Murderer who strangled Grace Millane to death in New Zealand had raped another British tourist months earlier, it is revealed as he loses fight to hide his identity
- Jesse Kempson, 28, strangled Grace Millane, 21, after the pair met on Tinder
- Killer buried her body in a shallow grave on outskirts of Auckland in 2018
- Just months earlier he raped another British tourist he also met on Tinder
- Also sexually assaulted his girlfriend the year before in ordeal lasting months
The depraved murderer of British backpacker Grace Millane raped another British tourist in New Zealand just months earlier, it has emerged.
Jesse Kempson, 28, strangled Miss Millane, 21, in his studio apartment after the pair met on dating app Tinder in December 2018, before burying her body in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Auckland.
Just months earlier Kempson raped another British tourist he also met on Tinder in early 2018 and also sexually assaulted his girlfriend the previous year in an ordeal lasting months, it can now be revealed.
Jesse Kempson (left), 28, strangled Grace Millane (right), 21, in his studio apartment after the pair met on dating app Tinder in 2018, before burying her body in a shallow grave
Kempson is pictured at a hearing at Auckland High Court in New Zealand in February
Miss Millane (pictured) was strangled after meeting Kempson via Tinder on December 1, 2018
Both cases were silenced until now to avoid prejudicing Kempson’s trial in November last year for murdering Miss Millane, for which he is now serving a 17 year minimum jail term.
Just eight months before the murder, Kempson raped a British tourist after she refused sex following a date.
The victim, who cannot be identified, kept the attack secret until she recognised the killer from the news on the same day he was charged with Miss Millane’s murder.
She immediately told the police, but her case against Kempson was paused until the murder trial had concluded.
The body of murdered the British backpacker was dumped in this muddy hole in the ground
Miss Millane is pictured in April 2017 (left) and in in September 2016 in San Francisco (right)
Pictures of the bedroom in Auckland where Kempson throttled Miss Millane two years ago
Miss Millane’s parents Dave and Gillian speak outside the High Court in Auckland last year
Justice Geoffrey Venning sentenced Kempson in a New Zealand high court in November this year to three-and-a-half years in jail for the rape.
After sentencing, Kempson screamed at the judge: ‘You have no reason to convict me. You’re full of s*** mate.’
Justice Venning said it was clear Kempson did not accept his offending and told him: ‘You have no remorse or insight into it.’
He added: ‘Your mother rejected you; that may go some way towards explaining your attitude towards women.’
In the wake of the attack, the victim said she had woken up ‘crying and screaming’ with flashbacks and nightmares, terrified that Kempson would track her down, the court heard in a statement read at the sentencing.
She added: ‘Every time I went to sleep, I’d see your eyes popping out of your head, staring at me in anger.’
The victim said she was now recovering with support from counsellors and her partner, adding: ‘I am not scared, I am strong. I am not alone. I am loved. I have so much to look forward to in my life and I will not look back. You don’t have any power over me any more.’
Kempson was also convicted of abusing his girlfriend for months in 2017, at another postponed trial.
The judge found the victim’s then boyfriend had violently assaulted her.
He threatened her with a butcher’s knife and forced her to carry out sex acts.
He was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail in November this year.
Kempson will now serve his most-recent sentences – totalling 11 years in jail – concurrently with the 17-year-term for Miss Millane’s murder.
The latest convictions emerged after Kempson lost an appeal against the murder conviction on Friday last week.
He had been seeking leave from prison to attend a supreme court appeal, which judges threw out on Tuesday.