CCTV showed him pushing the trolley from a hotel lift, through the lobby and loading the case into a car. The 22-year-old’s parents David and Gill wept as the images were screened at Auckland High Court. The young man was seen buying the shovel used to dig her shallow grave and newly-released pictures showed the excavation with the clay-covered suitcase. It was opened to reveal Miss Millane’s naked body. 

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder during “rough sex” at his hotel room last December. He claims she consented to being choked and insists her death was an accident. 

The Lincoln University graduate was on a round-the-world trip and had just arrived in New Zealand when she met the defendant through the dating app Tinder. She is believed to have died early on December 2 – her birthday. Her body was found a week later, the court was told. 

Mr and Mrs Millane, of Wickford, Essex, listened to the the man’s first interview when the disappearance was treated as a missing person case. 

Jurors heard he lied about the date and claimed they parted after drinks with a “hug and a kiss on the cheek.” With a photo of Miss Millane on the table in front of him, he told the officers they had agreed to meet the next day to celebrate her birthday. 

On the following morning, he said he tried to message her via Tinder but she had “unmatched” him. 

A search for her was ongoing and the man was asked if he would volunteer a DNA sample. He replied: “100 percent! I know I haven’t done anything wrong so I’m happy to do it.” 

Moments later, Detective Sergeant Ewen Settle told him: “We have reached the point where we have to advise you of your rights. You haven’t told the truth. You have told a lie.” 

The suspect said: “I’m being truthfully honest with you. I’ve still got that bag in my room. I might have got the times wrong but if you’re assuming I was using that suitcase for something, I’ve still got it in my room and you guys can have it.” 

Jurors were told the man had bought a second, identical suitcase found in the hotel. In a later police interview, the accused admitted Miss Millane had gone to his apartment. 

The trial continues. 

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