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Man gets life in prison for NZ backpacker murder

A New Zealand man charged with murdering a British backpacker Grace Milane was sentenced to life in prison Friday (February 21).

An Auckland High Court says he faces a minimum of 17 years behind bars.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND POLICE DETECTIVE INSPECTOR SCOTT BEARD, SAYING:

"Today's sentencing sees the end of a long and difficult time for the Millane family. The impact of losing their daughter in a foreign country has been devastating and no matter this outcome today, they will forever have a life sentence."

Twenty-two year-old Milane went missing in Auckland on December 1st, 2018.

The convicted man met Millane through the dating app Tinder.

They met for drinks the day before her 22nd birthday - the day she went missing.

Police found her body several days later in a shallow grave in bushland.

The man's name has been suppressed by the court.

He confessed Millane died in his apartment but pleaded not guilty to murder, and his lawyers argued that she died accidentally during consensual sex.

But prosecutors said the accused had murderous intent and Millane was strangled to death.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND POLICE DETECTIVE INSPECTOR SCOTT BEARD, SAYING:

"Strangling someone for five to ten minutes until they die is not rough sex. If people are going to use that type of defence - all it actually does is repeatedly revictimizes the victim and the victim's family. And in this case, the Millane's had to sit through the trial for a number of weeks and their daughter's background, rightly or wrongly, was out in the public. I don't believe that rough sex should be a defence."

The killing shocked New Zealand, where serious crime was once considered relatively rare and its cities and countryside considered safe.