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21st November 2019, 02:33 AM | #161 |
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The prosecution say the photos are of a dead body, so presumably that is at least consistent with what they look like.
The defence say she was alive when the photos were taken (at least, that's what they seem to be saying). The only evidence either way is that they were time-stamped after the defendant searched Google for "hottest fire" and "Waitākere Ranges", which the prosecution say is evidence he was already looking for ways to dispose of the body. From what I've heard I'd vote guilty (while conceding that I've only read what's been linked to on this site, and didn't really do much more than that). |
21st November 2019, 02:52 AM | #162 |
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21st November 2019, 03:00 AM | #163 |
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21st November 2019, 03:02 AM | #164 |
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21st November 2019, 03:24 AM | #165 |
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I'll be quite surprised if he doesn't go down for murder.
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21st November 2019, 07:18 AM | #166 |
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This is why I started the thread. I really don't know what to think. It's not clear what happened, it's not clear what he was thinking and all that has to fit into the legal framework.
I think what is potentially dangerous in more general terms is a finding that killing a woman in this way isn't necessarily murder. It's too damn easy to fake, and I think an article I linked to earlier was a case where a husband did exactly that but because he wasn't caareful enough he wasn't believed. But if you're more careful, then she asked me to do it, she enjoyed it, I had no idea she'd stopped breathing - scary territory. |
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21st November 2019, 08:27 AM | #167 |
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Playing devil's advocate, you could say that the defendant deliberately sought out a date who was into '50-shades of grey' fun and games so he would have a ready-made get-out clause to get erotic pleasure from killing her and abusing the corpse.
Two things about the Waitākere Ranges: (1) he mentioned to date no 2, [police told him] there were a lot of dead bodies buried there, and (2) he had search this before the death. So it doesn't seem the defence's claim that that might have been a random 'I feel lucky' search as he suggests but a quite targetted one. He also posted on her FB page she looked 'radiant and beautiful' the same evening. Given what happened, its sounds pretty creepy. |
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21st November 2019, 09:52 AM | #168 |
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I think if the killing had been premeditated the arrangements for disposing of the body would also have been both premeditated and a lot better.
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21st November 2019, 10:00 AM | #169 |
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I'd say not at all. You're confusing a) choking to the point of unconsciousness with b) choking to the point of death. The latter takes considerably longer. At the very least, 45 seconds longer. All during which time the "victim" is lying there unconscious, motionless, limp and unresponsive with their eyes closed. If the aim of the "game" was choking to just up to the point of unconsciousness (and that IS the aim, by the way), then it's basically inexplicable as to why someone would not only choke the other person beyond that point and into unconsciousness (which would be understandable), but to then carry on choking for that minimum of 45 seconds more. Oh and on the point of the lack of defensive wounds etc, I echo what the prosecution say in response: nobody is claiming that Millane might not have wanted to engage in erotic asphyxiation (and indeed there's evidence that she was into this sort of thing). So of course she would not have put up resistance as the defendant started choking her. However, she'd have implicity trusted him to choke her only to the point just before she fell into unconsciousness. If she'd done this sort of thing before, it's highly probable that she'd understand that sometimes the choking carries on a little too long into full unconsciousness, and I'd imagine this is a (minimal) risk that practitioners of this sort of thing accept. So I can easily picture a situation where Millane readily consented to being choked in an erotic-asphyxiation game, and where she accepted that the defendant might momentarily render her unconscious, but that if/when that happened, he'd obviously remove his grip and she would return to consciousness quickly. However..... it's clear from the evidence that what actually must have happened is that the defendant DIDN'T release his grip when Millane fell unconscious. On the contrary, he must have maintained his grip for a very considerable period of time further, until Millane died. And that, of course, would easily explain the absence of defensive injuries etc. Millane would have had no idea of what was to happen, and the only point at which everything changed took place when she was already unconscious. |
21st November 2019, 10:01 AM | #170 |
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I think it's important to recognize the fact that dying from risky sex play isn't necessarily murder.
Sex play of this type is one of a wide range of risky activities that many people engage in voluntarily. Accidents happen. Deaths do occur. There are many contexts in which a bad actor can make murder look like an accident. I think it would be very dangerous to find that killing a woman in this way is necessarily murder. I think murder in these circumstances has to be proven the same way as murder in any other circumstances. Not being able to determine whether it's really murder isn't a good excuse to call it murder by default. |
21st November 2019, 10:07 AM | #171 |
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Yep. I don't see premeditation at all. For lots of reasons, including the ones you give here. Obviously any discussion of motive is a) speculative, and b) irrelevant to any assessment of guilt or non-guilt in any event. But if I were pushed to ascribe motive here, I suspect that (if I'm correct in my opinion that he has indeed committed murder) the defendant might have experienced powerful adrenaline-fueled feelings of control and dominance once he had his hands at Millane's throat; and that he was overcome with these intense feelings to the extent that he was compelled to maintain pressure on Millane's neck long beyond the point where she became unconscious. |
21st November 2019, 10:18 AM | #172 |
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I'll point out once again: There's an extremely significant difference (in both time and effort) between 1) Choking someone into unconsciousness, and 2) Choking someone to death. As I've also pointed out already, the aim of erotic asphyxiation is to become choked to the point just prior to falling into unconsciousness. If one is choked into unconsciousness, then it's absolutely obvious - to the choker (as well, of course, to the one being choked) - that the choking has gone just a bit too far for it to be effective in terms of heightened sexual arousal. I'd hope you'd understand that this is an absolute given. And if you do understand that, then you'd also understand that the logical and reasonable thing for the choker to do at this point - assuming he genuinely has an interest in heightening his/her partner's arousal and has no interest in doing him/her any injury - is to release his/her grip from the partner's neck, in order for the partner to regain consciousness quickly. What the choker does NOT do at that point - the point at which his/her partner falls limp, unconscious, unresponsive, eyes closed - is maintain his/her grip around the partner's neck for, at the very least, 45 seconds further. But that's precisely what the defendant, by definition, must have done. In fact, can you point to any rational reason why a choker who a) was assisting a partner in erotic asphyxiation, and b) only had an interest in helping his/her partner attain sexual arousal, and had no interest in harming or injuring the partner....... would carry on choking the partner for a substantial time period after that partner fell into unconsciousness, rather than releasing his/her grip and allowing the partner to regain consciousness? |
21st November 2019, 10:33 AM | #173 |
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I've seen this and considered it. I don't find it very compelling. I haven't responded because I don't feel strongly about changing your mind on this point.
I'm responding now so that you know I've considered your points, and you don't have to keep trying to bring them to my attention.
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And again, well-intentioned people get themselves and each other killed all the time during risky play. This isn't even pure Kremlinology. It's Kremlinology, adulterated by a desire to fit a predetermined conclusion. You're inventing a whole theory of risky behavior that is less concerned with describing reality, than with describing a justification for charging him with murder.
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21st November 2019, 10:38 AM | #174 |
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I agree with this. The point I find somewhat confusing is the distinction between meaning to cause bodily injury (intent) versus indifference to whether or not injury is caused (due to being entirely focused on one's own gratification). His behaviour afterwards IMO is not within the bounds of 'normal' panic, even allowing for people reacting differently to an accidental death. His behaviour indicates focus on himself even after killing her, and lack of normal moral emotions (possibly indicating psychopathy). That supports the probability that he didn't care what was happening to her during the incident either. Whether the jury interprets that as intent to cause injury could be the difference between murder and manslaughter. I'm also not clear if the jury is able to consider manslaughter as an alternative? |
21st November 2019, 10:59 AM | #175 |
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This thread shows the peril the defendant faces. Posters are guessing and being driven by particular aspects that they judge to be important. I note the precision that LondonJohn applies to events when he or no one can know - in other words guess work. I don't think there is a place for guess work in a case like this. Because guess work is not Justice.There should be a strong warning to the Jury that if they can't decide don't guess, if they are not sure BRD then acquit.
Being driven by particular points is not considering the totality of the evidence which is the job of the Jury, individually the points then collectively. It's okay to say "I don't know, therefore I must say not guilty." Having said all that - there is a point on which the pathologists agreed that doesn't require speculation. I think we may learn by the Judges summing up any hints of the man's previous history that drives the summing up 1 way or the other - when in fact it should be balanced - because like us, even the Judge does not know what happened in that room, it wasn't a stabbing, a prolonged physical attack where defensive wounds were left, for what we can say 2 people willingly met and undertook particular sex that 1 of them was looking for. |
21st November 2019, 11:08 AM | #176 |
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I don't think anyone here is trying to act as though on a jury. People are just speculating on the questions raised by the case.
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21st November 2019, 11:19 AM | #177 |
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Some people here seem to be arguing that in some cases of apparently accidental death, where the motive is not known, the law should default to treating it as murder.
It's not about trying to act as a jury. It's about what we, as citizens, think the law should be, and what juries should be called on to consider, in cases like these. |
21st November 2019, 11:47 AM | #178 |
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There was that case in Shire Green, Sheffield where the mother and half-brother father throttled their kids for a good ten minutes and place black bags over their heads.
The boys aged 13 and 14 were found some time later by the emergency services in their beds. Despite the adults being considerably bigger and excessively brutal, the boys were still alive (although probably irreversibly brain damaged) and died in hospital. This seems to indicate that strangling someone to death is not just a whoopsie-daisy! event but takes real a sustaining of pressure. |
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21st November 2019, 11:49 AM | #179 |
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I said I found the prospect of it being clearly legal to kill a woman you're having sex with if you can make it look accicental to be disturbing. I didn't say I thought he should be found guilty on that account though.
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21st November 2019, 12:09 PM | #180 |
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No you didn't Rolfe. Not only are these kinds of sex acts perilous but so is deciphering intention or recklessness. Some of us might think it was too dangerous situation to enter into, when in fact its apparent it is a situation entered into with some excitement and perhaps the danger heightens that. There was a 'sex expert' who gave evidence, but I haven't read any details - although I know the Court has been overflowing with those wanting to watch and listen.
Again things seem in a bit of a rush for us, I imagine it is going to be hard for a Jury to decide. |
21st November 2019, 12:12 PM | #181 |
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21st November 2019, 12:45 PM | #182 |
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21st November 2019, 01:04 PM | #183 |
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I don't. It may describe 'I'm not sure but I don't want him to get away with something.' I hope the possibility of that looms large in the Judges instructions. I've seen a prosecutor rub his fingertips together in front of a Jury and say 'there must be something.'What was he really saying? - one interpretation is that he was telling the Jury there was something that he knew which they didn't and they good safely could convict.
Eventually some of these cases end up in the 'safety' of manslaughter'. Neither Counsel have said manslaughter but from memory I think the Judge must explain the definition to the Jury and leave that as a possible verdict. |
21st November 2019, 01:27 PM | #184 |
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Well, I don't know about anyone else, but all my remarks and thoughts about this case, have been about this case and this case only, not other, unknown, cases - or some amorphous group of "some cases of accidental death".
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21st November 2019, 01:28 PM | #185 |
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21st November 2019, 01:58 PM | #186 |
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21st November 2019, 02:02 PM | #187 |
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21st November 2019, 02:03 PM | #188 |
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21st November 2019, 02:06 PM | #189 |
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Thank you, I just wanted to get the legal term right. Some countries call it manslaughter, some don't. I'd had it in my mind that New Zealand was in the latter category bu obviously I had misremembered.
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"The way we vote will depend, ultimately, on whether we are persuaded to hope or to fear." - Aonghas MacNeacail, June 2012. |
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21st November 2019, 02:20 PM | #190 |
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Neither defence nor prosecution asked for an option for manslaughter, both seem to be going for the jackpot. I don't know if this leaves the judge the option to call for this as a possible verdict.
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21st November 2019, 04:11 PM | #191 |
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21st November 2019, 04:23 PM | #192 |
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How does someone fall asleeep in the shower? Doesnt that suggest standing upright?
In the bath ,sure,but then again not for a number of hours,you soon wake up when water gets cold. I vote guilty. |
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21st November 2019, 06:10 PM | #193 |
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Nope. To me, "drunk amateur" cannot at all explain carrying on choking someone for a long period of time (at least 45 seconds longer, but even the defence's own witness estimate 2-3 minutes longer) after the person whom you're choking has become unconscious, limp, unresponsive with their eyes closed. I'll say again (and I know you disagree, but I think it bears repeating): it's one thing to choke somebody to unconsciousness within the confines of performing erotic asphyxiation - even though this by definition takes things further than required for erotic asphyxiation*. If Person A chokes Person B as part of a sex game involving erotic asphyxiation, it will be blindingly obvious to Person A exactly when Person B becomes unconscious. It may take a matter of mere seconds for Person A to choke Person B such that they fall unconscious. It may take several tens of seconds. But either way, there's (IMO) no chance that Person A, with his/her hands around Person B's neck, would fail to notice the point when Person B goes limp, closes his/her eyes and becomes unresponsive. And when that point is reached, I submit that Person A - if he/she really is only intent on heightening Person B's sexual arousal through this technique and has no intent on harming Person B - would fairly immediately release his/her choke grip on Person B's neck, thereby allowing Person B to regain consciousness fairly quickly. What, IMO, Person A would NOT do at the point when Person B visibly falls unconscious (again, if Person A really is only intent on heightening Person B's sexual arousal through this technique and has no intent on harming Person B) is to continue choking Person B - not just for several seconds or even up to 20-30 seconds longer, but for a minimum of 45 seconds longer, and more likely somewhere between 1 and 3 minutes longer.. And this, to me, is the crux of the matter in respect of the medical evidence and the certain actions of the defendant (certain in respect of the fact that he MUST by definition have continued to choke Millane for something between 45 seconds and 3 minutes after she fell unconscious). I just can't see this prolonged extension of the choke hold beyond unconsciousness compatible in any way with either a) a person whose sole intent was to try to facilitate the heightened sexual arousal of the person he was choking, or b) some sort of imprecision borne of having had too much to drink (and btw, the defendant had had several drinks that evening, yes - but he was in no way falling-down drunk or even unstable-drunk). I guess, in the first instance, we'll see what the jury has to make of this issue.... * And again, I say "by definition" you've gone too far if the person you're choking lapses into unconsciousness, because of course once the person you're choking is unconscious, there's no chance whatsoever of any level of heightened sexual arousal. The aim of the game is to take the person to a point just before they fall unconscious. |
21st November 2019, 06:20 PM | #194 |
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Uh say what? Firstly, are you referring to my references to timings, and specifically the time taken to kill someone by choking them, above and beyond the time when you've already choked them into unconsciousness? If so, that not sheer guesswork, you know. Those timings are based on medical research in this whole area. And again, you might be interested in understanding that even the defence's own expert in this area estimated that it would easily take more than a minute, and probably somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes, for someone to choke another person between choking them into unconsciousness and choking them to death. And secondly, there are such things as informed deduction and deductive reasoning. I realise you're using the word "guess" as a pejorative term, in order to support a position that if a jury (or, for that matter, an internet commentator) has to rely on "guesses" rather than empirical facts, then necessarily this introduces sufficient doubt as to require acquittal. But these are not just plucked-out-of-thin-air "guesses" we're dealing with.... |
21st November 2019, 06:22 PM | #195 |
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I don't think anyone - least of all me - is claiming or saying (or even implying) such a thing. But if you do think that this is my position, then a) I'd suggest you read back through the several posts I've made, more carefully this time, and b) I can understand why this debate has been becoming so confusing of late. |
21st November 2019, 06:33 PM | #196 |
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Oh boy. Of course if the evidence supports the narrative of nothing more than an unblameworthy accident, then that's where the matter ends. But it's the contention of me and of some others in this thread that the evidence actually does not support an accident-based narrative. For me, the evidence in favour of, at the very least, manslaughter - but IMO murder - consists of a) the deduced fact that the defendant MUST have carried on choking Millane for a considerable time period (between 45 seconds and 3 minutes) after she became unconscious; and b) the defendant's various actions after Millane's death - including the careful researching, planning and executing of the removal and burial of her body, the (apparent) fact that he took photos of her naked body, the fact that he took himself out on another Tinder date the very next evening (while Millane's body was in the boot of his hire car, no less....), and his lies to the police (which only changed after he was confronted with evidence proving his lies). And once again, I submit that there's a massive difference between choking someone into unconsciousness - which is already, by definition, choking someone beyond the point at which that person can experience heightened sexual arousal - and carrying on choking that person (even though it must be clear that the person has become limp and unresponsive with closed eyes) for a further 45 seconds to 3 minutes. Count off 45 seconds and then carry on counting up to 3 minutes. They both represent a lot of time to carry on clamping your hands round an limp, unresponsive, unconscious person's neck and continuing to choke them. |
21st November 2019, 06:36 PM | #197 |
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The law in most countries which were formerly colonies of the UK is usually broadly based on England&Wales law, particularly in the area of definitions of criminal offences and the judicial process in general. I think, though, that each country will have developed its own version of case law based on that particular country's precedent cases. |
21st November 2019, 06:53 PM | #198 |
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Summing up summary includes Judge. I think the report is wrong re the ingredients of manslaughter but will check.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other...cid=spartandhp |
21st November 2019, 09:02 PM | #199 |
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It is just reported they are close to a verdict 4 1/2 hours in. They have asked one question about timelines of applying pressure.
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21st November 2019, 09:41 PM | #200 |
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Guilty of murder!
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