Murder victim Grace Millane [photo], met the man, accused of killing her through the dating app Tinder while traveling in New Zealand after college graduation.
A slain British backpacker texted a pal that she “clicked” with her Tinder match hours before he killed her and met up with another date, a court heard on Thursday.
Grace Millane, 22, was fatally choked during a December 2018 date with the 27-year-old man, who’s on trial in New Zealand for her murder, British paper The Independent, reports.
Prosecutors said Millane met the man, whose name was sealed by the court, through the dating app while traveling in New Zealand after college graduation.
“I click with him so well” Millane texted a pal about their date, according to a letter read in court.
Ameena Ashcroft, Millane’s friend, received messages from the backpacker saying she “wanted to get smashed” with the man she met on Tinder, before they headed back to an Auckland High Court heard via a letter.
Ashcroft “thought something was out of place” after receiving the texts, her letter said.
Millane and the defendant were seen drinking together and kissing at bars in Auckland city center on December 1, 2018, the day before her 22nd birthday, according to CCTV footage viewed by the jury.
Millane [photo], allegedly was strangled in New Zealand during a rough sex romp with her Tinder date, a court heard. The 27-year-old man, who’s on trial in her December 2018 murder claims it was an accident
Millane allegedly was strangled in New Zealand during a rough sex romp with her Tinder date, a court heard. The 22-year-old was traveling through Auckland when authorities say she was killed by the 27-year-old man, who’s on trial in her December 2018 murder.
Prosecutors said the accused, whose name has been sealed by the court, met Millane on the evening of December 1 through Tinder.
Surveillance footage later showed the pair kissing before they headed to the man’s hotel apartment, New Zealand Herald reported.
“Only two people know what happened in that room,” prosecutor Robin McCoubrey said. “One of them can’t tell us and the other one hasn’t told the truth about what happened.”
Police secured the scene on Scenic Drive, Auckland where British backpacker Grace Millane’s body was found on Dec 9, 2018
CCTV footage captured this image of Grace Millane on the night she was killed
Grace Millane’s parents – Gillian [right] and David Millane [second from right], arrive at the Auckland High Court for the trial
Prosecutors claim the defendant brought Millane home then strangled her to death in his apartment and took several photos of her body.
He then allegedly went on another date while her body was stuffed in a suitcase.
He then placed her body in a suitcase before driving her to the Waitakere Ranges and burying her. “He wasn’t distressed or concerned by her death,” prosecutor Robin McCoubrey told the court.
Though he confessed to her death, the man claimed she died accidentally when they engaged in rough sex, the BBC reported.
The Tinder date has pled not guilty in the murder trial, which is expected to last five weeks, according to reports.
The defendant claims that Millane died by accident when they engaged in rough sex.
“These actions were part of sexual activities that they were doing together and they were in no way intended to cause any harm to her,” his defense attorney Ian Brookie argued. My client “might blame himself, but he is not to blame,” Brookie said. “It was an accident… It occurred during a perfectly ordinary casual sexual encounter between a young couple who met up on Tinder,” Brookie told the court.
The victim’s body was found a week later after her family was unable to reach her on her birthday and reported her missing.
Grace Millane was traveling through Auckland, New Zealand when she reportedly was killed by a man she met on the dating app Tinder
Millane, from Wickford, Essex, was in New Zealand on a gap year after graduating from college, at the time of her death.
Prosecutor Robin McCoubrey told the court on Wednesday that the defendant had first told police he met Grace Millane “for a drink and then parted company”.
He later changed his story to say they had had sexual intercourse that involved biting and hitting, Mr McCoubrey said.
Millane, from Wickford, Essex, was in New Zealand on a gap year after graduating from college, at the time of her death. She had been on a round-the-world trip, travelling alone in New Zealand for two weeks, following six weeks in South America. After she met her tragic end, her body was found buried inside a suitcase in a forest area near Auckland on December 9.
The defense case is that Millane “died as a result of what [the pair] consensually engaged in together” and that her death was accidental.
Detectives described intimate photographs of a woman’s body found on the defendant’s phone to the court, which prosecutors said were taken after Millane’s death.
Investigators said the defendant also searched for pornography and “rigor mortis” on his phone.
McCoubrey said the defendant conducted additional online searches for the terms “the hottest fire”, “large bags near me” and “Waitakere Ranges”, the location where Millane’s body was found, in the hours after her death.
Records showed he searched “flesh-eating birds” and “are there vultures in New Zealand?” on December 5.
The prosecution also alleges that the defendant went on another date on December 2.
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