body in a suitcase and moving it to a lot in Vancouver’s West End that was the location of a vacant mansion. He left the Vancouver area after receiving his next welfare check.
And she said that he treated her body in a disrespectful way by stuffing it into the suitcase and leaving it to decompose.
The cause of death couldn’t be determined because of the body’s decomposition, but it was the Crown’s theory that during consensual sex, Schneider suffocated Kogawa by holding his hand over her mouth and nose on Sept. 8, 2016.
The two had dated briefly and on that day were filmed on a number of surveillance cameras buying vodka and snacks and walking with a tent west toward Stanley Park.
Defence lawyer Joe Doyle had asked the court to take into his client’s account that he had shown remorse when he spoke about her death to his brother and the police officers.
But Crown counsel Geordie Proulx said Schneider only accepted responsibility after he learned he had been captured with Kogawa on video and his brother confronted him in person, a point accepted by the judge
Gerow said Schneider had a “high degree of moral culpability” for the murder.
She noted he has taken some courses and there is some potential for rehabilitation, but she said his record with four dozen criminal offences and his age makes it unlikely. She also noted that he struggles with alcohol and drug addiction and had been using both the day of the murder. And she recounted his upbringing, which included being raised by a stepmother and his father, because his mother was a heroin addict. She died of complications from AIDS in 2000.
His “extensive criminal record” included assault, robbery, theft, failure to appear, breaches of court orders, and possession of stolen property. Doyle said Schneider hadn’t committed any violent crimes since the 1990s.
Gerow also noted Doyle’s Japanese wife returned to Japan when she was five months pregnant with their child. She now has a no-contact order against him.
Gerow said the death of Kogawa has been hard on her family, both emotionally and financially, as depression has made it difficult for them to work and they incurred financial hardship for the mother to attend the trial.
“She was loved and cherished by her family and she was a loving daughter, sister and friend,” said Gerow.
She said no sentence will make up for the loss of their loved one but said: “The court extends its deepest sympathy for their tragic loss.”
Gerow said the sentence needed to reflect the principles of denunciation, deterrence, future dangerousness and potential for rehabilitation.