Grace Millane — The Lie: Violence against women, and fraud.

This documentary is a wake up call to everyone — that fraud is not a harmless or a victimless crime, and that every women is prone to domestic violence, sexual harassment, assault or rape, or other misogynistic behaviours at some point in their lives.

Disclaimer: This blog may contain spoilers for those who haven’t watched.

Trigger Warning: This blog focuses on the issues of rape, murder, gender based violence, victim blaming and racism. If you are currently affected by domestic violence, please contact your local authorities. Remember, if you are a victim, it is never your fault.

This movie also points out how a business, in which the manager is a white, European woman, is complicit in Grace Millane’s death too as she failed to report her former employee, Jesse Shane Kempson, to the police for fraud.

The Lie is a 2024 documentary that is victim centered, documenting murder, arrest and trial of Jesse Shane Kempson, the twisted psychopath who murdered Grace Millane, who was backpacking in New Zealand. Grace Millane was murdered on her 22nd birthday, which sparked outrage across the world — outrage similar to the Charleston shootings, Norway mass murders, Trayvon Martin’s murder and the murder of James Bulger. It also sparked an important conversation about violence against women.

I won’t go into exact detail as I want everyone to see it for themselves, but here’s a brief rundown: The movie starts off describing Millane as a sweet, loving woman prior to her murder. Then an investigation begins after her murder, and Kempson is brought in for an interview. In his final interview with the police, he is placed under arrest. There is a trial that lasted a few weeks, before he is finally sentenced to life in prison — with a non parole period of 17 years (which is way too short in my opinion). The trial covers details of her murder, how she was murdered and the immoral defense known as “rough sex”.

This movie raises very important and concerning facts about domestic violence in New Zealand: Domestic violence, and violence against women are indeed, one of the highest in the OECD. It also raises the issues of “rough sex” defence, which should never be used as an excuse for murder, and neither should alcohol and porn be blamed. Stress, anxiety and panic attacks are also never an excuse either. Additionally, it raises It also raises issues about the coverage on white women being murdered, compared to that of non white women. Racism is an issue too, since the lawyers are European, along with the fact that the manager who failed to report him to the police for dishonesty is also a European; it raises the issue about the fact that racists and fascists blame black people and Muslims for raping and murdering white women (like the 2016 NYE sexual assaults in Germany) — Jesse Shane Kempson has European (in addition to Maori) ancestry. Additionally, lawyers like Marie Dyhrberg are European (last name is of Scandinavian origin), the lawyers who have engaged in victim blaming in most of the cases I’ve seen so far are European, and have direct ancestors from Europe — like Brock Allen Turner’s lawyer, Aaron Persky, with the name originating from various European countries like Poland and Belarus.

The office manager and CEO who fired Kempson for fraud/dishonesty and drama but failed to report him to the police are also complicit in Grace Millane’s death; had he been arrested for fraud if the manager complained about her ex employee misbehaving at work, causing drama and being dishonest/committing fraud, Grace might not have been murdered as his arrest would have saved her from him. Additionally, he could have been arrested for the previous rapes of several women as well. Just because fraud involves money and might seem not as harmful compared to rape or assault, doesn’t mean it is not a violent crime, or one that results in death. Look at the Romanian gangs in Europe with clipboards, they are very aggressive, sometimes violent, or their actions lead to mental harm towards their victims afterwards, like in our case, we were upset as a result of falling victim to the Paris Clipboard Scam. Another example is Angelina Rodriguez, who murdered her husband (unsucessfully initially, using Oleander) with anti freeze and killed one of her children to collect insurance money. She is now on death row for the murder of her husband, Frank Rodriguez. These are prime examples that fraud is not a victimless crime, and that any behavior involving fraud and dishonesty must be reported to authorities.

All in all, this movie has brought up very important points about misogyny, domestic violence, violence against women. Due to the killer’s Maori and European ancestry, and the fact both the manager and Grace Millane are Europeans, this has also raised issues of racism too. We need to do better as a country. We need to teach our boys to treat women with respect, regardless of who they are. We also need to re evaluate our racist, patriarchal and Eurocentric judgement about women, when they become victims of gender based violence. We also need to recognize that members of the LGBTQA+ community are also especially vulnerable to violence, both domestic and hate related violence. Eurocentric, patriarchal and fascist values that involve blaming women for what they wear, how much they drink, in addition to marrying or entering relationships with certain men (such as African American, Maori, Islander etc.) or Muslim men are outdated, racist and misogynist and needs to change. And we need to stop playing the mental health card to excuse gender based violence, that is ableist, as an autistic person who has had anxiety in the past.

Things to take away from the film:

• Fraud is NOT a victimless crime
• The fact that fraud does not cause violence or death is a myth
• Rough defense sex is NOT an excuse for murder, neither is alcohol, porn or mental health. There is simply no excuse for gender based violence
• Jesse Kempson’s actions were premeditated, cunning and were done with a purpose both before and afterhand
• Boys need to be raised to respect girls, women, people of colour and members of the LGBTQA+ community
• Both the New Zealand Police and the manager (and possibly the CEO) who sacked him are complicit, she might be alive today had Kempson been arrested for the rapes he committed against other women after they reported him, and in addition to the fraud committed at work.
• The notion that “white men or white women protect white women” is totally incorrect; Grace Millane’s killer is believed to be half-white owing to the Kempson name, which has English origins. Also the manager who failed to report the fraud is also white.
• It is never the victim's fault and victim blaming, under any circumstance is never acceptable.
• Ron Mansfield is a bad lawyer for victim blaming, and should be disbarred from being a lawyer.
• Religion, ethnicity, alcohol or drugs, music festivals, bars or nightclubs, naturalism, medical or mental health conditions, television programs are never an excuse to commit gender based violence.
• Blaming a race or religion on rapes and murders is not just victim blaming, it is also racist and Islamophobic (if aimed at a Muslim) or anti semitic (if aimed at a Jewish person).