Grace Millane murder suspect ‘left her body in flat to go on Tinder date’
New Zealand jury told that man watched pornography online and researched how to hide corpse after killing
THE MAN accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane left her body in a suitcase in his flat while he went on a Tinder date, a court in New Zealand has heard.
Ms Millane, 22, from Wickford in Essex, was in New Zealand on a roundthe-world trip last year when she was allegedly strangled by the 27-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, during rough sex at his apartment.
The pair had met on the dating application Tinder and gone out drinking together in Auckland city centre. The suitcase containing her remains was found in a shallow grave in a forested area of the Waitakere mountain range a week later, on Dec 9.
Opening proceedings at Auckland High Court yesterday, Robin Mccoubrey, prosecuting, claimed that the defendant had “contorted her body” into a suitcase, then gone on another date, seemingly “unconcerned by the dead body in his apartment”.
Mr Mccoubrey said the accused had carried out a number of incriminating internet searches in the moments after Ms Millane was killed, including “large bags near me”, “rigor mortis” and the mountainous area where she was later discovered. “It’s plain that Ms Millane is dead at that point,” said Mr Mccoubrey. “What the defendant is trying to do is find a place to dispose of her body.”
The prosecution claims that the defendant also took intimate pictures of her body and visited pornographic websites as she lay dead in his flat.
Mr Mccoubrey said security camera footage later showed the defendant buying the suitcase in which Ms Millane’s body was found. He also hired a professional carpet-cleaning device, the court was told.
The graduate died from “pressure to the neck” and was found “in the foetal position” in the suitcase, with “bruises consistent with restraint” on her upper chest and upper inner arms.
Mr Mccoubrey said the accused had initially lied to police, saying that he and Ms Millane had “parted company” after going for a drink, but he later admitted they had engaged in rough intercourse involving biting and hitting.
The accused man denies murder. Ian Brookie, defending, said the sex was consensual and Ms Millane’s death was accidental. He alleged that she “died as a result of what they consensually engaged in together”.
However, Mr Mccoubrey said: “Only two people know what happened in that room, one of them can’t tell us, the other one hasn’t told the truth about what happened.”
Ms Millane’s parents, David and Gillian, attended court for the first day of the trial, which is expected to last five weeks.