Will Millane accused give evidence?

Jurors in the trial of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane will learn today whether he will give evidence in his own defence.

The 27-year-old, who cannot be named, has denied murdering Millane in his Queen St hotel apartment in December, 2018.

The Crown says he strangled Millane before folding her body into a suitcase and burying her in West Auckland’s Waita¯kere Range. The accused’s lawyers say Millane’s death was an accident that happened during consensual sex. Head defence lawyer Ian Brookie has signalled he will call a pathology expert but so far that is all that is known of the defence case. The Crown closed its case on Thursday when the last of its 32 witnesses were called.

One of those was Detective Sergeant Ewen Settle who interviewed the accused on two occasions and got two very different versions of events.

In the first interview the accused said he had simply met up with Millane at SkyCity.

The pair had a few cocktails at a burger bar and chatted about their families, work and Millane’s travel plans before parting ways.

Settle asked the accused how his night panned out. He responded: ‘‘Yeah, pretty good.’’

Two days later, the accused agreed to a second interview.

This time he told Settle he and Millane had drinks at three bars before heading back to his apartment. The accused said he had sex with Millane before she asked if they could ‘‘get into bondage’’.

‘‘He said: I stopped at first and said is this something you really want to do? He said she replied saying: We are in the moment, let’s just go with it.’’

He told Settle Millane showed him what she wanted him to do, including putting his hands around her neck and holding her arms down. He said the sex became violent.

The accused said the pair also took intimate photos of each other. Settle asked why and the accused responded: ‘‘It is what all young people do’’.

He said after the pair had sex, he went to take a shower but fell asleep under the running water.

He woke sometime later and went to bed, thinking Millane had left. But in the morning, the accused said he woke to find Millane dead on the floor, with blood coming from her nose.

The accused admitted he disposed of Millane’s belongings in a rubbish bin at Auckland’s Albert Park, and admitted burying her body. Settle asked the accused if he was happy to show police where Grace was buried and he agreed.

Finally, the accused was asked: ‘‘Did you kill Grace Millane?’’ to which he replied ‘‘no’’. He also denied intending to cause her death or injury, before he was arrested.

At the end of the police interview, lawyer Brookie asked the accused why he agreed to speak to police. ‘‘Because of her family, because I want her family to know it wasn’t intentional but I also want her family to have closure, and the other night when I was questioned by police I was shocked, and I apologise for misleading,’’ he said.