True Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Part VII (Wattys2025)

Murder of Grace Millane

Grace Emmie Rose Millane (2 December 1996 – 2 December 2018) was a British tourist who was murdered in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2018. A 26-year-old man, Jesse Shane Kempson, was charged with her murder on 8 December 2018, and her body was found in the Waitākere Ranges to the west of Auckland the following day (he also went on a Tinder date that day while her body was still in his room). Kempson's name was until 2020 suppressed by New Zealand courts, meaning it could not be published in New Zealand; however, some international media outlets chose to publish it contrary to the New Zealand court order.

Kempson was tried at the Auckland High Court in November 2019; he claimed that she had died during consensual sex. After a three-week trial, he was convicted by a unanimous guilty verdict and later sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. Kempson filed an appeal against his conviction, which was dismissed by New Zealand's Court of Appeal on 18 December 2020. The suppression order was lifted by the New Zealand Supreme Court on 22 December 2020. It was revealed in court that this was a pattern of behavior.

Background and disappearance

Grace Millane was from Wickford, Essex. She had recently graduated from the University of Lincoln with a bachelor's degree in advertising and marketing, and was on a backpacking tour during her gap year.

Millane was on a two-week stay in New Zealand after spending six weeks in South America. She entered New Zealand on 20 November 2018 and traveled around the upper North Island. She arrived in Auckland on 30 November. At 9:00 pm on 1 December, she was seen in Victoria Street in Auckland's central business district, and 15 minutes later she was seen via CCTV at SkyCity. She was last seen at 9:41 pm at the CityLife Hotel on Queen Street with Jesse Kempson.

Investigation

Millane's parents became concerned after she did not reply to birthday wishes they sent her on 2 December 2018 and police started investigating after she was reported missing by her parents three days later. The hotel she was staying at reported that she did not go back to her room on the night of her disappearance. Police initially said that there was "no evidence of foul play", but later gathered evidence that she was "no longer alive". Police announced on 8 December that they were treating the case as a homicide investigation, and Kempson was subsequently charged with her murder.

Millane's body was found on 9 December at around 4 pm, off Scenic Drive in the Waitākere Ranges around 19 km (12 mi) west of central Auckland. A post-mortem examination was done on 10 December. Further investigations of the area where Millane was found were carried out on 11 December. Police asked for the public's help in finding a shovel they believed was related to the inquiry. A shovel fitting the police description was found on 13 December. Police also requested public help tracing the movements of a rental car Kempson leased between 2 and 3 December. The car had subsequently been re-leased and was located on 8 December in Taupō, 275 km (171 mi) south of Auckland.

Arrest

Kempson, 26 years old, was taken into custody on 8 December at 3 pm. He had been staying at the CityLife Hotel in central Auckland. Kempson appeared in the Auckland District Court on 10 December 2018, charged with murdering Millane.

Kempson was born and grew up in the Wellington Region. After his parents separated when he was nine, he was raised by his father and grandfather. His mother moved with his brother to Australia while his father remarried and had a step family. At Aotea College, Kempson played softball at a regional representative level for multiple teams. He worked as a bartender and builder/laborer and also lived in Sydney, Australia between 2013 and 2016. Kempson was estranged from his family. He also had a drunken driving conviction in New Zealand and had been arrested for disorderly behavior in Auckland and Sydney. Kempson's paternal grandfather also alleged that he had fathered a child while living in Sydney but this is disputed by other relatives.