Father responds to verdict
GRACE MILLANE MURDER
Only two people know the full truth of what happened the night British tourist Grace Millane was killed in an Auckland hotel room.
Grace was one of them. The other is a 27-year-old man who was found guilty of her murder late yesterday.
Grace’s father, David Millane, welcomed the verdict and said she did not ‘‘deserve to be murdered in such a barbaric way’’.
The British backpacker’s father gave a statement outside the High Court in Auckland after the jury delivered its verdict.
It was the first time Grace’s family had spoken publicly since arriving in Auckland for the trial.
‘‘The verdict will be welcomed by every member of the Millane family and friends of Grace,’’ he said.
‘‘It will not reduce the pain and suffering we have had to endure over the past year. Grace was taken away from us in the most brutal fashion a year ago and our lives and family have been ripped apart.
‘‘She did not deserve to be murdered in such a barbaric way on her gap year.’’
He described his daughter as ‘‘our sunshine’’, and said her murder would be with the family for the rest of their lives.
Deliberations
The jury took just over five hours to return a unanimous verdict in the High Court at Auckland yesterday.
Grace died some time between December 1 and 2 last year after she went on a Tinder date with the man in Auckland’s CBD. He still has name suppression and denied murder, claiming Grace’s death was a tragic accident after the pair had rough sex at his apartment.
The killer stood emotionless in the dock as the verdict was handed down by the jury. Justice Simon Moore remanded the man in custody and will sentence him on February 21.
Justice Moore thanked the jury for their time.
He added: ‘‘You’ve thought very hard and been very careful and returned a verdict. This has been a particularly difficult trial and for that reason I am going to discharge you from sitting on a jury for the next seven years.’’
A number of the jury members were crying.
David Millane and his wife, Gillian, sat through the entirety of the three-week trial, where details of their daughter’s final moments with the man who killed her have been examined in forensic detail.
After the verdict was delivered both parents wept in the public gallery.
David thanked the NZ Police, Detective Inspector Scott Beard, the Crown prosecution team and the media.
‘‘Finally we want to thank the people of New Zealand. I can’t thank you enough for your kindness and for opening your hearts to us.’’
Throughout the trial. her parents heard graphic details about their daughter’s injuries and would have caught sight of photos the killer took of her body, when they were shown to the court.
Grace had been backpacking in South America before landing in New Zealand where she travelled to the Bay of Islands, in Northland, before returning to Auckland.
There she matched with the accused on Tinder and they agreed to meet up at SkyCity on December 1, the eve of her 22nd birthday.
CCTV footage captured Grace arriving for the date and taking a picture of the Christmas tree at SkyCity – the last photo she sent to her family back home in the UK.
On the date, the pair visit a number of bars and were seen enjoying each other’s company, embracing, laughing and kissing.
Grace even messaged her friend, Ameena Ashcroft, to tell her the date was going well, saying the pair ‘‘clicked’’.
Later in the evening, with the defendant’s arm around her, Grace was captured on CCTV walking through the doors of the CityLife hotel where he lived.
Grace was smiling as she walked into the building in her black dress and Converse shoes, before the pair entered the lift to the defendant’s apartment.
Grace never left the apartment alive. Instead, her body was contorted in a suitcase before her date buried her in a shallow grave in the Waita¯ kere Ranges, just metres from the roadside.
In the days that followed, the man tried to clean up Grace’s blood from his apartment and dumped her belongings in a park bin.
When he was eventually contacted by police, he lied about the last time he saw her and pretended the date had ended earlier in the evening and they had parted ways. But in his second interview two days later, he admitted burying her body after he said he found her dead in his apartment.
The accused did not take the witness stand in his own defence but his lawyer told jurors the defendant did not intend to kill Grace.
Justice Moore told jurors they could only convict the accused of murder if they were sure he intended to kill Grace, or he intended to injure her, knowing his actions might cause her death, but carried on regardless.
The statutory sentence for murder is life imprisonment with at least 10 years’ non parole. At sentencing the judge can extend this period and the killer could spend much longer in jail.
Grace’s murder sparked international attention, an outpouring of support from Kiwis and an emotional apology to the family from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
David Millane took Grace’s body back to the UK a week after she was found dead.
Her mother, Gillian, was unable to travel to New Zealand at the time because she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
David Millane said the family would now return home to the UK and ‘‘try and pick up the pieces’’ following his daughter’s death.
‘‘Grace was taken away from us in the most brutal fashion a year ago and our lives and family have been ripped apart. She did not deserve to be murdered in such a barbaric way on her gap year.’’ David Millane Grace’s father