(SPOT.ph) Regularly tuning in to true crime documentaries is a tricky space to inhabit. On the one hand, it's good to be informed of the dangers that lie in the ever-unknowable outside world. On the other, you don't want to be consumed by the horrors you're digging into—or worse: get a thrill out of it. As Walter White (Bryan Cranston) once wrote on his pros-and-cons notepad, "Murder is wrong!"
Of noteworthy inquiry over the past week, the Grace Millane documentary is one such case people should be aware of, as it highlights the dangers of online dating (particularly for women) and the possible loopholes in the system that allow perpetrators to get away with nothing but a slap on the wrist.
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Here's where to watch the Grace Millane documentary Social Media Murders:
The murder of Grace Millane is the topic of investigation in the first 40-minute episode of the docu-series Social Media Murders. The documentary is officially streaming on British network ITV, which unfortunately has a region lock that prevents users in the Philippines from creating an account. Then again, the Internet is a vast ocean of web sailors and Filipinos are particularly, uh, savvy at navigating it.
For those who want a breakdown of the case, Millane was a backpacker from England who took a solo trip to New Zealand for her 22nd birthday in 2018. There, she matched via Tinder with a seemingly mild-mannered man. "I click with him so well," reads a text message sent to a friend asking how the date is going.
However, red flags immediately started to come up when Millane didn't respond to messages the next day, her 22nd birthday. A missing person investigation commenced, which led the police to interrogate one Jesse Shane Kempson, the man she matched with on Tinder. Police were able to obtain a warrant to search Kempson's apartment when it was discovered that his statement to the police didn't align with CCTV footage from the night before.
From the NZ Herald, here is the CCTV footage that played a major role in the investigation.
Along with CCTV footage of the morning after showing Kempson heading out to buy a suitcase, a shovel, and cleaning materials, blood is also discovered at the apartment and Kempson's search history in the early hours of the morning shows a spike in pornographic searches.
Kempson eventually confessed that he panicked, stuffed her body into the suitcase, and buried it in the mountain ranges 12 miles outside the city. However, he pleads not guilty to the murder, as he claimed that, while having sex, she wanted to be choked, as in the film Fifty Shades of Grey.
The trial commenced almost a year later, and Kempson was found guilty. In the aftermath, the "rough sex" defense was banned in Britain and Wales.
The Millane family have put up the Love Grace x charity to help women who are victims of domestic violence.
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