Murder of Grace Millane

Grace Emmie Rose Millane, a 21-year-old British tourist from Wickford, Essex, was murdered in Auckland, New Zealand, on 2 December 2018. Millane had recently graduated from the University of Lincoln and was backpacking during her gap year, having arrived in New Zealand on 20 November 2018 after six weeks in South America. She arrived in Auckland on 30 November 2018 and was last seen on CCTV at the CityLife Hotel on Queen Street at 9:41 pm on 1 December 2018 with Jesse Shane Kempson, whom she had met via the dating app Tinder.

Millane's parents became concerned when she did not respond to birthday messages sent on 2 December 2018, and she was reported missing three days later. Police reviewed her social media activity and contacted Kempson, a recent commenter on her Facebook page. During questioning by Detective Sergeant Ewen Settle, Kempson gave an account of his movements that conflicted with hotel CCTV footage. On 8 December 2018, police announced they were treating the case as a homicide investigation, and Kempson, then 26, was taken into custody and charged with her murder. Millane's body was found on 9 December 2018 off Scenic Drive in the Waitākere Ranges, approximately 19 km west of central Auckland. A post-mortem examination was conducted the following day, and police later recovered a shovel and traced a rental car linked to the investigation.

Kempson's identity was initially suppressed by a New Zealand court order, though some international outlets published his name regardless. He was tried at the Auckland High Court beginning 4 November 2019. The Crown, led by Brian Dickey, argued Kempson had strangled Millane following their date and subsequently searched online for methods to dispose of a body before disposing of her remains. Three other women who had met Kempson through Tinder testified regarding his interest in choking during sex. A Crown pathologist, Simon Stables, testified that Millane's injuries were consistent with restraint and asphyxiation. The defence, led by Ron Mansfield and Ian Brookie, argued Millane's death resulted from consensual sexual "misadventure," presenting a defence pathologist, Fintan Garavan, who disputed the Crown's findings.

After a three-week trial, a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on 22 November 2019 following five hours of deliberation. On 21 February 2020, Kempson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 18 December 2020, and the Supreme Court dismissed his further application for leave to appeal on 29 June 2021. Name suppression was lifted by the Supreme Court on 22 December 2020, at which point it was also revealed Kempson had been convicted in 2020 of nine separate charges of rape, sexual violation, threatening to kill, and assault against two other women, in trials independent of the Millane case.

Millane's death prompted a significant public reaction in New Zealand, including a public apology from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and candlelight vigils. Her mother, Gillian Millane, and cousin, Hannah O'Callaghan, subsequently founded the charity Love Grace to support survivors of domestic violence.