Crown rests case against man accused of killing Grace Millane

Jurors today watched a second police interview, in which the defendant tearfully described disposing of her body.

The man accused of murdering Grace Millane apologised to her family during an interview with police, the day before her body was found in a suitcase in Auckland's Waitakere Ranges.

The man said he wanted the family to know her death was not intentional and he wanted them to have closure.

He said he was in shock the previous time he spoke to police and apologised for misleading them.

When asked directly if he killed Ms Millane, he said no.

He was then arrested. 

The jury in the trial at the High Court in Auckland of the man accused of killing the British backpacker was today played a tape of a second police interview with the accused.

The jury in the High Court murder trial have seen a second police interview with the man accused of murdering the British backpacker.

The Crown says Ms Millane was killed between December 1 and 2 last year at the CityLife hotel in central Auckland.

The man, who can't be named, was at times tearful as he explained to police how he discovered Ms Millane dead after a night of rough sex.

He said he was terrified and in shock after waking up and finding her dead in his room.

He described trying to shake her awake but she was cold.

“I dialled 111 but didn’t hit the button because I was scared how bad it looked.”

The man described buying a suitcase and putting her body in it.

“I remember putting Grace in the suitcase, I was just in shock the whole time because it didn’t seem right,” he told an officer during the interview.

He bought it because “he was freaking out”.

He said he tried to take his own life on a number of occasions, the last being just before he buried Ms Millane in the Waitakere Ranges.

The man, 27, became a person of interest to police after posting a message on Ms Millane’s Facebook page.

The Crown has now called all its witnesses. 

Ms Millane was last seen alive on CCTV on December 1, leaving the lift at the CityLife hotel at 9.41pm on December 1.

She is seen heading towards the defendant's room about four hours after they first met.

The Crown says she was strangled to death some hours later in that room.

The defence team argue her death was an accident after the accused man applied pressure to her neck during rough sex with her consent and encouragement.

Her body was discovered in a suitcase buried in bush on December 9.

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