Millane met Kempson on a dating app in December 2018. She was last seen in central Auckland and her body was subsequently found by police in a scrubby area to the west of the city.
A decision Tuesday from the country’s highest court spelled an order to conceal Kempson’s name was lifted – and revealed that his name was suppressed for having faced two other abuse lawsuits.
In October of this year, according to the Supreme Court decision, Kempson was convicted of a series of crimes against his former partner, including threats of death, assault with a weapon and sexual assault through unlawful sexual connection. Kempson has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for those crimes, which occurred before Millane’s murder, Kempson’s attorney Tiffany Cooper confirmed.
Kempson was also convicted of raping another woman he met on dating app Tinder after a separate trial in November, the decision shows. Cooper said he had been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for that crime, which took place just months before killing Millane.
Like Millane, the rape victim was also British and had been on a working holiday in New Zealand, Cooper said.
Kempson got name suppression after being convicted of Millane’s murder in order not to harm the jury at his upcoming trials this year. In the end, Kempson chose both cases before a judge – and without a jury.
After being found guilty in the October and November trials, Kempson appealed to the Court of Appeals and then the Supreme Court to keep his name suppressed. In Tuesday’s ruling, the Supreme Court rejected his request for an appeal against name statements.
Cooper said Kempson is appealing his sentence and conviction in all three cases.
Grace Millane’s death
Millane had been on a world tour when she was murdered.
On December 1, 2018 – the eve of her 22nd birthday – Millane met Kempson and visited several bars before heading to his hotel. She was missing for more than a week before her body was found in the Waitakere Ranges in West Auckland.
During a trial last year, Millane’s lawyers argued that her death had been an accident and occurred during consensual “ rough sex. ”
The jury deliberated for four hours before deciding that Kempson was guilty of murder. They discovered that Kempson had strangled Millane, stuffed her into a suitcase, and then taken her body to a wooded area.
CNN’s Amy Woodyatt contributed to this story.