Advertisement

The woman who dated Grace Millane's killer speaks out

Photo credit: Rex
Photo credit: Rex

From Cosmopolitan

The family of Grace Millane, a young backpacker who was murdered in New Zealand by a man she met on Tinder, recently shared their grief in court. Her mother, Gillian, made a moving statement via a video link in which she called her daughter her "best friend". The killer, who won't be named for another year, has since been sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison.

After cruelly murdering Grace, the anonymous killer (who cannot be named), logged back onto the dating app and met with another woman – while Grace's body remained in a suitcase in his bedroom. This second woman has now bravely spoken to the BBC about her experience of meeting the murderer, in the hopes of making others more aware of the dangers of online dating.

The anonymous woman said that she'd been speaking to the killer for two weeks before meeting, that he was Australian and that their conversation was initially "light and fun".

However, she continued, he then became overly persistent:

"He would text me multiple times in a day and if I didn't reply he would ask if something was wrong. He kept trying to bring the date forward and would forget I had told him I was busy. It was just unusual that he could not possibly wait until Sunday. It felt very narcissistic."

Photo credit: Greg Bowker - Getty Images
Photo credit: Greg Bowker - Getty Images

This anonymous Tinder user then shared that the killer messaged her early in the morning the day after Grace's murder saying "Good morning, how are you?". She said she responded when he sent a further message, agreeing that she'd later meet him in a bar. Pretty soon, she began to feel uneasy in his company:

"He was bigger than his photos showed; obviously he had put on some weight. He had big distinctive eyes and he was very, very clean. His clothes looked clean and he was well-groomed."

She also said that there were inconsistencies in his story about where he worked and that he mentioned having lots of friends who worked as police officers. She mentioned one specific anecdote that the killer shared, in which he said bodies couldn't be traced by sniffer dogs if they were buried more than 4 foot deep.

Things became even darker when the killer then told his Tinder date a story about a guy who "made one mistake" and accidentally killed his girlfriend while having consensual rough sex. "What we know now is [that] this could have been him testing out his story on me," the anonymous woman said, during her interview.

When the date ended, the unnamed woman said her instincts kicked in and that she "walked a different way" from the killer, even though her car was parked close by to his.

Photo credit: James D. Morgan - Getty Images
Photo credit: James D. Morgan - Getty Images

Keen to encourage other women to think twice while online dating, she said that the experience had left her understandably shaken:

"It is really strange in hindsight to think of [Grace being dead in his room]. I don't think it is in the realm of what normal human brains can comprehend. It is hard to look back and think that that had just happened to her. There's nothing I could have done, and I know that now, but it is still really hard to come to terms with that."

She also encouraged others to pace themselves on dates, to make sure they really get to know the other person and to be aware of how much alcohol they're consuming.

To read the full story, visit the BBC.

Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.

SIGN UP

Follow Jennifer on Instagram and Twitter

You Might Also Like