Grace Millane was 21 when she was murdered on the day before her birthday – 1 December in 2018. She was a British tourist who was murdered by a man that she met on Tinder while she was on her holiday/vacation.
Grace was born in Essex in England on 2 December, 1996 to parents David and Gillian. She had two brothers – Decline and Michael.
Grace graduated from the University of Lincoln with a degree in advertising and marketing. She decided to take a gap year and go backpacking around the world.
After Grace left England, she spent six weeks in South America. She visited Chile, Patagonia and Peru. She then left for New Zealand and she planned to spend two weeks there.
Grace landed in New Zealand on 20 November 2018 and she traveled around the North Island.
She got to Auckland on 30 November.
In terms of what Auckland is like in regards to crime, the overall crime rate decreased there in 2018, with a 2.7% reduction in total victimisations. Just to note, the crime rate there has increased since 2018.
The population of Auckland is around 1-5 – 1.7m depending on the source.
In 2015, Auckland ranked third in a survey of the quality of life of 215 major cities of the world.
During her travels, Grace sent her family photos and messages about all the adventures that she was having.
“We heard from Grace virtually every day … she enjoyed sharing her adventures with us,” her father later said in a statement during the trial for her death.
When Grace arrived in Auckland, she checked into the Base Backpackers Hostel. She was staying in a four bedroom dorm with three other people.
The hostel has since permanently closed down but this was a description of it from google:
Basic dorms & private rooms in a low-key, city-centre hostel with a game room & 2 bars.
It has a 3.6/5 rating on google reviews:
I stayed here a few years ago and it was great however I was in Auckland and needed a place to stay a few days ago so I thought I would go back to the base. It’s was so run down. The dorm room was awful and the room had so much rubbish in there. Also the hair dryer in the showers lasted about 30 seconds before it burnt out. Everything smelt damp. Also a few days later I started getting lots of little red dots on me and it came clear they were bed bug bites. I literally have them everywhere. It is awful. I would normally never write a bad review but I would not like to put people through what I have been through with these bites. Do not stay there!!
It is believed that Grace matched with her would-be killer on Tinder on November 30. His name is Jesse Shane Kempson.
As some background into him, Jesse was born on December 28, 1991, making him 26 at the time he met Grace. He was born in Lower Hutt in New Zealand and grew up in Wellington.
According to NZ media outlet, Stuff, Jesse’s parents split up when he was young and he lived with his grandparents for a period of time.
Jesse’s mother moved to Australia and he went with her for a short time. By 2011, he was back in New Zealand and living at a boarding house in Wellington.
People who knew Jesse have come forward and said they told many lies.
A former landlord of his told Stuff, that Jesse claimed to be a professional softball player freshly signed up by New Zealand’s national softball team the Black Sox.
“He’d say ‘oh yeah, my contract money is coming – my payments will come then’,” the landlord said, but they never materialised.
After about eight weeks of excuses, the landlord said he got in touch with Black Sox management – who he said had “never even heard of the guy”.
Jesse left the property shortly after, leaving the landlord more than $700 out of pocket.
“He was a very convincing liar. I thought I could read people but I badly misjudged him,” the landlord said.
Jesse went back to Australia after this. He worked random jobs as a bartender, builder and a labourer.
Jesse did have convictions for drunk driving and was arrested multiple times for alcohol related disorderly behaviour.
Jesse told other lies including telling people that he had a bachelor’s degree in international law and that his family were millionaires.
He claimed that his family owned multiple restaurants in Sydney and that they were looking to buy a restaurant in Auckland.
So, as we mentioned Grace and Jesse matched around November 30 on Tinder. That same day, Grace had been communicating with another man via Facebook. She met up with that man on November 30 and they watched a movie and spent the night together.
On December 1, Jesse saw that he had matched with Grace on Tinder and he sent her a message.
They began chatting via the app and he asked what her plans for the day were. Grace said she was free and Jesse asked her to meet for drinks at SkyCity.
SkyCity Auckland is an entertainment complex and casino, in the heart of the CBD.
The complex includes the Sky Tower, the Sky City Theatre with an auditorium with 700-seats, many bars and restaurants, and three hotels.
Grace agreed to meet Jesse.
She left the Base Backpackers Hostel at 5.37pm on foot. She arrived at SkyCity at 5.45pm. She took a photo of a Christmas tree there and sent it to her family. This would be the last message she would send to them.
Jesse turned up and they greeted each other with a hug, before heading into the complex to Andy’s Burger Bar. They ordered drinks and chatted together. Please note that many of the photos included in this blog (source linked here and in our source list) are blurred as there was an identity suppression order on Jesse for many years, which we will detail later on.
At 7.14pm, they left SkyCity and went to a Mexican place across the road where Grace ordered Sangria with mint.
The two seemed to be getting on well – Grace was seen touching the small of Jesse’s back.
Grace messaged a friend throughout the evening – Ameena Ashcroft. She told Ameena “I’m on a date with a guy who is a manager of an oil company.”
Grace also messaged her friend: “Cocktails all round” and “He was like ‘it’s [my] birthday tomorrow, we are getting smashed’.”
Her last messages were: “I click with him so well” and “I will let you know what happens tomorrow”.
At 8.27pm, Jesse paid the tab – they had consumed three jugs. Two of margaritas and one of sangria. Their hostess said that Grace was happy when they left the venue.
At 8.30pm, they went to The Bluestone Room pub. This venue has since closed down but this is what it was described as:
Booze, bar food & quiz nights in a lively, old-fashioned locale with exposed stonework & wood beams.
They sat together at a small table. The pub was very busy. They could be seen chatting and laughing and kissing.
At 9.01pm, Jesse brought tequila shots to the table and they clinked their glasses before drinking.
At 9.20pm, Grace went to the bathroom. She left her handbag and Jesse could be seen to rummage through it. He put it back on her seat.
Surely after this, they left the pub.
At 9.29, Jesse commented on Grace’s Facebook profile pic – “Beautiful. Very radiant.”
At 9.40pm, they arrived at CityLife Auckland which is a serviced apartment/hotel complex. This is where Jesse was living/staying at the time. His arm was around Grace’s shoulder and she was holding his hand. They got into the lift and got out on the third floor. They walked down the hallway and this was the last time Grace was seen alive.
Grace’s parents became concerned when she did not reply to their birthday messages, sent on 2 December. She was reported missing by her parents three days later.
Base Backpackers confirmed that Grace did not return back to her room on 1 December.
We will now run through some info that we learned later into the case – it makes sense to run through it chronologically now that we have insight as to what actually happened.
After looking into his phone history, it was determined that at 1.29am on 2 December, Jesse searched for “Waitākere Ranges” in Google Maps. The Prosecution would allege later that he was “trying to figure out a way of disposing her body”.
At 1.31am, Jesse searched ‘hottest fire.’ Again, this is because he was allegedly trying to figure out how to get rid of Grace’s body.
Jesse then accessed porn online and watched videos.
Between 1.45am and 1.49am, he took photos of Grace’s naked body.
At 6am, he searched for “rigor mortis” and “extra large bags” and “carpet cleaner”.
At 7.51am, Jesse messaged another woman that he had been communicating with on Tinder to check their date was still scheduled for later that day.
At 8am, Jesse left CityLife and walked to a store where he purchased a large grey suitcase.
At 8.14am, Jesse got back to his hotel room.
Jesse left the apartment at 8.35am and he walked to a supermarket. He purchased gloves and cleaning products, as well as gum. He then went back to his room.
At 10.33am, Jesse left the hotel and got in a cab. He was seen smiling and using his phone while in the back seat.
At 10.42am, Jesse arrived at a car rental facility. He rented a car for 24 hours and paid using his credit card.
At some point during the afternoon, he Google searched “flesh eating birds” and “are there vultures in New Zealand”.
At 2.53pm, Jesse left the hotel and went to meet his Tinder date. The woman would later tell police that Jesse told her a story about a man who killed a woman during rough sex and was later convicted of manslaughter.
“It’s crazy how guys can make one wrong move and go to jail for the rest of their life,” he apparently said.
Jesse left the bar at 5.25pm.
He was seen on CCTV at 7.30pm, parking his rental car near a supermarket and also looking at carpet cleaning equipment.
He ended up hiring a carpet cleaner machine at 8.11pm and he returned it to the store around one hour later.
At 9.26pm, Jesse could be seen getting a luggage trolley from the hotel lobby and he took it up to his room. He left again with two suitcases – one which contained Grace’s body. He put both bags in his rental car and he parked it at a parking station. He then went to a supermarket where he purchased gloves and stain remover.
At 6.14am on December 3, Jesse went back to the rental car and drove to the Waitākere Ranges.
He stopped at a store at 6.50am and purchased a shovel and some bolts.
Jesse then drove to Scenic Drive and buried Grace in a shallow grave. He loosely covered it with branches.
He was back at his hotel by 9.30am. He went into the hotel barefoot.
At 9.58am, he dropped clothes off at a dry cleaners, before going to a store where he purchased another suitcase. He then took the rental car to a car wash where he cleaned the vehicle and his shoes. He left the red shovel leaning up against the wall in the car wash bay.
At 4.50pm, Jesse took Grace’s belongings to a park and put them in a bin there.
We now go to 6 December, 2018, Jesse left his hotel and got in an Uber to Mission Bay. He was seen carrying a bag. He returned around 6am.
It is thought that the purpose of this trip may have been to discard Grace’s cellphone, which has never been found.
Grace’s father had flown to Auckland by this point, to help police find his daughter.
Jesse was taken to Auckland central police station to be questioned on this day.
He was initially contacted by police after they saw the Facebook comment he had left on Grace’s profile on the day she vanished. Rookie error.
Jesse originally told detectives that he and Grace went their separate ways after their date at SkyCity. He would later call them and admit he had been with her later on the Saturday night.
He was asked to provide DNA and he said “Yep, 100 per cent, I haven’t done anything wrong.”
This is the story that Jesse originally told police.
We don’t know what happened next. Jesse would later say “We were kissing, we were talking and kissing more.”
A music channel was playing on the television in the background and at one point Grace asked him to turn it off. Jesse said she then began to talk about Fifty Shades of Grey.
“She told me that there’s a few things she likes doing and that she’d done with her ex-partner. We started having sex, at first it was just normal. It was very placid.”
Jesse said Grace then brought up the topic of bondage.
“And she started biting and she asked me to bite her so I did.”
“I stopped at first and said, ‘Is this something you really want to do?'”
He said Grace replied: “We’re in the moment, let’s just go with it.”
The pair then talked for a while before having sex again.
“Holding my arms above my head and just biting and then she hit my butt … and then she held me around my neck and pushed down.
“We started having more, I guess, violent sex.”
Jesse said they then ended up on the floor and stopped to take intimate photos of each other.
“And then she told me to hold her throat and go harder.”
He said afterwards, he went to the bathroom and fell asleep in the shower. He woke up later and went to bed. He said he thought Grace had left.
Jesse asked detectives “I just wanted to ask a question, have I been arrested for something I didn’t do?”
He was told by police: “We’ve reached a point where we need to advise you of your rights.”
There was a public appeal for information regarding Grace’s whereabouts. Her father said “Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving, family orientated daughter. Grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time and is usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself or her two brothers … we are all extremely upset and it is very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are all going through.”
Jesse initially lied to police (obviously this was pre them determining the actual timeline) and said that he woke up on December 2 and saw Grace laying on the floor, with blood on her face. “I screamed, I yelled out at her. I tried to move her to see if she was awake.”
Once he started to come clean, he would also tell police that he tried to kill himself at around 8am on 2 December.
“I was at the point where I just wanted to end my own life – I’d had enough, I was finished.”
He admitted that he tried to put Grace’s body in the suitcase he had purchased.
“I was just in shock the whole time, I couldn’t put her in it because it just didn’t seem right. It just didn’t seem right.
“So I left and Grace was half-in half-out of the suitcase at that stage. I couldn’t do it.
On 8 December, 2018, police announced that they were investigating Grace’s case as homicide. That same day, Jesse was taken into custody at 3pm.
That day, Jesse admitted to police that Grace was dead. He told them his version of the events of the night that she died and also revealed where he buried her.
Grace’s body was found on 9 December, 2018, at around 4pm. She was off Scenic Drive in the Waitākere Ranges around 19 km (12 mi) west of central Auckland.
An autopsy was carried out on December 10 and it was determined that Grace died from pressure to the neck.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a public apology to Grace’s family on 10 December, saying “on behalf of New Zealand, I want to apologise. Your daughter should have been safe here, and she wasn’t”.
On 12 December 2018, a vigil was held for Grace and other victims of violence. Grace’s father David made this statement:
“Grace went off to travel the world in mid-October and arrived in New Zealand on the 20th November. By the amount of pictures and messages we received she clearly loved this country, its people and the lifestyle.
“After the disappearance of Grace on 1st December 2018 our whole world turned upside down.
“I arrived in Auckland on Friday 7th December, followed by my brother Martin on Saturday 8th. From that very first moment we have been astounded by the level of concern, sympathy and selfless help from every person we have met.
“Auckland Police have carried out the most concise, stringent and thorough investigation. The team, consisting at times of over 24 officers, have worked arduous long hours without a day off, little sleep or rest in helping to resolve this heinous crime.
“The media and press have been superb in their coverage and reporting of the events surrounding Grace’s tragic final days. They have not intruded into our life and have been respectful and courteous at all times.
“Gill, Michael, Declan and myself would sincerely like to thank everybody involved and express our most profound gratitude.
“In this difficult situation where everybody is a true hero it is sometimes difficult to single out certain people. Despite this we would like to offer our most sincere thanks and everlasting gratitude to:
“Detective Inspector Scott Beard, who has been a most measured, selfless, human and professional face of Auckland Police. His emotional media statements have made him many fans both in New Zealand and at home in the UK.
“Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Brand, the hidden driving force of the investigation and a true police professional.
“We all hope that what has happened to Grace will not deter even one person from venturing out into the world and discovering their own OE.
“Martin and I had the privilege of attending the traditional Māori blessing of the site, which was a lovely and peaceful experience.
“Finally we would like to thank the people of New Zealand for their outpouring of love, numerous messages, tributes and compassion.
“Grace was not born here and only managed to stay a few weeks, but you have taken her to your hearts and in some small way she will forever be a Kiwi. My brother Martin and I leave for the UK this weekend to take her home.”
Jesse first appeared in court on 10 December, 2018. His identity was suppressed which caused a lot of controversy. He was initially denied the suppression but the defence appealed that. This meant that his name was automatically suppressed for 20 days. This is also why his face and photo are blurred out in many media articles.
The name suppression was unable to be enforced against media outlets outside New Zealand, so everyone quickly knew who the accused was.
Jesse was kept in custody and he appeared in the Auckland High Court on 16 January, 2019. He pleaded not guilty at that time.
His identity was still suppressed at that time.
Jesse’s trial began on 4 November, 2019. Jesse reaffirmed his not guilty plea and the trial was expected to run for five weeks.
During proceedings, other women who had met Jesse through Tinder testified. They said he liked masochistic and bondage sex including choking.
The timeline before, during and after Grace’s death was also examined in court.
The trial ended up lasting for three weeks. The jury – consisting of seven women and five men – found Jesse guilty on 22 November 2019 after five hours of deliberation.
In New Zealand, murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years except when such a sentence would be manifestly unjust (e.g. mercy killings). Judges have discretion to order a longer non-parole period.
On 21 February 2020, Jesse was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.
At his sentencing for Grace’s murder, Justice Simon Moore said a report on Jesse’s childhood showed he had been “affected by various traumatic influences”.
“I accept that you had a volatile upbringing and that may well have influenced the person you are today,” he said.
On 18 March 2020, it was reported that Jesse would appeal his conviction and sentence at the Court of Appeal. The appeal began in August 2020.
On 18 December 2020, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, although the Supreme Court ordered that name suppression should remain in place until a further court order. That same day, it was reported that taxpayers had paid more than NZ$400,000 in legal fees for Jesse.
Sadly, in December 2020, Grace’s father David died after a battle with cancer.
Jesse ended up being formally identified in December 2020, two years after he murdered Grace. It was also disclosed that he had been convicted of nine total charges of rape, sexual violation, threatening to kill, and assault in two sexual violence trials before a judge in October and November 2020 that were independent of the Grace’s case.
On 29 June 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed Jesse’s appeal. This meant that his legal avenues to quash his conviction were exhausted.
Grace’s mother Gillian and her cousin, Hannah O’Callaghan have founded a charity named ‘ Love Grace.’ The charity aims to help women affected by domestic violence by filling bags with toiletries for abuse victims. As of 2023, they had donated over 15,000 bags around the world.
SOURCE LIST
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Grace_Millane
https://www.facebook.com/gmillane
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-51563388
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/indepth/national/grace-millane-timeline