Grace Millane’s killer raped another British tourist and abused his ex

The man who strangled former Lincoln student Grace Millane to death during sex, has now been named because a New Zealand court order banning his identification was lifted.

Jesse Kempson, 28, was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years jail time, for murdering Grace in his hotel room and stuffing her body in a case in Auckland in December 2018.

He has since been convicted of sex attacks on two more women. In October, Kempson was convicted of eight charges related to various attacks, including using a knife against a woman between November 2016 and April 2017, according to the BBC.

He raped another British tourist he met via Tinder in early 2018 and faced the eight charges charges of sexual and other violence against his girlfriend. He raped the tourist when she refused sex following a date, according to The Guardian.

In a New Zealand high court in November this year Kempson was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for the rape.

In another trial early this year, also suppressed until now, Kempson was reportedly convicted of terrorising his live-in girlfriend for months in 2017, including threatening her with a butcher’s knife and forcing her into sex acts. He was sentenced in November to seven-and-a-half years in jail.

He will serve the sentences — totalling 11 years — concurrently with the 17-year minimum jail term for Grace’s murder, which he was sentenced for in February this year. However, his lawyer reportedly said he has plans to appeal against both the newly reported convictions.

Grace Millane was a University of Lincoln marketing graduate.

Grace Millane murder

Grace and the Jesse met on the Tinder dating app and visited a number of bars in the city centre a day before her 22nd birthday in December 2018.

They returned to the City Life hotel and leisure complex, where he was staying, and a trial previously heard how he had choked her to death during sex.

Grace’s body was later found stuffed in a suitcase in bushland outside Auckland, New Zealand.

Jesse’s internet search history, expert witnesses and those who knew about his tendency to dominate women were canvassed during the trial. However, the defence tried to use expert evidence and those who knew the victim to argue it was an “accidental death during erotic asphyxiation”.

Upon Kempson’s original sentencing, Justice Simon Moore told the defendant: “You are a large and powerful man. She was diminutive. You were in a position of total physical dominance.”

Grace was excited to see the world after graduating from the University of Lincoln.

Family tribute

In October 2018, Grace waved goodbye to her family as she embarked on a world tour. | Photo: New Zealand Police

A statement from Grace’s family was issued via New Zealand Police.

“We are pleased at the outcome that has been reached and would like to take this opportunity once again to thank: Justice Stephen Kos, Justice Patricia Courtney and Justice Mark Cooper; The Crown prosecution team Brian Dickey and Robin McCoubrey; Auckland City District Police, especially Detective inspector Scott Beard, Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Brand, Detective Sergeant Tony McKenzie and Detective Toni Jordan for their hard work, dedication and unflinching support.

“We would also like to thank the people of New Zealand for the love and support they have shown to Grace and our family over the last two years.

“Grace was a kind, fun-loving daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, aunty, cousin and friend with her whole life ahead of her.

“She was enjoying the first of what would have been a lifetime of adventures before her life was so cruelly and brutally cut short by her murderer.

“Her sense of fun, her sense of adventure, her love of travel and exploring, along with her ability to light up any room she walked into it with her generosity of spirit, are memories we as a family cherish and how we will forever remember her.

“Although the focus will inevitably be on the outcome of today’s legal process, as a family our hearts and our love will always be with our beautiful Grace. Grace, you are, and will always be, our sunshine.”