Nearly three weeks of trial, 39 witnesses, and just over five hours of jury deliberation returned a unanimous guilty verdict in the case of murdered British backpacker Grace Millane.
Warning: Contains graphic content of a sexual nature.
An Auckland woman has told a court she feared for her life while on a date with the man now accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane.
She was one of three woman to tell their story to the juryyesterday, which included the accused's supposed predilection for erotic asphyxiation, as the second week of the alleged killer's trial began.
After matching with the alleged killer on Tinder - as Millane had - the woman agreed to meet the young man for a drink on November 2 last year.
However, instead of going to a downtown Auckland bar the pair went to the accused's apartment at the CityLife hotel - the same room where Millane died a month later.
But, as the witness explained, she would soon be fearing for her life.
"He just sat down on my face," she said through tears. "I couldn't breathe."
The accused was also holding her down, the court heard.
"I couldn't move my arms, I couldn't breathe, so I started kicking - trying to indicate I couldn't breathe," she said.
"I couldn't breathe … I was terrified. He just sat there, he didn't move at all."
The then-university student said she finally managed to turn her head slightly and get a sliver of air.
She then feigned unconsciousness, the court heard.
Grace Millane, who was backpacking around the world, met her alleged killer on Tinder. Photo / Supplied
"'Cause then maybe he'd realise something was wrong.
"There were so many thoughts running through my mind ... This can't be the way I die ... I started thinking about my family and my friends. They can't read about this."
"I was gasping, I couldn't breath properly and he just said to me, 'Oh what's wrong?'
"Almost accusing and quite cold he said, 'Oh you don't think I did that on purpose do you?'"
After the incident, the witness said she never wanted to see the 27-year-old man again.
But her text message history led to a lengthy line of questioning under cross-examination by one of the accused's lawyers.
Ron Mansfield read some of the more than 700 messages between the woman and the alleged killer - some of which the well-known lawyer said appeared to show an interest in continuing a relationship.
The messages between the pair continued for several days because, the witness said, she "didn't want to make him angry".
Lawyer Ron Mansfield questioned one of the accused's Tinder dates at length. Photo / Michael Craig
But Mansfield continued and also produced messages from November 8 when the woman asked if the accused was on the social media channel SnapChat.
"Then I could send you pictures throughout the day so you know what I'm up to :)," she said in one message to the alleged killer.
"You think I don't want you but that is totally not true," another read.
The witness admitted she was "leading on" the accused, which included conveying the possibility of a romantic future, but said it was all a lie to instead keep the man at a distance.
Mansfield said: "Did you just want people to not think you were into a guy who was now charged with murder?"
As the courtroom clock moved past 5pm Mansfield said he still had 40 more minutes worth of questions for the witness.
"Oh my God, I'm not coming back!" she cried, burying her head in her hands.
The woman will continue giving evidence when the trial resumes todayat 10am.
Earlier in the day, an Auckland waitress, who matched with the accused on Tinder, told the court of her date with him just a week before he met Millane.
"We asked each other what we prefer during sex," she said.
"I said, 'I prefer rough sex and choking'. He did say he likes rough sex as well."
On the night of November 22 they went to the CityLife hotel and had sex.
The accused "did choke me a bit because that's a preference of mine", she said, recalling he had one hand around her throat.
"It was fine, it was consensual," she said. "It wasn't too hard that I was gasping for air, it wasn't so soft that I wouldn't be able to feel it ... it was just the right amount of pressure."
In a CCTV image shown to the jury, Grace Millane is seen on December 1, December 2018, at the Mexican Cafe in central Auckland with the man accused of her murder. Photo / Supplied
The woman saw the accused again when he was on his date with Millane on December 1 - the eve of the Brit's 22nd birthday.
Another Auckland woman said she Tinder matched with the accused in February 2018, but they never met.
She said the accused did, however, talk of an enjoyment of erotic strangulation, while his other sexual predilections included feet and domination.
The woman said the accused wanted to go on a date during the weekend of December 1 but she "didn't feel comfortable meeting him with some of the things he wanted me to do."
She last heard from the man on about December 4 last year - just days before Millane's body was found crammed into a suitcase and dumped in a shallow grave in Auckland's Waitakere Ranges.
