Blood, presumably belonging to Gill Packham, was found in the home that she shared with her husband. The blood was found in the garage as well as the en suite bathroom attached to the main bedroom and on the door to the driver's side of the accused's car.
Prosecutor Benjamin told the court that the accused had contacted a colleague to arrange an alibi, telling the person to claim that they had been in a meeting at 08:30 that morning, when he was meant to be at work. However, his cellphone records indicated that he had been in Constantia or Diep River at the time.
DNA taken from her daughters confirmed that it was her body that had been found in the boot of the car, once the fire had been extinguished.
Benjamin told the court that the accused was the last person with Gill.
Security cameras allegedly captured someone driving a car similar to Gill's on that day, which did not have any registration plates.
Benjamin said
it was a known fact that the Packhams were experiencing marital problems and that he had sent his wife a cellphone message to say that he was "thinking of calling it a day".
The State argued that it was clear that RP had tried to destroy evidence and that police have still not located Gill's cellphone. He added that the Police were still looking for other evidence but did not elaborate.
Defence attorney Mathewson said that footage of someone driving Gill's BMW was shown to the couple's children, who could not identify their father as the driver.
He pointed out that the State did not have a murder weapon, and there was no evidence that the blood found by the police's forensics team was Gill's. He added that there was no proof that RP had assaulted his wife and caused her death and no reasonable evidence for his arrest. He submitted that RP had been arrested without a warrant.
Mathewson said RP had driven around to look for his wife that day and searched in places that they frequented.
CP started to weep when Mathewson said that he wanted to support his children at their mother's funeral, which is expected to take place on Tuesday.
[URL]https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/constantia-murder-blood-found-in-home-and-car-of-victims-husband-20180305[/URL]
