Surprise guilty plea in 2016 case of Japanese student found dead in Vancouver

The man accused of killing Natsumi Kogawa, 30, in Vancouver in 2016 made a surprise change to a guilty plea in one of the two charges he's facing.

William Schneider entered a guilty plea to interfering with human remains or offering an indignity to a human body on Monday.

His plea of not guilty to second-degree murder remains unchanged in the case.

The abrupt change in pleas came at the tail end of a trial that began in late September. Lawyers were about to begin their closing arguments Monday morning when Schneider, wearing collared shirt with the top buttons undone, stood to inform the court of his new plea.

The charge comes with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Kogawa's body was found in a suitcase just over two years ago in a hedge in Vancouver's West End. The court has heard that she likely died Sept. 8, three weeks before she was found.

Photos circulated by police showed Kogawa and Schneider walking together shortly before she went missing.

It will be up to a 12-person jury to determine whether Schneider is guilty of second-degree murder. They're expected to begin deliberations on Tuesday.

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