Found Deceased NEW ZEALAND - Grace Millane, 22, British backpacker, Auckland, 1 Dec 2018 *Arrest* #2

[stephaniejanes]

Consensual bruises, consensual deep bruising on the neck sufficient to kill..... ok

The pathologist also explained it would have taken 4-5 minutes of manual strangulation for Grace to die this way... I think people forget how it's actually very manual and time consuming - again, as I have surmised countless times, this goes against his story for that evening.

As an aside, I found the bruising descriptions really haunting as they are very similar in placement to those of a family member who had been seriously sexually assaulted.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Strangling/smothering someone to death isn't accidental, autoerotic asphyxiation is associated with accidental death, not choking or smothering the other person during a sex act. The defense has got buckley's chance of winning this case or citing a similar case where the defendant was found not guilty, but the defense can try with the usual victim blaming and humiliating witnesses.


Here's a case where the accused changed his plea to guilty for manslaughter but was ordered to stand trial for murder and was found guilty, he claimed he accidentally strangled his partner to death during a sex act and also, disposed of the body. He is currently serving a life sentence.

Man found guilty of strangling murder of Jacqueline Franklin

 

[Mariposa]

Now it’s that she apparently didn’t fight back hard enough, her nails weren’t damaged.
Must have wanted that strangling.
No matter it appears likely her arms & shoulders were restrained to the point of obvious bruises.

New lows reached continually in this trial ...
Grace Millane murder trial: Injuries found on backpacker's body

Defence lawyer Ian Brookie asks pathologist, Dr Simon Stables, if he would expect to see evidence of a person fighting back to a non-consensual act of strangulation.

Asked if he would expect to see fingernail markings around a person’s neck in a bid to remove an aggressor's hands, he replied "yes".

But in your examination, Grace did not have damaged fingernails either?" Brookie asked.

"But that doesn't exclude anything either," Stables replied.

 

[Kikixxxx]

Now it’s that she apparently didn’t fight back hard enough, her nails weren’t damaged.
Must have wanted that strangling.
No matter it appears likely her arms & shoulders were restrained to the point of obvious bruises.

New lows reached continually in this trial ...
Grace Millane murder trial: Injuries found on backpacker's body

Defence lawyer Ian Brookie asks pathologist, Dr Simon Stables, if he would expect to see evidence of a person fighting back to a non-consensual act of strangulation.

Asked if he would expect to see fingernail markings around a person’s neck in a bid to remove an aggressor's hands, he replied "yes".

But in your examination, Grace did not have damaged fingernails either?" Brookie asked.

"But that doesn't exclude anything either," Stables replied.

Oh my god. How low are they stooping here?

 

[Mariposa]

Oh my god. How low are they stooping here?

Pretty rich they are blaming her for not prying his hands off her neck — her bruised upper body is consistent with him restraining her likely by sitting atop her shoulders and arms as he did to the other woman a few weeks before.

looks like they also have taken a turn to blame her strangulation on her alcohol level.
Grace Millane murder trial: Injuries found on backpacker's body
Defence counsel Ian Brookie also pressed the pathologist about the amount of alcohol Grace drank on the night she died.

He asked whether it would have affected her breathing, which meant it could have been a contributing factor in an accidental strangulation.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Not that a shorter man hasn't the strength to overcome and kill a woman but in this instance, the accused is head and shoulders taller than Grace, he was absolutely more powerful compared to her. He may be currently slim but in the cctv footage from December, 2018, he was significantly heavier, so Grace didn't have a chance under the weight of a large man forceably holding her down and abusing her. I'm sure the prosecution will bring this to the attention of the court.

DNA found in accused’s apartment most likely to be from Grace Millane, court hears

 

[Mariposa]

Grace Millane murder trial: Injuries found on backpacker's body


Detective constable Changhee Han questioned the accused about his interaction with Grace as a part of the investigation into her disappearance.

Han met the accused at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Auckland, and they went to the food court downstairs to discuss Grace.

During that time, the accused gave police a different address from that of his apartment at the CityLife hotel.

The defendant told Han he met Grace through dating app Tinder and said they had spoken online the whole day, prior to meeting at Andy's Burger Bar at around 6pm.

He said the pair left around 8pm and walked down Victoria St towards Queen St.
He said the last time he saw Grace was when they parted ways at Queen St.

 

[cnmccarthy]

Strangling/smothering someone to death isn't accidental, autoerotic asphyxiation is associated with accidental death, not choking or smothering the other person during a sex act. The defense has got buckley's chance of winning this case or citing a similar case where the defendant was found not guilty, but the defense can try with the usual victim blaming and humiliating witnesses.


Here's a case where the accused changed his plea to guilty for manslaughter but was ordered to stand trial for murder and was found guilty, he claimed he accidentally strangled his partner to death during a sex act and also, disposed of the body. He is currently serving a life sentence.

Man found guilty of strangling murder of Jacqueline Franklin

It is such a crock of baloney (didn’t want to cuss on here. Lol!) that these men are saying they accidentally choked someone. When you’re doing anything that’s remotely bdsm, you tend to be more alert to what your partner is feeling/doing/saying as this is half of the reason it’s so enjoyable! -the other persons reactions. So if they were really “choking” her during sex for the thrill of it he could’ve easily seen that she was struggling . Obviously not a good thing! Not to mention that you would be REALLY STRUGGLING FOR YOUR LIFE if you were being choked to death! She would’ve scratched him, slapped him, tried to scream for him to stop. So unless this was a rape fantasy for both of them, which is a highly rare occurrence as you want the person you engage in a consensual non-consensual play to be some one you really really trust. Not some stranger from tinder. It baffles me they think this is a defense. IMO of course

 

[Grapey]

Police officer, Diana Levinzon, was the officer tasked with looking at Grace's social media activity after she was reported missing.

She obtained Grace’s Facebook login details during the process of the investigation.

"I noticed that she changed her profile picture and there was a comment from [the accused] under that profile picture," she told the jury.

Prosecutor Robin McCoubrey confirmed the comment on Grace's profile picture was made December 1 at 9.29pm - minutes before the pair were captured on CCTV entering the CityLife Hotel.

Levinzon contacted him and asked him to call her as police were looking for Grace.

The accused told police he met Grace on a Tinder date but said the last time he saw her was 10pm on December 1.


Grace Millane murder trial: Accused's police interviews shown to jury

 

[Grapey]

Detective Toni Jordan, who is both a family liaison officer and a detective involved in the investigation, is the next witness.

Jordan was conducting a "run-of-the-mill" inquiry at the CityLife hotel on December 6, 2018.

She asked hotel staff if the accused lived there, which they confirmed.

While she was there, Jordan was told the accused was also in the foyer.

Seeing him at the CityLife was "unexpected", she said, because he had previously given her colleagues a completely different address.

Jordan approached the defendant and invited him to attend Auckland police station.

He obliged and said he wanted to "get this all sorted out", Jordan recalls.

 

[Grapey]

The jury watches the accused speak to Detective Sergeant Ewen Settle in his recorded police interview.

He explains he matched with Grace on Tinder on Friday November 30 and they met near the "winter wonderland" outside SkyCity on December 1.

"I gave her a hug hello and she gave me a hug back," he said.
The pair went to Andy's Burger Bar where they got some drinks and started chatting.

"The conversation just flew from there," he said. He told her he was from Wellington and said he had a complicated family life.

Grace shared her travel plans, stating she might pick up some bartending jobs - the "typical backpacker thing", he said.
She also mentioned what she was planning to do to celebrate her birthday the next day.

The accused told Settle he had been living at CityLife hotel for three months.

He said he thought he was being asked for his "prior" address, which is why he gave a different address to the CityLife hotel.

 

[Grapey]

After drinking at Andy's Burger Bar, the accused claimed the pair walked down Victoria St, towards Queen St, on opposite sides of the road.

"I went that way, she went that way," he said.

"I hung a left and walked down to the viaduct on Queen Street."

After that, the accused can be seen pausing on the video, trying to remember where he went next.

He said he continued to drink more alcohol and was going to meet another 32-year-old woman at the viaduct harbour.

Detective Sergeant Ewen Settle questions the odd route the accused took to get from Queen St to the viaduct.

The defendant said it was because he felt safer taking that route.

 

[jamjim]

3.00pm

After the lunch break, forensic pathologist Dr Simon Stables was asked by lead defence counsel Ian Brookie if alcohol could inhibit the way a person "bounces back" from a period in a low oxygen state.

"If a person's blood alcohol [level] is affecting a person's respiratory centre, they would be unconscious," the doctor said.

"They can't have disordered breathing and still be unconscious ... If your blood [alcohol] level is such a level that it is affecting your breathing, then you are no longer conscious."

Brookie referred to medical opinion he had which described a "bounce back phenomenon" and said Millane's level of intoxication may have affected her ability to come back from being consensually strangled.

The lawyer asked Stables if there was also any information available in the medical world to inform how long death in such a state may take.

"That's right, I can't answer that," Stables said.

The pathologist also said there was a lack of literature and a lack of reported cases for erotic manual strangulation.

"If it happens, this is incredibly rare," he said.

"I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just putting it in context."

Before the lunch break Stables was cross-examined by Brookie, whose line of questioning is proposing his client's account of how Millane died - a sexual encounter gone horribly wrong.

Grace Millane murder trial: Accused told police he last saw Grace at 10pm

 

[jamjim]

3.30pm

Detective Constable Diana Levinzon was the police officer tasked with scanning social media pages during the early days of the investigation into finding Millane.

She told the court she discovered a comment underneath a new profile photo on Millane's Facebook page.

"Beautiful, very radiant," it read.

The comment was linked to a name associated with the accused.

The Facebook timestamp said the comment had been made three days prior on December 2.

Prosecutor Robin McCoubrey told the court, however, that the Crown accepts further information shows the comment was in fact made on December 1 at about 9.29pm.

Levinzon also contacted the accused and in a phone conversation he said he was with Millane on the night of December 1.

He said he was at a SkyCity bar, had met Millane on Tinder, but the last time he saw her was at about 10pm.

Grace Millane murder trial: Accused told police he last saw Grace at 10pm

 

[jamjim]

4.00pm

Detective Constable Changhee Han and Detective Constable Thomas Heimuli briefly interviewed the accused in a downtown Auckland food court on December 6 last year.

The alleged killer said he last saw Millane walking down Victoria St West on the night of December 1.

He told the officers Millane had mentioned she was going to travel to Whangarei Heads with some friends she had made at her backpackers.

Grace Millane murder trial: Accused told police he last saw Grace at 10pm

 

[jamjim]

4.25pm

Detective Toni Jordan told the court she visited the CityLife hotel on December 6 and asked staff if the accused lived there.

However, she saw the alleged killer.

"I saw that he was outside and he looked directly at me," Jordan said.

The detective briefly ran after the accused, whom she found in a nearby shop on Queen St talking to a fellow police officer.

The accused was asked to come to the Auckland central police station, and Jordan said he made a comment that he "wanted to get this all sorted out".

Grace Millane murder trial: Accused told police he last saw Grace at 10pm

 

[jamjim]

5.10pm

The accused was not under arrest when he was interviewed by detective Ewen Settle on December 6.

Their conversation, however, was recorded on video and was played in part to the jury this afternoon.


The court heard the accused was originally from Wellington and had lived in Australia for several years.

He told Settle he matched with Millane on Tinder the day before they met on December 1.

After talking about Millane's travels he asked if the backpacker wanted to meet for a drink.

"We met outside [SkyCity] on the front doors, I gave her a hug, she gave me a hug," the accused told Settle.

"We decided that we were going up to Andy's Burger Bar.

"We were talking about siblings. She said she has brothers."

The accused also said he wasn't sure Millane was "real" and may have been a catfish, a fake social media identity.

"If I meet at SkyCity ... If it is someone that it's not, I could just walk away," he said.

"On Tinder it's all about the way you look.

"If she wasn't who she said she was at least then in my mind I would be safe."

...

 

[jamjim]

The accused also talked about his downtown Auckland apartment at the CityLife hotel - the room where Millane died.

"It's cosy, it's definitely ... it's not where I want to be forever but it's comfortable."

Settle asked: "How did the evening pan out?"

"Umm yeah, pretty good," the accused replied. "We drank a few cocktails and we were having good conversations."

The accused said after the pair went to Andy's Burgers & Bar they went their separate ways - a version of events which contradicts CCTV footage of the pair going to two more establishments before the CityLife hotel.

"I go down Victoria St, straight down to the bottom, and hang a left and head towards the Viaduct," the accused said.

"I was going to go down to the pubs down there."

He told Settle he then spent a couple of hours at a sports bar on Queen St.

However, Settle slid a piece of paper across the table and showed the accused an image from a CCTV camera.

It was of him and Millane.

"What time is this?" the detective asked.

The accused paused and questioned the photo before replying "I would say 8.30pm-9pm?"

The jury will watch the rest of the video interview when the trial resumes tomorrow morning.

Grace Millane murder trial: Accused told police he last saw Grace at 10pm

 

[jamjim]

"I was going to go down to the pubs down there."

He told Settle he then spent a couple of hours at a sports bar on Queen St.

However, Settle slid a piece of paper across the table and showed the accused an image from a CCTV camera.

It was of him and Millane.

"What time is this?" the detective asked.

The accused paused and questioned the photo before replying "I would say 8.30pm-9pm?"

What an effin' idiot.

 

[jamjim]

"On Tinder it's all about the way you look.

"If she wasn't who she said she was at least then in my mind I would be safe."

I've just seen this. The AUDACITY. HE would be safe???

This guy makes me sick.