Grace Millane murder: New Zealand man killed British tourist after Tinder date, jury finds
- Millane died on her 22nd birthday last December after meeting the 27-year-old New Zealand man and going to his Auckland flat
- Prosecutors claimed the man fatally strangled Millane but the defence argued it was consensual erotic choking that went too far
A 27-year-old New Zealand man was on Friday found guilty of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane early last December in Auckland after meeting her through dating app Tinder. A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for five hours before returning the guilty verdict.
Millane died on her 22nd birthday after meeting the accused on the app and going out for drinks with him, and then returning to his hotel flat in central Auckland.
Prosecutors said the man strangled Millane to death, but defence lawyers said the pair had been engaged in consensual erotic choking that went too far.
After she died, the man stuffed Millane’s body into a suitcase, drove to the Waitakere Ranges forest and buried her in a shallow grave, where police found her body a week later.
Millane had been travelling through New Zealand as part of a planned year-long trip abroad after graduating from university.
The name of the 27-year-old man charged with murdering Millane is being kept secret for now by court order, a restriction that is sometimes imposed in the New Zealand judicial system. He did not testify during the trial. He now faces a mandatory life sentence, which comes with a minimum 10-year non-parole period.
After the trial, Millane’s parents Gillian and David tearfully told media the verdict was welcomed by friends and family alike.
