The Murder of Grace Millane

A traveller on her way around the world

Grace Millane was a young British backpacker on a round-the-world trip. She arrived in New Zealand on 20 November 2018 and, according to her family, kept in regular contact with her family by sending them photos and messages. Her last message home, on 1 December 2018, was a picture of a Christmas tree at Auckland's SkyCity. She turned 22 the next day.

What happened

On 1 December, the eve of her birthday, Millane went on a date in Auckland with a man she had met through the dating app Tinder. When her family could not reach her on her birthday, and she did not answer messages, they reported her missing on 5 December. Her father, David Millane, flew to New Zealand to join the appeal for information.

Police treated the case as a homicide inquiry from 8 December, the same day the man she had met was arrested and charged with murder. Her body was found the next day in the Waitākere Ranges west of Auckland, where he had buried her on 3 December. He appeared in the Auckland District Court on 10 December and was granted interim name suppression, and on 16 January 2019 he pleaded not guilty in the High Court.

The trial

The trial began in the High Court at Auckland on 4 November 2019 before a jury of seven women and five men. The prosecution argued that the defendant had deliberately killed Millane. His defence argued that her death was an accident that occurred during consensual sexual activity. On 22 November 2019 the jury found him guilty of murder. On 21 February 2020 he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

The way the trial unfolded caused widespread anger. Much of the defence case dwelt on Millane's private life, which she could not answer, and her family said afterwards that it had felt as though Grace herself was on trial.

Name suppression and other convictions

The killer's name was suppressed for two years so that it would not prejudice two further trials he faced. In late 2020 judges sitting without juries convicted him of serious sexual and violent offences against a former girlfriend and of raping another woman he had met online. On 18 December 2020 the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against the murder conviction and sentence. Four days later, on 22 December 2020, the Supreme Court declined to hear a further appeal, the suppression order lapsed and he was publicly named as Jesse Shane Kempson. In March 2023 the Court of Appeal also dismissed his appeals against the convictions and sentences for the offences against the two other women. He remains in prison serving the life sentence.

Debate over the "rough sex" defence

Millane's case became one of the best-known examples in a wider international debate about defendants claiming that a death or serious injury happened during consensual sex. In the United Kingdom, MPs backed an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill ruling out consent to serious harm for sexual gratification as a defence. Millane's family welcomed the change and called on New Zealand to follow. Some New Zealand legal experts opposed a ban: law professor Warren Brookbanks and barrister Simon Shamy told RNZ that defendants must remain free to present their account and that judges already decide which evidence is relevant, while campaigners argued that the trial showed how such arguments can still shape public perceptions of a victim.

Why the case matters

The murder of a young visitor drew intense attention in both New Zealand and Britain. The case is now often discussed in connection with online dating safety, the treatment of victims in homicide trials and the role of name suppression in a digital age, when suppressed details can spread quickly beyond a country's borders. For her family, the central point has remained simpler: a young woman who was enjoying the trip of her life was killed by a man she had trusted for a single evening.