‘I did it’: murder trial jury hears of telephone call
Lawyer argues half a conversation cannot convict his client in killing
The brother of the man accused of murder in the death of a Japanese student testified on Friday he overheard William Schneider telling his ex-wife by phone that, “I killed her” or, “I did it.”
But during cross-examination, he was told that because he only heard one-half of the phone call, he couldn’t have known what William was referring to.
William and Warren Schneider were drinking together in Polson Park in Vernon on Sept. 28, 2016, the day William was arrested in the case of missing student Natsumi Kogawa, 30.
Her decomposing body was found in a suitcase in Vancouver’s West End later that day, two weeks after friends reported her missing.
William, 51, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and interfering with human remains.
On Friday, Day 5 of the B.C. Supreme Court trial in Vancouver, Warren recounted how the brothers were drinking — Warren a beer and William a mickey of vodka — at the park that morning.
William had also just bought some heroin so he could commit suicide by overdosing and he had told Warren where in Vancouver he could find the suitcase containing Kogawa’s body so Warren could tell police.
In the Vernon park, while William injected the drugs, Warren stood nearby and “secretly ” called 911 to report an overdose, he testified.
“The heroin didn’t kill him and he asked to use my phone,” said Warren.
William called his estranged wife, who lives in Japan with their teen son, Ricky, and asked if she had heard about the missing Japanese student, with Warren in earshot.
“Halfway through, he said he did it, he killed her, or I did it, I killed her,” Warren testified.
Warren described William as being calm.
“He had just given himself a dose of heroin, so he was in a relaxed mode,” he said.
But during cross examination, Warren was told he couldn’t have known what the conversation was about without hearing the responses of his brother’s ex-wife.
“He may have just said (that) about this or something else. It could have been something completely unrelated to the missing woman, and you have no idea, do you?” William’s lawyer asked him. “No,” replied Warren. After the call, around 11 a.m., the brothers walked to a liquor store to buy another mickey of vodka for William and another beer for Warren.
William said he was going to buy some more heroin to try to kill himself, and the brothers said their goodbyes.
“Willie and I hugged as if we were hugging for the last time, and cried, and I took some photos and I left,” said Warren.
Their sister called Warren around noon and drove him to the police station.
Warren said he sat and waited for three to four hours to talk to an officer, leaving for an occasional cigarette and once to buy a mickey of Sambuca, which he drank outside the police station.
“I had a lot of stress going on,” he told court. “What I had to say, where the body was, was very important, so I stuck it out.”
Around 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2016, Vernon RCMP went to Polson Park, where Warren had left William 12 hours earlier, and arrested an intoxicated William on a drunk and disorderly complaint.
Within hours after Warren went to RCMP to tell police where they could find Kogawa’s body, Vernon officers realized the intoxicated man was the suspect Vancouver Police were looking for and William was arrested and charged.
The trial, before judge and an eight-woman, four-man jury, is scheduled to continue for another two weeks.
Halfway through, he said ... he killed her, or I did it, I killed her. He had just given himself a dose of heroin, sohewasina relaxed mode.