A 27-year-old man has been found guilty of the murder of British backpacker Grace Millane whose body was found buried in a suitcase in New Zealand.
The young woman from Wickford, Essex, was strangled by a man she had met on dating site Tinder and with whom she spent several hours drinking in the centre of Auckland on December 1, 2018.
The pair returned to his apartment and Ms Millane was killed either that night or in the early hours of the next morning – the date of her 22nd birthday.
The jury of seven women and five men returned a unanimous verdict after just five hours deliberation at Auckland High Court.
READ MORE: Grace Millane: Defence alleges backpacker died after consensual sexual act
The Crown successfully argued the man, whose name is subject to a suppression order, strangled her and shoved her body inside a suitcase before burying her in a forested area outside Auckland.
She was assumed missing and her father, David Millane, flew to New Zealand as local authorities spent a week searching until her body was found by police.
Mr Millane and Grace’s mother, Gillian Millane, wept after the verdict was delivered, as did several jurors.
The Millanes held hands as they left the court, with Mr Millane telling reporters the verdict would be welcomed by all of Grace’s family and friends.
“It will not reduce the pain and suffering we have had to endure over the past year,” he said.
“Grace was taken in the most brutal fashion a year ago and our lives have been ripped apart.
“Grace was our sunshine and she will be missed forever.”
The defence had claimed the death was accidental and occurred during rough sexual intercourse.
The court had been told Ms Millane had an interest in BDSM, with a previous sexual partner testifying they had used safe words and physical tapping to indicate when physical pressure became overwhelming.
During the trial, the jurors heard from forensic experts who examined the accused’s apartment for blood stains as well as Ms Millane’s body after her death.
They were also shown footage of the woman and the defendant drinking at various bars throughout Auckland and kissing before they returned to his apartment.
Video footage from the elevator of her exiting on the third floor marked the last recorded time Ms Millane was seen alive.
Police officers said phone data showed the killer had used Google to browse websites for large duffel bags, suitcases and car hire after Ms Millane died.
The defendant’s phone was also used to search for “flesh-eating birds” and “are there vultures in New Zealand?”.
Records showed the defendant had searched online for “the hottest fire”, “large bags near me” and “Waitakere Ranges”.
On Friday the killer was remanded to custody until his sentencing on February 21, 2020.
He faces life in prison with a minimum of 10 years without parole, though the judge can increase the latter period.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel