Murder of Grace Millane

Grace Emmie Rose Millane[1] (2 December 1996 – 2 December 2018) was a British tourist whose disappearance in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2018 sparked international attention. A 26-year-old man was charged with her murder on 8 December 2018, and her body was found in the Waitākere Ranges to the west of Auckland the following day. The man was tried at the Auckland High Court in November 2019; he employed the rough sex murder defense. After a three-week trial, he was convicted by a unanimous guilty verdict and later sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. The defendant has filed an appeal against his conviction, which – as of August 2020 – is before New Zealand's Court of Appeal. The defendant's name is currently suppressed by New Zealand courts, meaning it may not be published in New Zealand; however, some international media outlets have chosen to publish his name.

Background and disappearance

Millane was from Essex, east of London.[2] She had recently graduated from the University of Lincoln[2] with a bachelor's degree in advertising and marketing, and was on a backpacking tour during her gap year.

Millane was on a two-week stay in New Zealand after spending six weeks in South America.[2] She entered New Zealand on 20 November 2018 and travelled around the upper North Island.[3] She arrived in Auckland on 30 November.[3] At 9:00 pm on 1 December, she was seen on Victoria Street in Auckland's central business district, and 15 minutes later she was seen via CCTV at SkyCity. She was last seen at 9:41 pm at the CityLife Hotel on Queen Street with a man who was subsequently charged with her murder.[2][4]

Investigation

Millane's parents became concerned after she did not reply to birthday wishes they sent her on 2 December 2018[4] and police started investigating after she was reported missing by her parents three days later.[2] The hotel she was staying at reported that she did not go back to her room on the night of her disappearance.[4] Police initially said that there was "no evidence of foul play", but later gathered evidence that she was "no longer alive".[4] Police announced on 8 December that they were treating the case as a homicide investigation, and a 26-year-old man was subsequently charged with her murder.[5][6]

Millane's body was found on 9 December at around 4 pm, off Scenic Drive in the Waitākere Ranges around 19 km (12 mi) west of central Auckland.[2] A post-mortem examination was done on 10 December. Further investigations of the area where Millane was found were carried out on 11 December.[7] Police asked for the public's help in finding a shovel they believed was related to the inquiry. A shovel fitting the police description was found on 13 December.[8] Police also requested public help tracing the movements of a 2016 Toyota Corolla rental car that the accused leased between 2 and 3 December. The car had subsequently been re-leased and was located on 8 December in Taupo, 275 km (171 mi) south of Auckland.[9]

Suspect

A 26-year-old man was taken into custody on 8 December at 3 pm. The man had been staying at the CityLife Hotel in central Auckland.[2] He appeared in the Auckland District Court on 10 December 2018, charged with murdering Millane.[10]

The man was born and grew up in the Wellington Region. After his parents separated when he was nine, he was raised by his father and grandfather. His mother moved overseas while his father remarried and had a blended family. He worked as a bartender and builder/labourer and also lived in Sydney, Australia between 2013 and 2016. The man had an estranged relationship with his family due to his track record for dishonesty and alleged stealing. He also had a drink-driving conviction in New Zealand and had been arrested for disorderly behaviour in South Auckland and Sydney. His paternal grandfather also alleged that he had fathered a child while living in Sydney but this is disputed by other relatives.[11]

Name suppression
See also: Criticism of Google § Breach of court order

During the initial appearance, the suspect was denied name suppression, but this was appealed by the defence, automatically triggering interim name suppression for a period of 20 working days.[lower-alpha 1] The suppression order cannot be enforced against international media outlets, and several outlets, particularly in the United Kingdom, chose to publish his name. Google included the man's name in an email it sent to subscribers of its newsletter on trending topics in New Zealand, which claimed that 100,000 searches had been done of the name within the country. Justice Minister Andrew Little and the New Zealand Bar Association criticised the foreign media, saying the publication of the accused's name endangered his right to a fair trial.[13][14][15]

The suspect was remanded in custody and appeared in the Auckland High Court on 16 January 2019 where he pleaded not guilty. His identity remained suppressed pending an appeal.[16][17] The appeal was heard at the High Court on 7 February; the judge reserved his decision, meaning the order remains in force for the time being.[18] On 7 February 2020, Auckland businessman Leo Molloy was identified as the individual who had breached the suppression order preventing the name of Millane's murderer from being made public.[19][20]

Reactions

Millane's death generated an unprecedented reaction from the New Zealand public.[21] Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a public apology to the family of Millane on 10 December, saying "on behalf of New Zealand, I want to apologise. Your daughter should have been safe here, and she wasn't". During the press conference she appeared to be close to tears.[10]

The University of Lincoln, where Millane studied, said that its community was "deeply saddened" by her death.[2]

Auckland's Sky Tower and Harbour Bridge were lit up in a white ribbon shape from 10 to 13 December to mark her death.[22] Candlelight vigils were held on 11–12 December at several locations around New Zealand.[23][24]

Journalists Alison Mau and Paul Little criticised the media coverage as an example of missing white woman syndrome, where significantly more media attention is given to "typically white, conventionally attractive" females from middle-class backgrounds who are depicted as "innocent" and "angelic".[25][26]

On 10 January 2019, hundreds turned out for Millane's funeral at Brentwood Cathedral in Essex.[27]

In November 2019, Radio New Zealand broadcaster Colin Peacock criticized the conduct of some foreign media in both the Grace Millane and the concurrent Amber-Rose Rush murder trials, arguing that their breaches of New Zealand name suppression orders threatened the fair trial rights for defendants.[28] Meanwhile, the Otago Daily Times editorialised that the Millane murder case highlighted the fact that women were statistically more likely to be victims of violent crimes than men,[29] according to the New Zealand Police Statistics Database.[30] In late February 2020, The Guardian's Sian Norris described using "rough sex" as a murder defence as "grotesque victim blaming."[31]

Trial and Appeal

The trial began on 4 November 2019 with the selection of the jury. The defendant reaffirmed his earlier not guilty plea, with proceedings expected to last five weeks.[32][33][34] The prosecution led by Crown solicitor Brian Dickey argued that the defendant had strangled Millane to death following a Tinder date. The Crown also testified that, after killing her, the defendant conducted several Internet searches on how to how to dispose of bodies as well as viewing pornography. Dickey also said the man calmly and callously disposed of Millane's body and other evidence, and then created a "labyrinth of storytelling and lies" to cover his tracks.[35]

Three female witnesses, whom the defendant had also met through Tinder, testified that the defendant liked masochistic and bondage sex including choking. The Crown also presented security camera footage of the defendant and Millane, including the defendant renting a carpet cleaning machine at the Countdown supermarket in Quay Street. A Crown expert witness pathologist Simon Stables testified that a postmortem examination of Millane's body had found bruising consistent with someone who had been restrained and asphyxiated.[36][37][38] Millane's post-mortem blood alcohol concentration was measured at 106 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, over the legal driving limit of 50 mg per 100 mL.[39]

The defence team led by Ian Brookie argued that Millane's death was the result of a consensual sexual "misadventure" between the defendant and Millane. They alleged that Millane had an interest in bondage and sado-masochism and had asked the defendant to choke her during a consensual sex game which went wrong. While acknowledging that the defendant had tried to hide and bury the victim's body, they contended that the defendant had panicked.[36][37][38] The defence's expert witness pathologist Fintan Garavan contested the Crown's autopsy evidence, claiming that her injuries were consistent with a consensual sex act due to the lack of defensive wounds on Millane's body. Garavan also alleged that the victim's alcohol consumption could have contributed to her death. Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield also argued that the defendant's claiming to be wealthy and successful stemmed from his personal insecurity.[36]

The trial lasted three weeks. The jury, which consisted of seven women and five men, returned a verdict of guilty on 22 November after deliberating for five hours. The verdict was welcomed by Millane's parents David and Gillian. Several members of the jury reportedly wept following the verdict.[40][41][42] In New Zealand, murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years except when such a sentence would be manifestly unjust (e.g. mercy killings). Judges have discretion to order a longer non-parole period.

On 21 February 2020, the defendant, whose identity remains suppressed, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.[41][42][43][44] On 18 March, it was reported that the defendant would appeal his conviction and sentence at the Court of Appeal.[45][46] The appeal hearing began in Auckland on 6 August.[47]

See also

Footnotes
  1. For court purposes, non-working days are Saturdays, Sundays, national public holidays (but not regional anniversary days), and all days between 25 December and 15 January.[12]:5

References
  1. "Grace Millane Funeral: Family Pay Tribute to Murdered Backpacker". Australia Times. Archived from the original (JPEG image) on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. "Grace Millane: Man appears in court charged with backpacker's murder". BBC News. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  3. Leask, Anna (10 December 2018). "Grace Millane murder: Details of alleged killer revealed". Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  4. Crockett, Natalie (9 December 2018). "Missing backpacker Grace Millane: From disappearance to murder charge". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  5. "Suspect to be charged with murder of missing British backpacker Grace Millane". TVNZ. 8 December 2018.
  6. "Backpacker Grace Millane met murder accused on dating app". Stuff. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  7. Sutherland, Megan (10 December 2018). "Grace Millane: Post-mortem carried out, but police won't release results". Newshub. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  8. "Grace Millane murder: Shovel found in central West Auckland". The New Zealand Herald. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  9. Livingston, Tommy (10 December 2018). "Grace Millane murder inquiry: Accused's rental car had been rented to someone else". Stuff. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  10. Roy, Eleanor Ainge (10 December 2018). "'Your daughter should have been safe here': Ardern apologises after Grace Millane murder". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  11. Leask, Anna (21 November 2019). "Who is Grace Millane's murderer? Unravelling labyrinth of lies and a fatal Tinder date". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. "Criminal Procedure Act 2011". New Zealand Legislation Online. Parliamentary Counsel Office. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  13. "Bar Association says ongoing suppression breaches in Grace Millane murder case endanger trial". New Zealand Herald. 13 December 2018.
  14. Graham-McLay, Charlotte (14 December 2018). "New Zealand Rebukes Google for Airing Name of Suspect in Backpacker's Killing". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  15. Lyons, Kate (19 December 2018). "Grace Millane murder: New Zealand rebukes Google for emailing out suspect's name". The Guardian.
  16. Leask, Anna (16 January 2019). "Grace Millane murder: Accused pleads not guilty, keeps name suppression". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  17. "Man accused of killing Grace Millane pleads not guilty". 1 News. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  18. Smith, Anneke (7 February 2020). "Grace Millane: Man accused of murdering British backpacker keeps identity secret - for now". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  19. Owen, Catrin (7 February 2020). "Grace Millane: Leo Molloy revealed as businessman charged with naming murderer". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  20. Hurley, Sam (7 February 2020). "Grace Millane case: Auckland businessman Leo Molloy pleads not guilty to breaching suppression". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  21. Roy, Eleanor Ainge (11 December 2018). "Grace Millane murder prompts outpouring of grief in New Zealand". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  22. Clent, Danielle (10 December 2018). "Grace Millane: Auckland's Sky Tower, Harbour Bridge to shine white for killed British backpacker". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  23. "Queenstowners hold vigil for British backpacker Grace Millane". Radio New Zealand. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  24. Small, Zane (12 December 2018). "Live: Vigils for Grace Millane held across New Zealand". Newshub. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  25. Mau, Alison (16 December 2018). "We've all had the chance to mourn Grace Millane, but the court denies this other slain woman that humanity". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  26. Little, Paul (15 December 2018). "Paul Little: Grace Millane case highlights a terrible double standard". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  27. "Grace Millane: British backpacker killed in New Zealand farewelled at UK funeral". Stuff.co.nz. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  28. Peacock, Colin (10 November 2019). "Murder trials reported in distressing detail". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  29. "The need to address sexual violence". Otago Daily Times. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  30. https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publications-statistics/data-and-statistics/policedatanz/victimisations-demographics
  31. Norris, Sian (24 February 2020). "'Rough sex' as a defence for murder is grotesque victim-blaming". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  32. "Grace Millane murder accused pleads not guilty". Radio New Zealand. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  33. Owen, Catrin (16 January 2019). "Grace Millane: Man accused of murdering British backpacker pleads not guilty". Stuff. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  34. "Grace Millane murder trial: Jury selected". Radio New Zealand. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  35. "Who is Grace Millane's murderer? Unravelling labyrinth of lies and a fatal Tinder date". The New Zealand Herald. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  36. Gay, Edward (22 November 2019). "The complete evidence the Grace Millane murder trial heard: Inside the case that gripped a nation". Stuff. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  37. Hurley, Sam (21 November 2019). "Grace Millane murder trial: Jury hears all the evidence as defence closes case with Whiplr messages". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  38. "Grace Millane died 'accidentally during sex', murder accused claims". BBC News. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  39. "Grace Millane murder trial: Accused cleaned up evidence from apartment where she died". Stuff. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  40. "Grace Millane murder: Man guilty of killing backpacker in New Zealand". BBC News. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  41. Owen, Catrin (21 February 2020). "Grace Millane murder: British backpacker's killer sentenced to life imprisonment". Stuff. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  42. Roy, Eleanor Ainge (20 November 2019). "Grace Millane murder: man jailed for life for killing of UK backpacker". The Guardian.
  43. Hurley, Sam (21 February 2020). "Grace Millane's killer sentenced to minimum 17 years in prison". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  44. "Grace Millane murder: Mum confronts killer in court". BBC News. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  45. Gay, Edward (18 March 2020). "Grace Millane: Backpacker's killer takes case to Court of Appeal". Stuff. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  46. Roy, Eleanor Ainge (18 March 2020). "Grace Millane: man convicted of British backpacker's murder to appeal". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  47. Leask, Anna (6 August 2020). "Grace Millane murder: Killer appeals conviction and 17-year minimum jail sentence". NZ Herald.


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