New Zealand Killer of British Backpacker Sentenced to Life

Gillian Millane, mother of murdered British backpacker Grace, holds up a photo during her victim impact statement via video link from England, at the sentencing of the man found guilty of her murder at the Auckland High Court in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. Dean Purcel/New Zealand Herald via AP

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—A New Zealand man was sentenced to life in prison Friday for murdering a young British backpacker, whose mother told the court the stealing of her daughter’s life had ripped a hole in her heart.

Grace Millane was strangled to death on her 22nd birthday in December 2018 by a man she met through the dating app Tinder.