Supreme Court of Canada restores murder conviction for B.C. man who killed exchange student

The country's highest court has restored a second-degree murder conviction for the man who killed a Japanese exchange student and stuffed her body into a suitcase in Vancouver more than seven years ago.

The decision marked a victory for Crown prosecutors in B.C., who had appealed a lower-court decision that overturned William Victor Schneider's murder conviction last year. It is also the end of the legal road for Schneider, who has no further avenues to challenge the verdict.

In a decision published Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled a key piece of evidence in Schneider's initial murder trial — a phone conversation overheard by his brother — was admissible in court under an exception to the rule that generally doesn't allow for hearsay.

"The trial judge did not err in admitting the brother's testimony as to what he overheard the accused say," read the ruling.

Hearsay evidence allowed under exception

Schneider, who is from Vernon, B.C., was originally convicted of murder in 2018.

Natsumi Kogawa, 30, had been missing for more than two weeks when her body was found in a suitcase outside the historic Gabriola mansion in Vancouver's West End on Sept. 28, 2016.

Schneider, now in his mid-50s, was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 14 years for her death.

He successfully appealed the conviction with the B.C. Court of Appeal in early 2021, arguing the supreme court judge who oversaw his murder trial had made several mistakes — mainly by accepting overheard statements Schneider was said to have made during a phone conversation with his wife.

Schneider's brother, Warren, went to police after overhearing his brother say "I did it" and "I killed her" during the call.

The B.C. appeal court judge threw out the conviction and ordered a retrial. Crown prosecutors then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In a decision split 7-2 on Friday, the higher court justices agreed the phone call evidence was admissible at trial under the party admission exception to the hearsay rule.

In writing for the majority, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Malcolm Rowe said the evidence was relevant to the issue at trial and that the B.C. Supreme Court judge had shown the proper amount of discretion in allowing the jury to consider the call.

Two dissenting justices found the evidence should not have been shown to the jury because Warren Schneider wasn't participating in the phone call, meaning it was "impossible" to know what exactly William Schneider said or how his wife responded.

The Crown's theory at Schneider's original trial was that he and Kogawa were on a date when he became angry because she had to leave. He killed her by smothering her, the Crown argued, although an exact cause of death was never determined.

Schneider pleaded guilty to interfering with Kogawa's body when he placed it in a suitcase and admitted that he disposed of the remains by leaving them on the grounds of the Gabriola House mansion. He has always denied any part in the murder.