LIVING IN FEAR
Grace Millane killer’s flatmate was so terrified of him she slept with a knife and feared being left alone with ‘loner’
A WOMAN who was a former flatmate of Grace Millane's killer was so terrified of him that she slept with a knife, it has been claimed.
She came forward on radio in New Zealand after the 27-year-old was found guilty of murdering the British backpacker and burying her body in a suitcase.
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Grace, from Wickford, Essex, was backpacking around the world when she was killed by a Tinder date in Auckland, New Zealand.
The killer's former flatmate claimed he was "troubled", drank "most nights", was a "prolific liar" and regularly brought women "straight to his bedroom" after meeting on Tinder.
The unidentified woman, told , how none of the other flatmates - who were all women - wanted to be alone with him.
When one of them was alone in the flat with him, they slept with a knife for protection.
She said: "My flatmate messaged me when she heard me arrive home and asked me to come into her room.
"I went in and saw her and she had a knife in her bed. I asked what had happened.
"She told me that (the man) had been drinking and that she felt uncomfortable around him."
'FILL OF S***'
The women who lived with Grace's killer agreed it was time to move out, but they feared he would react angrily.
The killer moved out out eventually, but he later started messaging one of them he would ruin their lives.
The former flatmate, who had moved to the UK by the time Grace was killed last December, said he claimed his family had money and ran restaurants in Australia.
However, she knew he was "full of s***" because he rented a $170-a-month (£85) room.
The man had moved into the house in an Auckland suburb after he responded to a post in a Facebook group.
The woman said she was relieved when jurors convicted him on Friday after the two-week trial.
She told the radio station she was sick for weeks when she learned he was the suspect.
She added: "When I found out it was him, I thought, oh right - he's the sort of person that could do that."
The last time Grace was seen alive was the night before her 22nd birthday with the killer.
She was out drinking on December 1, 2018 and last seen on CCTV in a lift before going to his hotel room.
Her killer had obsessively searched for woman online and told bold-faced lies about his job and how much money he was earning.
When I found out it was him, I thought, oh right - he's the sort of person that could do that.
Killer's former flatmate
David and Gillian, her parents, and several jurors wept as the unanimous verdict was announced.
Outside court, Mr Millane said: "It will not reduce the pain and suffering we have had to endure over the past year.
"Grace was taken in the most brutal fashion a year ago and our lives have been ripped apart.
"Grace was our sunshine and she will be missed forever."
The killer still cannot be named due to New Zealand’s strict court suppression orders.
His conviction comes as a women's rights group slammed his "rough sex defence".
Fiona MacKenzie, the founder of the We Can't Consent To This, told : "It's absolutely terrifying and we're seeing, particularly in injury cases as well, where women are forced to turn up to court and defend suggestions that they were a willing participant.
"I don't think there's any evidence that these women did consent to this.
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"I think these men are inflicting horrible, sadistic sexual violence and are claiming this defence to get out of a more serious sentence."
Grace's killer is remanded until sentencing in February.
He faces life in prison with a minimum of 10 years without parole.
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