A year-old man, Jesse Shane Kempson, [ 2 ] was charged with her murder on 8 December Kempson's name was suppressed by New Zealand courts until , meaning it could not be published in New Zealand; however, some international media outlets chose to publish it contrary to the New Zealand court order.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 ; 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 It was also revealed that he had been convicted of rape and sexual abuse charges relating to two other women in October and November Grace Millane was from Wickford , Essex.
Millane was on a two-week stay in New Zealand after spending six weeks in South America. Millane's parents became concerned after she did not reply to birthday wishes they sent her on 2 December [ 9 ] and police started investigating after she was reported missing by her parents three days later. Further investigations of the area where Millane was found were carried out on 11 December.
A shovel fitting the police description was found on 13 December. 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 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 overseas while his father remarried and had a step family.
At Aotea College , [ 6 ] Kempson played softball at a regional representative level for multiple teams. Kempson was estranged from his family. Kempson's paternal grandfather alleged that he had fathered a child while living in Sydney but this is disputed by other relatives. His previous offending was limited to a conviction for drunk driving and a few arrests for alcohol-related disorderly behaviour. During the initial appearance, Kempson was denied name suppression , but this was appealed by the defence, automatically triggering interim name suppression for a period of 20 working days.
