The trial for the brutal murder of British backpacker Grace Millane unfolded this past week, with the jury hearing how the defendant watched hardcore pornography, photographed her dead body, and went on another date after killing her.

Grace Millane, 22, a backpacker from Essex, England, had arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, in November 2018 after spending six weeks in South America, and traveled around upper North Island before going missing in the early hours of her birthday on December 2.

She was reported missing after her parents grew concerned that she had not responded to their birthday wishes, and on December 8, police found her body off Scenic Drive in the Waitakere Ranges, around 12 miles west of central Auckland. It was twisted inside a suitcase "in the fetal position."

They subsequently arrested the defendant, a 27-year-old whose identity cannot be released due to a name suppression ordered by the court, and charged him with murder, with the prosecution and defense trading blows at his trial at the Auckland court this week.

Prosecutor Robin McCoubrey revealed that Grace had been out on a date with the defendant, who she had met on Tinder, and that they visited several bars together in the city before heading back to the hotel where he lived. He said it was there that he killed her in cold blood.

However, the defendant denied these allegations, and in a police interview, claimed she had died during rough, but consensual sex. He said she had jumped on top of him, held him around his neck and pushed him down because it aroused her.

"We started having I guess more violent sex," he said. "We ended up on the floor and we kept going on the floor,' according to a statement read to the jury by Mr. McCoubrey. He said the sex involved hitting and biting. She told me to hold her arms tighter, and then she told me to hold her throat and um, go harder."

After they finished, he said he went for a shower, where he fell asleep. When he came to the next day and went back to his room, she was bleeding from her nose and dead.

McCoubrey told the jury of seven women and five men that the cause of death was ruled as "pressure to the neck," adding that the defendant did not try to contact police, and instead, searched online for places to dump her body and the phrase "the hottest fire." Other search terms included "large bags near me" and "rigor mortis."

He said that, in the hours after her death, he also visited PornHub and took seven intimate photos of Grace's body by manipulating it to get the shots he wanted. Then, he went back to Tinder and arranged another date as she was lying on his floor.

Defense lawyer Ian Brookie conceded to all of the prosecution's points, but insisted the 22-year-old's death was an accident and not a murder "when an act designed to enhance their sexual pleasure went wrong and she died as a result."

The trial, which is expected to last five weeks, continues.

If you have a news scoop or an interesting story for us, please reach out at (323) 421-7514