The Tinder Date Killer: Grace Millane’s Story | Killers Caught On Camera | Forensic Files

[DRAMATIC MUSIC] MAN 1: It just sounds like something bad is happening to her. NARRATOR: I heard her scream, no, stop it.
MAN 2: I heard some gunshots. MAN 3: Drop it! Whatever it is, drop it! MAN 4: That is not true that I killed my wife.
FEMALE 2: We know what happened because the video tells us what happened. MAN 5: The camera doesn't lie.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] NARRATOR: This time on "Killers Caught on Camera," in Auckland,
New Zealand, a British backpacker is missing after going on a date. AMBER HAQUE: When they didn't hear back from her,
this was an alarm bell for them. NARRATOR: As the cameras track the suspect. The story that he's given us, very plausible as it was,
suddenly, it's not what we've got on camera. And CCTV doesn't lie. NARRATOR: And in Southampton in the UK,
a young girl is the victim of a predatory murder-- PAUL BARTON: She's got multiple stab wounds.
A number around the neck. NARRATOR: --in an attempt to cover up a highly inappropriate relationship.
PAUL BARTON: He only had one intention, and that was to silence Lucy. [THEME MUSIC]
[POLICE SIRENS WAILING] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] NARRATOR: In the UK, close to Billericay in Essex,
lies the small village of Ramsden Bellhouse, home to recent graduate, Grace Millane.
Amber Haque is a journalist who covered the case. Grace Millane was a 21-year-old girl from Essex.
She had just graduated from uni. She had a marketing degree in 2018. NARRATOR: Grace had two brothers and was
extremely close to her family. After graduating from the University of Lincoln, Grace decided to travel the world.
AMBER HAQUE: She was about to set off on the adventure of a lifetime. Living her dream, traveling the world, it's what so many of us
have done at that age. You know you go on your gap year. It's like the best feeling.
NARRATOR: Grace spent six weeks in South America traveling around Chile, Patagonia, and Pearl before flying
to Auckland, New Zealand. [SOMBER MUSIC] AMBER HAQUE: Throughout the whole of the trip,
she was constantly updating her family and friends, pretty much daily check-ins, and it was quite clear to them
that she was having the time of her life. NARRATOR: Grace was exploring New Zealand's North Island
and was going to spend her 22nd birthday in Auckland. But on her birthday, the 2nd of December 2018,
Grace suddenly stopped responding to messages. AMBER HAQUE: Naturally, her mom and dad were sending
her happy birthday messages. When they didn't hear back from her, this was an alarm bell for them.
They then decided to alert the police. NARRATOR: Grace's parents reported their daughter missing on Wednesday
the 5th of December 2018. Detective Inspector Scott Beard took charge of the case.
Grace had been missing for basically five days. But the fact that she hadn't contacted anybody
on her birthday, and nobody could contact her, that was a huge red flag. So one of the first things we have to do is profile Grace.
Who is she? You know, where's she from? Where she's staying? [DRAMATIC MUSIC] NARRATOR: It was a race against time
to identify and obtain footage from any cameras that could lead them to Grace. She'd been staying at Base Backpackers in Auckland.
SCOTT BEARD: The backpackers was the key. We have to work quickly to obtain CCTV because some places
don't hold it for too long. It gets overwritten very quickly. So the CCTV phase became crucial.
NARRATOR: Detective Adam Bicknell took the lead on the forensic analysis of the recordings.
ADAM BICKNELL: From the CCTV, we're building a timeline of events and what's happened, where
it's happened, what time it is. So what we have is Grace leaving the Base Backpackers
to head up to SkyCity Hotel. She's wearing a black dress. The CCTV showed Grace taking a picture of a Christmas tree
outside the location, sending it to her parents, and that was the last time they made contact with her.
NARRATOR: Police spoke with one of Grace's friends in the UK, who told them that Grace
was on a date on the evening of the 1st of December. AMBER HAQUE: Traveling can be quite a full-on experience,
can be quite lonely sometimes, and one of the ways that Grace was kind of getting around and meeting people
was on the kind of popular dating apps that are around. And the night before her birthday,
she had matched with someone and decided to go out for a drink with him. NARRATOR: At 5:45 PM, on Saturday the 1st of December,
Grace was captured on CCTV meeting a man at SkyCity, a casino complex in the center of Auckland.
AMBER HAQUE: They recognize each other immediately. They give each other a hug. It seems a really friendly, nice initial meeting.
This place that they met was a really public spot. It's the kind of place that Grace will have felt safe.
NARRATOR: Hundreds of hours of CCTV footage was reviewed. And the police checked Grace's social media for any clues.
SCOTT BEARD: One of the staff members looked at Grace's Facebook page. The last person to comment on their Facebook page
and on a photo of Grace was a person named Jesse Shane. NARRATOR: Police contacted Jesse Shane Kempson via social media
and arranged an interview. JESSE SHANE KEMPSON: We'd matched on Friday. SCOTT BEARD: He was very comfortable, very polite.
And he spoke and was interviewed by Detective Ewen Settle. NARRATOR: Jesse was filmed by multiple high-tech CCTV cameras
meeting Grace at SkyCity on Saturday the 1st of December. SCOTT BEARD: The CCTV footage here from SkyCity
is really interesting. They've got 360-degree cameras, which means when you play it
back, you can get the camera to follow your subject, which is a pretty cool piece of technology.
So they're able to track Grace and Mr. Kempson throughout the entire time they were within the SkyCity
building and environs. NARRATOR: Police asked Jesse how the date went. JESSE SHANE KEMPSON: Um--
NARRATOR: After SkyCity, Grace and Jesse headed to another bar. AMBER HAQUE: At the end of the drinks at the second location,
Jesse pays the bill again. You know, quite charming behavior, obviously, trying to impress her and make her feel
romanced and kind of looked after. NARRATOR: After leaving the restaurant, Grace and Jesse went to a third venue.
AMBER HAQUE: They both look really relaxed. We see Grace sat. And she's chatting, talking really rapidly,
and really looks quite immersed in the conversation. NARRATOR: The recordings show Grace
and Jesse hugging and kissing. ADAM BICKNELL: This is CCTV footage where we believe Grace texts one of her friends back in England.
AMBER HAQUE: And she says to her from back home that she just can't believe how well they're getting on.
She said we rarely click. And that was the last message that Grace ever sent anyone.
NARRATOR: In his police interview, Jesse described how his date with Grace ended.
SCOTT BEARD: He said that's the last he saw of her. And then he went off to some bar in the city.
And he says he got paralytically drunk. NARRATOR: Jesse told the police what happened the next morning.
At this point, Jesse was just a person of interest, but the police needed to check Jesse's DNA
to eliminate him as a suspect. While Jesse was in the interview room, the police made a major breakthrough.
In the first stage of that interview, he was very plausible, very believable. And we had nothing to contradict that.
It wasn't until later in the interview when there was a break. One of the staff on the CCTV phase
had found footage of Kempson coming down the lift and the CityLife Hotel at 8:00
AM on that Sunday morning. ADAM BICKNELL: Jesse's seen entering the lift off his level
and exiting out of CityLife Hotel. From there, he heads to the warehouse store on Elliott Street.
He immediately proceeds to make his way to where luggage bags are for sale. And we can see him in the footage
perusing through the selection of luggage bags there. And he selects the largest bag there
and wheels is off to the-- to the counter to pay for it. It identifies him clearly and identifies what he's doing.
NARRATOR: The footage contradicted Jesse's statement. He said that he was asleep until 9:00 or 10:00 AM,
but he was captured on camera at 8:00 AM. SCOTT BEARD: Is he lying to us? Is he mistaken?
The story that he's given us, very plausible as it was, suddenly, it's not what we've got on camera.
And CCTV doesn't lie. NARRATOR: Armed with this critical piece of footage, the police confronted Jesse.
Police later checked Jesse's room and found an empty suitcase but without any more
substantial evidence, the police had to release Jesse. SCOTT BEARD: At the time, all we had was Jesse Kempson
in that first interview what we believed was telling us a lie. But that didn't prove that he had done
anything to anyone or to Grace. So in the United Kingdom, they can hold someone for 48 hours.
We don't have that, so we either have sufficient a charge or we have to release them.
So in this case, Jesse Kempson was released. NARRATOR: Police continued to sift through the CCTV footage
from Jesse's apartment block. SCOTT BEARD: The CCTV phase in that hotel, CityLife Hotel,
becomes more crucial and just our general investigation. You know, what's the background of Jesse Kempson?
AMBER HAQUE: So Jesse Kempson was 26. He would tell people that he had a law degree,
and he was a successful businessman. Jesse's family painted this picture of him as being a bit of a complex character.
He had fallen out with his dad two years previously. And he wasn't really talking to much of his relatives
at the time. His grandfather made this comment. He said, he was a really nice kid,
but he would just constantly fall out with people. NARRATOR: As the police uncovered more footage
from Jesse's residents, it showed that he wasn't telling the truth about how the date had ended.
On the 1st of December, Grace actually went up to Jesse's apartment. SCOTT BEARD: We see them having left the Bluestone Room,
cross over to outside CityLife Hotel. They're arm-in-arm. Mr. Kempson's got his arm around Grace's shoulder.
She's holding onto his hand. You know, everything appears to be fine. Grace is going back over her own volition.
This is a key moment in time, 9:40 PM on Saturday the 1st of December 2018. Grace has entered this left, exits on level 3.
And it's the last time she's seen alive. NARRATOR: Police continued their forensic analysis
of the footage. They needed to find out what happened to Grace after she went into Jesse's room.
[OMINOUS MUSIC] The recordings from the next day aroused more suspicion. SCOTT BEARD: He seen to buy bleach,
cleaning gloves, some sponges, general cleaning material. NARRATOR: A couple of hours later,
Jesse took a taxi to Apex Car Rental and rented a car for 24 hours. Jesse was seen again at 2:53 PM leaving his apartment block.
He was going on another date with another woman he'd messaged on a dating app. SCOTT BEARD: This is a date that Jesse goes on in the afternoon
of Sunday the 2nd of December. So, you know, he spent the morning buying a suitcase,
getting some cleaning product, and now he's headed off to another date. AMBER HAQUE: This woman who went to meet him describes that he
was quite intense but calm. He comes out with this story where he says, oh, I heard about this guy
who got caught up in a case. He'd asked his girlfriend to have rough sex with him,
and it had ended badly. He'd ended up killing her. He came out with this comment, the girl on the date,
where he just said, it's crazy how a guy can make one wrong move and end up in jail
for the rest of his life. It was quite a strange story to come out with on a first date.
This woman understandably got very freaked out and didn't want to stay kind of on the date.
She left. But this all happened the day after he'd been on a date with Grace. NARRATOR: Less than 24 hours after being last
filmed with Grace, Jesse was seen with an industrial carpet cleaner. ADAM BICKNELL: And we can see Jesse entering into the lift.
He's got the carpet cleaning machine and a couple of different bottles of liquid to clean up whatever mess
he's got going on in his apartment. He only has the Rug Doctor up there for just under half an hour.
NARRATOR: But as the evening progressed, Jesse's actions became even more alarming.
He was seen taking an empty luggage cart up to his room. Minutes later, he returned to the elevator
with it fully loaded. ADAM BICKNELL: It's got a suitcase on it. And you can see, as he wheels the luggage trolley
into the lift from his apartment floor, that it's heavy. He's had to physically pull it around the corner
to-- to get it into the lift. And Jesse was a-- he's a big guy. He's like 6 foot 1 or 2 and pretty solidly built,
so he was strong, and he had to maneuver that. I recall the chills and the goosebumps
when I saw that footage for the first time. NARRATOR: Jesse was brought in for questioning a second time.
And his version of the night's events completely changed. SCOTT BEARD: He accepted that they'd
gone back to his apartment, they'd had consensual sex. It was rough sex because that's what she wanted.
And he must have strangled her to death. And then he says, after the rough sex and strangling her,
he-- not realizing, he'd gone to have a shower, fell asleep in the shower. The second interview was a totally different contradictory
interview. I saw it as self-serving. Yeah. It wasn't my fault. She wanted it. And it just was an accident that I strangled her to death.
So in these kinds of circumstances, what you're-- they're trying to do is to blame the victim.
And say, well, it's because of her kink, it's because she didn't know her limits,
and I accidentally killed her. Diminishing your own blame or trying to in the process.
Whether or not that's still an acceptable excuse and whether it just is an excuse,
probably, most of the time. It's conceivable that sometimes sex games do go wrong.
But that is up to you as a person who's administering the strangulation to make sure that you are not
crossing that line, not up to the person who's being strangled. Uh-huh. SCOTT BEARD: He panicked, saw Grace down there,
screamed, panicked. He was going to ring 111 but didn't press to call. NARRATOR: Jesse didn't call anyone to help Grace.
And, afterwards, his online browsing revealed a sinister train of thought. AMBER HAQUE: The police managed to try and piece
together a bit of a timeline. And this was based on Jesse's Google searches. They figured out that Grace was probably
killed before around 1:29 AM. And after that, he was looking on hardcore pornographic websites.
NARRATOR: Jesse was also searching for hottest fire, rigor mortis, and the Waitakere Ranges, a mountainous area
west of Auckland. AMBER HAQUE: The police found these images on Jesse's phone, which he had taken of Grace's naked body
after she was killed. They were described as grossly indecent. And comprehending that he had done that after killing her so
senselessly and just taking that last shred of dignity from her. And knowing her family had to hear
that and know that that had happened to her is just unbelievable. NARRATOR: Jesse's actions didn't correspond with his statement
in the interview. Jesse was recorded taking the suitcase down in the elevator at 9:30 PM.
SCOTT BEARD: On the face of it, when you see him with a luggage trolley and the suitcases,
it just looks like a suitcase and a luggage trolley. But when you know that Grace Millane is
dead in one of those suitcases, it's quite chilling, it's quite cold. NARRATOR: When police recovered the CCTV footage,
it showed a disturbing sequence of events. Detectives were able to locate the video footage
from the store on Monday the 3rd of December. ADAM BICKNELL: Here he is returning to the counter.
And he's got these nuts and bolts. I think he's made that purchase as a distraction to the fact
that he's buying a spade. NARRATOR: After buying the shovel, Jesse disappeared from surveillance footage
until he was seen at a car wash four hours later. ADAM BICKNELL: He drives into one of the wash bays.
From here, he's going to get the mats out, spray them cleaned, get the shovel out to spray that clean.
It's a rental car, you don't need to clean rental cars. The rental car company will do that at the end.
And you can see him washing the dirt off here and the brownness coming off. NARRATOR: Later, Jesse explained exactly
what happened between buying the shovel and washing the car. SCOTT BEARD: He finds a car layby where he can park.
He drags the suitcase into the bush only about probably 10 meters from the roadside.
And he digs a shallow grave. And he brings the suitcase. NARRATOR: The police were already one step ahead.
They had been tracking Jesse's movements on his cell phone. SCOTT BEARD: We had found on his phone
that that had been polling up on the Waitakere Ranges. I was already speaking to our search and rescue experts
because it's not the first time a body has been found buried in the Waitakere Ranges.
NARRATOR: Grace's body was found the next day in the Waitakere Range. SCOTT BEARD: We were already close.
We are about two minutes away. So when he described the area, we were there before he actually came out to point to it out.
And I've always said that we would have found Grace. Not as quickly, but we would have found her.
NARRATOR: After Jesse was charged, the police needed to build a watertight case against him.
They discovered that Jesse had bought a second suitcase on the 3rd of December. ADAM BICKNELL: We know, obviously, that he's
taken Grace in one suitcase. And he's bought the duplicate to try and cover up his tracks.
NARRATOR: Police also uncovered another clip of Jesse throwing out a bag filled with something.
ADAM BICKNELL: We believe that Grace's purse or bag and maybe some personal belongings.
NARRATOR: Analysts also found an alarming piece of footage from Grace and Jesse's date.
ADAM BICKNELL: We see Grace go to the toilet. He's grabbed her bag. He's opened her purse.
And he's looking through Grace's personal items and contents. Is he looking for cash, drugs, information, identification?
I don't know. NARRATOR: As well as the incriminating footage, police also had evidence from the scene of the crime.
SCOTT BEARD: We'd done the scene examination. We sprayed a chemical called luminol,
and that reacts with blood, and the blood will glow. And when we did that in this apartment,
there was a significant amount of blood. NARRATOR: On the 16th of January 2019, Jesse Kempson pleaded not guilty to murder
at the High Court in Auckland. A character emerged, opportunistic and emotionally
unpredictable. Our investigation identified that Kempson was prolific on Tinder and had numerous, numerous dates.
We spoke to-- we'd like to think virtually every single date he'd had on Tinder.
You start to get this pattern of how he operates, of what happens, how he can switch
from a Jekyll/Hyde scenario. He'd be nice, pleasant one minute. Goes to the bathroom, comes out, the next, and he's angry,
and he's violent. I've always said if it wasn't Grace, it would have been someone else that Jesse
Kempson would have killed. And, I think, I look at that simply because of the evidence
that we know from propensity witnesses, who gave evidence, particularly, the month beforehand
where he suffocated one of his dates and she thought she was going to die. The defense case was that this was rough sex gone wrong.
It was accidental. The pathologist agreed that the strangulation had to be for 5 to 10 minutes.
It had to be sustained and with pressure. That's not rough sex. And the jury convicted him very quickly of murder.
And that's what it was. NARRATOR: Jesse Kempson was found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison
with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. Is he a psychopath? He's not. There's no emotion.
He doesn't believe he's done anything wrong. And that is disappointing really. The CCTV, in this particular case, was so crucial.
You know, it told us the story. And we could follow Grace's movements from the moment she left the backpackers
to the moment she got out the lift up in the CityLife Hotel. But we could also follow Kempson's movements
before and then after. And, of course, that proved all his lies. That proved that he was lying.
We just keep recovering the CCTV footage that was a gold mine for the inquiries.
AMBER HAQUE: I think what kind of stuck out about the story and just chimed with so many people
is the nature of what happened to Grace. Like, you know, dating apps and kind of the freedom
that it gives us to sort of meet people so casually and easily. It's-- I guess, it's something where you
put a lot of trust in the stranger that you're going there to meet. And this was supposed to be one of the most exciting
chapters of Grace's life. An adventure of a lifetime. And to think she's traveled halfway across the world
so far away from a family. And that trip of a lifetime ended up being the end of a life.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC] NARRATOR: CCTV and 360-degree cameras were vital for the New Zealand police
to track Jesse Kempson's movements and convict him of Grace Millane's murder. Public transport is peppered with cameras,
as pervasive, digital witnesses, like in the case of Lucy McHugh, where a camera on a bus led to a breakthrough.
[SOMBER MUSIC] Southampton, UK, home to 12-year-old Lucy McHugh. Bright, bubbly, and nicknamed Brains by her grandmother.
Paul Barton was a Detective Superintendent with Hampshire police. PAUL BARTON: Lucy lived at home with her mother.
She was estranged from her natural father. Mom had a new partner who was 21 years of age.
They had a baby between them. And Lucy had other siblings. So it's probably a bit of a chaotic household.
NARRATOR: In 2017, Lucy's mother rented out a room to 25-year-old Stephen Nicholson.
Kirsty Bennett is a criminal psychologist. KIRSTY BENNET: Stephen was a tattoo artist
but also a care worker. He was having a few financial difficulties and struggling to pay his rent.
They allowed him to move in. Stacey had actually got Nicholson a job as a carer.
NARRATOR: Stephen made an immediate impression on 12-year-old Lucy. KIRSTY BENNET: Stephen likely paid Lucy a lot of attention.
And that was quite flattering. NARRATOR: Their relationship quickly developed and became sexual.
KIRSTY BENNET: At Lucy's age, she wouldn't have realized that that's highly inappropriate.
And Stephen took full advantage of that. A few people raised concerns about Lucy
and Stephen's relationship. It can be incredibly hard for parents to accept the fact
that their child is being groomed because it feels like a parenting failure. So it feels like you should have known,
and so you might be defensive. Most of the time, it is someone who you have at least some relationship with,
even if it's not a close one. And so you think that you would have known if that person was doing something
terrible to your child. NARRATOR: But there was growing tension between Lucy and Stephen.
PAUL BARTON: Nicholson could be quite moody and, you know, kind of would dismiss Lucy the next minute.
And that would then get Lucy angry and there would be arguments in the house. NARRATOR: By July 2018, Stephen was no longer living
with Lucy and her family. Lucy confided in her cousin that she was scared of Stephen, who was violent.
She was now 13 years old. PAUL BARTON: She had actually been grounded. She had her mobile phone taken away from her by her mother.
But it was a school summer holiday, so she was allowed out during the daytime hours.
KIRSTY BENNET: On the 25th of July 2018, Lucy asked her mom if she could go and visit her friend,
which Stacey agreed to. NARRATOR: But as evening approached, Lucy didn't come home, and no one had heard from her.
KIRSTY BENNET: And Lucy wasn't picking up messages or phone calls. Stacey then rang the police to notify
them that Lucy was missing. NARRATOR: News spread quickly, and Stephen texted Stacey.
Early the next morning, there was a grim discovery. Southampton Police Control Room received a treble 9 call
from a member of the public, an individual who's walking his dog in the area of Southampton Sports Center.
So this is the footpath that the dog walker used on that morning. He says his dog went off track and went into the--
the undergrowth here. [SOMBER MUSIC] NARRATOR: Lying face down was the body of a young girl.
She was quickly identified as Lucy. She had been stabbed 27 times. PAUL BARTON: She's got multiple stab wounds,
a number around the neck. One in her sternum, one on the back of her shoulder, and then a number of small wounds on her wrists,
which we would say are defensive injuries. NARRATOR: Detectives sealed off the area.
PAUL BARTON: We could see there was blood on the leaves and on the trees, but no obvious weapon.
Lucy was wearing a watch, so tend to rule out the motive of robbery. And she was fully clothed so, again, you would eliminate
a sexual element to the attack. NARRATOR: Investigators retraced Lucy's steps in an effort to find out who was responsible.
Time is critical in these investigations. And quite often, CCTV can be overwritten within 24 hours.
NARRATOR: A digital forensics team was assigned to process thousands of hours of CCTV footage.
8:59 that morning, there's a camera just on the end of this house here for private CCTV that
picked up Lucy entering this road and walking in this direction. So that was our first sighting of Lucy.
And then it's just a question now just following up from this road to look at the possible route
she may have taken. NARRATOR: The camera had picked up an important detail. PAUL BARTON: Now because she didn't have a mobile phone,
she asked her younger brother if she could borrow his watch, which would indicate that she needed to be
somewhere at a particular time. So this first image was really crucial. What it also gave us was confirmation of what
Lucy was wearing on the day. NARRATOR: As the investigators continued to search through material, more details and digital clues
emerged. Dr. Vasileios Karagiannopoulos is a cybercrime expert. VASILEIOS KARAGIANNOPOULOS: We can
see that she's holding a bottle with some liquid in it that was also found in the crime scene.
PAUL BARTON: What that tells me is that It's likely that Lucy was killed in that location.
She wasn't killed elsewhere and then deposited in that location because the water bottle was there as well.
NARRATOR: Lucy was filmed multiple times walking towards the Sports Center. It's about a two-mile journey, I think, from her home
address to the Sports Center. She's got her coat under her arm. She's got a bottle in her hand.
But she is walking with purpose. NARRATOR: As well as examining the CCTV footage,
police also searched Lucy's bedroom for clues. PAUL BARTON: What we uncovered very quickly
is that she did hold a diary, a private diary, that she was keeping. She made some notes to indicate that she
was potentially in a sexual relationship with Stephen Nicholson. Some of the entries in there were really, really concerning.
Lucy had written him letters asking him to buy some condoms, asking him to buy a pregnancy kit.
As far as the law is concerned, that is statutory rape. NARRATOR: Stephen Nicholson was brought in for questioning.
PAUL BARTON: He acknowledged that Lucy probably had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on him.
But he said, you know, she was a pain. You know, I-- I didn't like her, I-- I always fell out with her.
NARRATOR: The police wanted to know Stephen's whereabouts on the day Lucy went missing.
PAUL BARTON: He started giving us an account as to what his movements were that day.
He had gone to visit an elderly gentleman, who lived not too far from Southampton Sports Center.
And he would go and do his shopping for him. And so he said he went to visit this chap at around about 9
o'clock that morning. NARRATOR: Detectives visited the man to corroborate Stephen Nicholson's account.
PAUL BARTON: He knew who Nicholson was, but he would pretty much agree with anything you put to him.
He wasn't a credible witness in that sense. And we couldn't rely on him. NARRATOR: On the morning Lucy went missing,
Stephen told the police he'd left his phone in the home of the man he cared for while he
went shopping for him. He said he came back and stayed there until 11:00 AM. The phone's GPS signal backed up Stephen's version of events.
KIRSTY BENNET: Initially, Stephen's alibi seemed to check out. So it's really important that the police are then going back
through and trawling through hours of CCTV to check where Stephen was, and whether there
was any crossing between him and Lucy on the day she disappeared. NARRATOR: CCTV from a local supermarket
provided the police with the breakthrough they needed. PAUL BARTON: We got a small CCTV camera
that's just on the outside of the building looking out. It picked up Lucy at 9:28 in the morning walking purposefully
towards the Sports Center. And we believe that's probably the last time she was seen
alive and caught on camera. NARRATOR: The supermarket cameras had also captured Stephen 26 minutes earlier.
PAUL BARTON: No, I think he was deliberately trying to catch himself on CCTV, so that would support his alibi
that he was in the area. NARRATOR: The supermarket CCTV footage was crucial. Not only did it provide the last sighting of Lucy,
it placed Stephen in the area. There was another recording of Stephen riding a bike at the Sports Center.
VASILEIOS KARAGIANNOPOULOS: It's 9:39, and that's 10 minutes after we've seen Lucy walking past the supermarket
CCTV towards the Sports Center. This video is really important because it places both Stephen
and Lucy in the area. PAUL BARTON: What's significant about this particular location
is just in the distance there where those trees are is the location where Nicholson had visited this elderly man.
It's almost in line of sight of where Lucy was found, which is just up there in the woods.
NARRATOR: Doorbell and dashcam footage was recovered, which captured Stephen cycling
home a couple of hours later. VASILEIOS KARAGIANNOPOULOS: Dashcam footage from vehicles,
such as buses or even private cars, is very, very useful for investigators because it can pick up movements that
might not be evident using CCTV camera, for example, that's more static. [OMINOUS MUSIC]
NARRATOR: The footage revealed a key detail. VASILEIOS KARAGIANNOPOULOS: We see Stephen with a bag and the bag being very full
and cycling down the road. But as we kind of followed those cameras on, there's this gap where we just don't see him at all.
Further on down the road, we pick him up again. And sure enough, he's there, he's riding his bike,
he's got the Tesco bag. But, actually, when we look at the bag, the contents look a lot slimmer.
He's emptied that bag of whatever was in it. But, more importantly, we want to know
where he's emptied that. NARRATOR: The digital forensics team gained access to Stephen's Google account
and made a discovery. KIRSTY BENNET: If we put the Google password in, we get all of his apps, sort of, that he's using.
And one particular app that comes up is Google Fit. It operates off of GPS. It then mapped his journey home and now showing this diversion
going down towards a place called Tanners Brook, which we hadn't picked up on CCTV, and he hadn't
mentioned in his account. NARRATOR: Tanner's Brook is a wooded area, which borders a river running through Southampton.
It flows close to the other woods near the Sports Center where Lucy's body was found.
PAUL BARTON: We know that he went into this area with a fairly full bag. And when he reappeared, there was less items in there.
Within the first few hours, we had a stroke of luck. I had the phone call from the search
team saying they found a significant find at this location. What they found was some burnt boxer shorts,
a blue, hooded sweater that had apparent blood on it, and some tracksuit bottoms.
NARRATOR: They also found some blue latex gloves. PAUL BARTON: Nicholson, being a carer,
had access to those sorts of gloves. They had apparent blood on them as well. So all these items, we're going to send off to the forensic lab
for analysis. And within a few days, we had the result that actually that DNA matched Nicholson and Lucy McHugh.
NARRATOR: Police finally had enough evidence that Stephen had killed Lucy. PAUL BARTON: I think he was fairly confident that he was
going to get away with this because he had the perfect alibi, you know. He was at an address for the period
of when Lucy was murdered. His phone supported him by showing it was at this address.
And he then gave us a detailed account as to his movements afterwards. And was so confident with that account,
that he said, you know, look on CCTV, you'll see me taking that route. But, actually, that was his downfall
because the CCTV didn't cover all of the route that he said he had taken. The cameras, ultimately, provide the truth.
NARRATOR: On the 19th of July 2019, Stephen was found guilty of murder at Winchester Crown Court.
He was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years. PAUL BARTON: I think she had contacted him and said,
you know unless you stay with me or you treat me better, I'm going to tell my family, and I'm going to tell, you know,
the police or whoever that we've been having sex. He only had one intention, and that was to silence Lucy.
[SOMBER MUSIC] I think we had over 10,000 hours of CCTV footage that needed viewing.
That is painstaking, but people do it because they are so motivated to get justice for the victim.
CCTV is so crucial in any investigation. They say the camera never lies. KIRSTY BENNET: Lucy's case is really tragic and upsetting
because what we have is a 12-year-old girl, who was infatuated with somebody who
was taking advantage of her. Lucy's murder is particularly concerning because it's
a child, which we all have this desire to protect and look after. [DRAMATIC MUSIC]

In 2018, when a backpacker goes on a Tinder date in New Zealand she never imagines that it’d be her last day alive. In the wake of her murder, chilling evidence emerges through surveillance footage that depicts the killer disposing of her body inside a suitcase. What shocks police even more, is that he goes on another date right after. Can they catch this monster before he strikes again? Over in the UK, a disturbing crime scene unfolds when a 13-year-old girl is murdered in an attempt to cover up the grooming and illicit relationship she had with an adult man. Can CCTV footage lead police to this predator and lock him up behind bars for good?

===============

Killers Caught On Camera is a brand new true-crime series with a voyeuristic twist: video footage from home security cameras, CCTV, and dashcams take center-stage, helping detectives catch perpetrators in moments of criminal intent to acts of pure evil. Family members of victims and law enforcement provide first-hand accounts of how these chilling events unfold while experts like Criminal Psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw dissect the darkest corners of the mind.

=============== Like, comment and subscribe if you’re ready for more true crime. Your favorite shows like World’s Most Evil Killers, Meet Marry Murder, Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, Murdered At First Sight and Bloodline Detectives are all available to stream 24/7 for free via the FilmRise Streaming Network. You can access The FilmRise Streaming Network through most free App Platforms and Smart TV portals such as Amazon Fire TV, The Roku Channel, Android, iOS and many more.

Brief Summary

CCTV evidence reveals the tragic murders of Grace Millane and Lucy McHugh, highlighting police investigations and the dangers of dating.

Key points

CCTV Evidence. Police rely on CCTV footage to build a timeline of Grace's last known movements.
The Disappearance of Grace Millane. Grace Millane, a British backpacker, goes missing in Auckland on her birthday.
Jesse's Confession. Jesse Kempson's story changes dramatically during police questioning.
Jesse Kempson Convicted. Jesse Kempson was quickly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
CCTV's Crucial Role. CCTV footage played a vital role in tracking movements and convicting Kempson.
Lucy's Tragic Story. Lucy McHugh's case highlights the dangers of grooming and trust.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Naturally, her mom and dad were sending her happy birthday messages.

AMBER HAQUE describes the concern of Grace's parents when they don't hear from her.

2:54WatchApr 2, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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