Found Deceased NEW ZEALAND - Grace Millane, 22, British backpacker, Auckland, 1 Dec 2018 *Arrest* #2

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3:57pm - Dr Healy was streaming into the court from Australia, but as she gave her evidence, numerous technical issues arose. As a result, Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey is reading a statement from her. Dr Healey may be asked questions from the defence afterwards.

3:44pm - Dr Healy is going over the anatomy of the neck, saying that the brain requires blood from the heart. When the windpipe and veins have pressure applied to them, death can occur.

3:36pm - The court has now resumed. The final witness is Dr Clare Healey, who is an expert in sexual assaults and family violence. She has a speciality in strangulation, particularly in a domestic violence context.

Grace Millane murder trial: Live updates as second police interview plays, Scott Beard gives evidence
 
  • 8 minutes ago
    Auckland Crown Solicitor Brian Dickey asked Dr Clare Healy whether pressure to the neck could result in a bleeding nose.

    She said it could if the obstruction was stopping the return of blood from the brain to the heart.

    Congestion in the brain can cause a bleeding nose, she said.
  • 17 minutes ago
    Dr Clare Healy continues by explaining the symptoms of strangulation depend on whether the veins are blocking the blood returning to the heart, or if the arteries are blocking the blood returning to the brain.

    "The signs and symptoms also depends on the amount of pressure and for how long it is [applied] for," she said.

    If the carotid arteries - the major blood vessels in the neck - are blocked, this may result in a loss of consciousness. This may be followed by shaking or convulsions, and a person becoming floppy.

    "If the pressure is released after loss of consciousness, recovery is possible. If it isn't, death will arise,” she said.

    The pressure required depends but research demonstrates 2 kilograms of pressure - the equivalent of crushing an aluminum can - is enough to interfere with blood coming back from the head to the heart, she said.
  • 28 minutes ago
    Dr Clare Healy, a forensic medical doctor, is the final witness for the Crown.

    She is an expert in neck anatomy and strangulation in a domestic violence context, having worked for more than 20 years in the area of sexual and intimate partner violence.

    First she explains that the neck is a narrow part of the body, carrying arteries and veins. At the front of the neck, is a flexible tube-like structure called the windpipe.

    Arteries on the side of the neck run between the brain and the neck. Veins carry blood from the brain to the heart and are particularly sensitive to a lack of oxygen, she said.

    "If you imagine a hose pipe, full pressure on - that is artery pressure. Hosepipe on half volume is vein pressure,” she said.

    Manual pressure applied to the neck will first affect blood in the veins and, as pressure increases, it will affect the arteries, the court hears.

    The first thing that happens to people in this instance is a loss of consciousness, Healy explains.

    "The next thing is they go floppy ... Then there are convulsions," she said.

    "If this pressure continues, it may result in death."
  • an hour ago
    The court has been experiencing technical difficulties with the next witness' video link.

    The jury wrote a note to the judge saying they were happy to sit for "as long as it takes".

    Justice Simon Moore commended the "conscientious" jury.

    Grace Millane murder trial: Accused's account of what happened to backpacker shown
 
The prosecution has put on a very strong case. If this strangulation medical expert is the final witness, that is an important note to end on and her testimony will be fresh in jury minds when the defense case launches.
 
legal.beagle said:
Grace Millane's alleged murderer admits disposing of her body in second police interview

And another portion of the police interview. Apologies for all of the posts just posting links as I come across them
Click to expand...
He says 'she told me to hold her throat, and then, at that point we finished so I went in to the shower and then, all I remember is falling asleep...... (he asks for a break and then, continues.).

He's leaving out very important information, glossing over the moment that led to Grace's death.
He's a nasty bit of work. I think he became enraged and Grace was powerless, but we'll never know the true details from his mouth, those depraved thoughts that went through his head, he's smart enough to know it looks very bad for him. Forensics will fill in the gaps as best they can. jmo
 
legal.beagle said:
  • 8 minutes ago
    Auckland Crown Solicitor Brian Dickey asked Dr Clare Healy whether pressure to the neck could result in a bleeding nose.

    She said it could if the obstruction was stopping the return of blood from the brain to the heart.

    Congestion in the brain can cause a bleeding nose, she said.
  • 17 minutes ago
    Dr Clare Healy continues by explaining the symptoms of strangulation depend on whether the veins are blocking the blood returning to the heart, or if the arteries are blocking the blood returning to the brain.

    "The signs and symptoms also depends on the amount of pressure and for how long it is [applied] for," she said.

    If the carotid arteries - the major blood vessels in the neck - are blocked, this may result in a loss of consciousness. This may be followed by shaking or convulsions, and a person becoming floppy.

    "If the pressure is released after loss of consciousness, recovery is possible. If it isn't, death will arise,” she said.

    The pressure required depends but research demonstrates 2 kilograms of pressure - the equivalent of crushing an aluminum can - is enough to interfere with blood coming back from the head to the heart, she said.
  • 28 minutes ago
    Dr Clare Healy, a forensic medical doctor, is the final witness for the Crown.

    She is an expert in neck anatomy and strangulation in a domestic violence context, having worked for more than 20 years in the area of sexual and intimate partner violence.

    First she explains that the neck is a narrow part of the body, carrying arteries and veins. At the front of the neck, is a flexible tube-like structure called the windpipe.

    Arteries on the side of the neck run between the brain and the neck. Veins carry blood from the brain to the heart and are particularly sensitive to a lack of oxygen, she said.

    "If you imagine a hose pipe, full pressure on - that is artery pressure. Hosepipe on half volume is vein pressure,” she said.

    Manual pressure applied to the neck will first affect blood in the veins and, as pressure increases, it will affect the arteries, the court hears.

    The first thing that happens to people in this instance is a loss of consciousness, Healy explains.

    "The next thing is they go floppy ... Then there are convulsions," she said.

    "If this pressure continues, it may result in death."
  • an hour ago
    The court has been experiencing technical difficulties with the next witness' video link.

    The jury wrote a note to the judge saying they were happy to sit for "as long as it takes".

    Justice Simon Moore commended the "conscientious" jury.

    Grace Millane murder trial: Accused's account of what happened to backpacker shown
Click to expand...
This hopefully brings it all home for the jury. The brutal reality of strangulation until death. Death doesn’t happen without the strangler realising that something is terribly wrong. It’s not like he was just ‘holding her neck’ and then suddenly she’s dead.

I can’t imagine what her parents feel listening to testimony like this.
 
LucyRocket said:
They didn't bring up his internet searches. Surely that wasn't disallowed? If the jury don't know about that. ...
Click to expand...
Also re his injuries possibly being consistent with Grace defending herself. For instance the scratches on his hand could have been Grace trying to get his hand off. Bruise on his shoulder may have been her thumping him. JMO.
 
LucyRocket said:
They didn't bring up his internet searches. Surely that wasn't disallowed? If the jury don't know about that. ...
Click to expand...

Yes, they did, earlier in the trial.

Jurors were told how data showed the man had used Google to browse websites for large duffel bags, suitcases and car hire.

The court also heard the defendant researched disposing of a body and Googled "flesh-eating birds" and "are there vultures in New Zealand?" days after Grace’s murder.

Other records showed the defendant had searched online for "the hottest fire", "large bags near me" and "Waitakere Ranges" — where Ms Millane's body was later found contorted inside a suitcase on December 9, 2018 — before going on another Tinder date later that day.

Grace’s dad, David, looked directly at the defendant as the detective confirmed *advertiser censored* was looked at on the man's phone after his daughter's death on December 2 last year.

But he cast his eyes down when he heard the defendant had searched online for "rigor mortis".

Grace’s Tinder date ‘Googled ‘flesh-eating birds’ & ‘hottest fire’ after murder’
 
HongKongPhooey said:
Also re his injuries possibly being consistent with Grace defending herself. For instance the scratches on his hand could have been Grace trying to get his hand off. Bruise on his shoulder may have been her thumping him. JMO.
Click to expand...
In closing, the prosecution will walk the jurors through step by step what they believe happened.

Dr Samuel Rawlings conducted a medical exam of the accused at 11pm on December 8.
After recording his medical history, Rawlings said he noticed two bruises on the accused's chest and right shoulder.
There were also five small scratches, which "appeared to be reasonably well healed", on his left hand.

Grace Millane murder trial: Accused admitted she was dead in second police interview

The accused was seen by Dr Rawlings 7 days after the murder of Grace and he still had visible injuries on his body and hands. I'm sure the prosecution will highlight those injuries which infer Grace fought for her life. Brookie will again say it was part of the consensual violent sex...... :rolleyes:
 
I wonder if he gives away his sexual preferences by his description of starting consensual sex and it being 'placid'. This isn't a usual term to describe non-S&M sex and wonder if this is him acting normal with Grace before the violent stuff starts
 
What a complete faker. He did not take tablets. A suicidal person feeling guilt or remorse wouldn't go to the lengths he did to remove all traces of his night with Grace. That is survival mode - long term. Down to the finest detail of using cash, removing his shoes, doing whatever he says Grace did the following day to remove him from Tinder, not burying her things with her body to impede identification, buying a replacement suitcase etc. He would not have been going about the rest of his day/s as he did if he had taken that number of tablets.

I suspect he did not put Grace's phone in the bin and he disposed of it in the ocean with the bolts when he took an Uber to Mission Bay. Leaving it in the bin would be leaving it to chance that someone might fish it back out.

I don't even believe he hadn't put her fully in the case as soon as he returned to the room with it. Rigor Mortis would have fixed her position by almost 24 hours later and as we know she was tightly squeezed into a tiny case in the foetal position. He searched all that up and would have known the time constraints he faced.


"Brookie also asks why he is now telling the police this version of events.

"Because I want her family to know that it wasn't intentional," he said.

"But I also want her family to have closure and the other night when I was questioned by police I was still shocked and I apologise for misleading. So yeah, it's basically so her family understand that it wasn't an intentional thing."

Grace Millane murder trial: Accused admitted she was dead in second police interview

This is an interesting answer. He's given a version, when he was up against the wall, to clear himself. Not to give them any peace of mind at all. To blame Grace.

His version completely omits her death and his obscene actions afterwards. Biggest load of ... I've ever heard. I wouldn't be entertaining one minute of his version as a juror because he lies on tap.

A fantasist like that just might well like to take the stand, but we've also seen how cowardly he is.

I'm wondering why the prosecution has left Grace's ex-boyfriend to the defence. That doesn't feel friendly to the prosecution, even if it is evidence that works more in the defence's favour. What do you think about that @mrjitty ?


"During the trial, jurors were told they will hear that Grace had an interest in role play and sexual activity from a former boyfriend."

Grace Millane murder trial: British backpacker was strangled to death by Tinder date, Crown says
 
Last edited:
Having said all that, I would still convict him of murder whether he was a liar or not, on the facts of this case. The evidence given by the other woman he almost suffocated to death, the way in which he immediately then created a drama about him having cancer, his sexual activity with Grace's dead body, not believing the consensual or accidental explanation - consent being a continual process not just an initiating concept, and nothing to explain him not reacting to the physical processes Grace's body would have gone through from becoming non-responsive and him maintaining that pressure (minutes is a long time) until she dies.

I think he has a very dangerous complex of personality disorders. He was not fazed at all by her death.
 
sunnynz said:
10.15am

This morning's evidence has started with a central Auckland pharmacist talking about her interaction with the accused on December 3.

In a statement read to the court, Eliana Golberstein said the alleged murderer came into the store at about 3.40pm and was "behaving oddly."

She said he was "standing there weirdly looking at the cameras and playing with his hands".



Golberstein said the accused informed her he had a bad allergy and had hives on his hands.

"I noticed he was not speaking to my face or looking at my eyes," her statement read, adding there were reed marks between his fingers and on the back of his hands.

"His eyes were creepy looking, they are rather intimidating," Golberstein said.

She prescribed antihistamines.

After seeing the accused's name published in overseas media in stories about the disappearance of Millane "it triggered me to come in and talk to police".
Click to expand...

Its a shame he has name suppression in New Zealand - I wonder how many other people could give evidence against him and other witnesses would recognise him had his face been plastered over their newspapers also.
 
CrazyLilBlondie said:
Its a shame he has name suppression in New Zealand - I wonder how many other people could give evidence against him and other witnesses would recognise him had his face been plastered over their newspapers also.
Click to expand...

I have a sneaking suspicion there might not be as many other relevant witnesses as we think. The guy had seemingly no mates, and I doubt he was successful with women.
 
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