Warning: This story and related coverage of the trial contain graphic details that may be distressing for some readers
The 28-year-old man who killed British backpacker Grace Millane was found guilty at the end of a three-week trial in the High Court in Auckland in November last year.
One of the photos shown to the jury of the police scene investigation at CityLife hotel apartment. Photo: RNZ / Supplied
Today he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.
It was the Crown's case that the man strangled Millane to death in his apartment in the CityLife Hotel in Auckland's CBD.
But the defence argued that her death was an accident during consensual rough sex.
These were the crucial pieces of evidence considered by the jury of seven women and five men.
Read more:
- Grace Millane murderer sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years
- Grace Millane murder: The key evidence heard in court
- The Grace Millane case: A timeline
The CCTV footage
CCTV footage of the defendant in the Grace Millane murder trial with a rug doctor he hired. Photo: Supplied
Crown prosecutors played hours of CCTV footage to the jury.
The police gathered six days of footage from CCTV cameras around central Auckland to track the movements of Millane and the man.
The first CCTV compilation showed the pair on their Tinder date. It showed them bar hopping and drinking, before going back to the man's apartment at the CityLife Hotel.
Millane was last seen exiting the lift with the man at about 9.40pm on 1 December 2018.
The second CCTV compilation showed the man's movements after Millane's death.
He bought a suitcase, went to a supermarket to pick up cleaning products, hired a carpet cleaner and rented a car.
Millane's killer in a supermarket after her death. Photo: RNZ / YouTube
About 24 hours after Millane was last seen, CCTV footage showed the man wheeling a suitcase out of the CityLife Hotel on a trolley and putting it in the rental car.
He was also captured buying a shovel at a hardware store in west Auckland.
The police interviews
The man was interviewed by the police twice.
Initially, he told them he parted ways with Millane about 10pm on 1 December 2018, having made plans to see her the following day.
At one point in the interview when he was left alone, he knocked on the door and asked a passing police officer, "Am I being arrested for something I didn't do?"
But he changed his story a few days later, when he was interviewed with his lawyer Ian Brookie present.
He admitted they went back to his apartment, where they had sex. He said he fell asleep and woke up the next day to find Millane's body on his floor.
The man said he panicked, put her body in a suitcase and buried her in a shallow grave in the Waitākere Ranges.
When asked why he changed his story, the man said: "Because of her family. Because I want her family to know it wasn't intentional but I also want her family to have closure."
But asked if her murdered her, the man replied, "No".
What was on his phone
The man's phone was examined as part of the police investigation.
On it, they found seven explicit photos taken of Millane's body and screenshots of her Instagram profile.
The man's Google search history was also detailed in court.
At about 1.30am on 2 December, he searched "Waitākere Ranges", followed by "hottest fire" a few minutes later.
He also looked up pornography.
Hours later, at about 6am, the man made a number of other searches, including "rigor mortis", "extra large bags" and "carpet cleaner".
Later that afternoon the man searched "flesh eating birds" and "are there vultures in New Zealand".
The Tinder dates
Three women who went on dates with the man were called to give evidence during the trial. None of them can be named.
One woman described how she went back to his apartment after buying alcohol. She told him she did not want to have intercourse, but instead gave him oral sex.
But during this, she said the man sat down, putting his full weight on her face. She said she struggled to breathe and started kicking to try and get him off her.
She said she felt helpless and was scared she would die.
The woman who went on a date with the man while Millane's body was in a suitcase in his apartment said he told her he knew of someone who'd been done for manslaughter after rough sex went wrong.
The woman said he had also told her about how he'd been trying to find a large duffle bag, but was struggling to find one big enough for his sports equipment.
He also talked about how many of his friends were police officers and they were having problems because a lot of bodies were going missing in the Waitākere Ranges, she said.
When he messaged the woman later to ask if she wanted to meet again, she replied that she wasn't interested.
The forensic evidence
Photos showing luminol results from crime scene analysis of the hotel room where the man lived. Photo: RNZ / Supplied
Forensic pathologist Simon Stables was called to give evidence for the Crown.
He said pressure to the neck was the cause of Millane's death.
Stables said he identified a number of bruises on Millane's collar bone, upper shoulders, calf and thigh that likely occurred around the time of her death.
He said there was also an area of "significant bruising" to the left side of the woman's neck - which he only found through an internal examination.
Stables said he could not specify the amount or timing of pressure required to cause the injury but said it wouldn't have been gentle.
"I don't think the bruising would occur with a gentle pressure on the neck; it has to be something a bit more forceful," he said.
Stables said it would take four to five minutes to kill someone in this way, but it may only take 10 seconds for someone to pass out.
"To maintain pressure on the neck sufficient to do that for four-to-five minutes takes quite a bit of effort. It's quite a long time; it doesn't seem like it but to do if for four-to-five minutes would actually take quite a bit of strength."