GUILTY South Africa - Gill Packham, 57, murdered, Cape Town, 22 February, 2018 *arrest*

[mrjitty]

SG says RP sent unsolicited messages to different people to account for his whereabouts around the time his wife went missing. But when reports emerged, he then changed his story to looking for a new car for his wife.

SG says she believes RP hit his wife twice with an unknown object. "You found yourself in a tight spot due to your long running affair with witness x and your wife's apparent still upsetness about your continuous disclosures about your infidelity."

SG: Having handled the murder weapon, the blood droplets in garage could have come from your own hands or the weapon. You then moved her and that also explains blood on garage door and on driver's handle inside your vehicle.

SG believes that is why RP did not make much effort to report his wife missing. And that he drove around looking for places to dispose of the murder weapon, her bag and phone and vehicle number plates.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

So do we think he parked the car at Diep River, then came back that night and set it on fire?

 

[Interested Bystander]

Doh! Sorry, instead of posting from JJ's comment to me, I should have read the earlier posts as I see SG thinks his drives were to dump the evidence.

I had been hoping that the telephone records alone would convict him but not so sure now. However, I am hopeful he is going to get life. He is such an arrogant man who possibly thinks he is going to get away with it.

 

[mrjitty]

The weight of the evidence should sink him despite him speculating away each point

Blood
Suspicious absence from work
Attempt to create an alibi
Witnesses
Phones
Tires
etc

 

[JudgeJudi]

So do we think he parked the car at Diep River, then came back that night and set it on fire?

My understanding is that a woman saw Gill's car at about 3:45pm on her way home. She thought it was stolen because it didn’t have number plates and was well hidden. It had been parked there all day. She was woken by her daughter later in the evening who said she had alerted the fire department. This appears to have been corroborated by the two men who said it was about 9:30pm when they noticed smoke and saw a man driving away from the burning car.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Closing arguments begin in the Western Cape High Court today. State says that although motive is not an element in crime of murder, it is clear that Packham found himself in a tight spot with two women in his life.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor Susan Galloway (SG): Rob met with his lover the day before and there may have been a discussion about his future. He needed to make a decision.

SG: He loved his life but not his wife. It added to an accumulation of factors which led to him assaulting the deceased. Judge Elize Steyn questions his dishonesty around affair and says Rob was economical with the truth.

Judge says she is trying to understand the cellphone data and checks that Rob made two calls to his wife the day she went missing. SG replies: It was his evidence that he only called her twice.

SG: It follows that person who attacked and killed Gill Packham also set her vehicle alight. The only question to answer is who is responsible. The State submits it is Rob Packham.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

State says all the evidence against Rob is circumstantial and must be viewed in its totality. SG: One must look at the conduct of the accused on 22 February 2018 and subsequently, and the evidence implicating the accused.

SG: One must look at Rob's lack of communication on the day his wife went missing, between 07:45 until 09:53, and again between 21:18 before 22:16. His work phone was on call forwarding, making him unreachable.

Steyn: The accused said he had a charger in his car. SG: Yes he recharged that day but said he didn't check battery in evening. If your wife has been missing the whole day, it is strange you would not make sure your phone is charged.

SG: The accused requested an alibi for the time his phone was off in the morning, changed his version of where he was then, he never formally reported his wife missing.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG: The accused changed all four tyres of his Audi. His denial that police photos were of his car and tyres, that he admitted to at start of trial, casts doubt on his credibility as a witness.

SG: The accused did not give police the correct pin for his work phone. "If he is innocent, why would you not want the police to have access to the information on your phone?"

SG: His movements on Feb 22 and 23, 2018, are not consistent with a reasonable person. When the IO wanted to interview him after wife's body was found, he said he was too tired. The next day he did not look him up but took a "scenic drive".

SG: He missed an appointment he made with IO at 8:30 and only came back from scenic driver after 9:00.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG: The accused was the last person to see his wife alive. His wife's BMW was seen being driven by a white male. Attacker remains in area where crime is committed or leaves and comes back, "not consistent with reasonable human nature, common sense"

State goes through cellphone mapping data and how it links the accused to relevant scenes. SG says that unless he can provide a reasonably, possibly true alternative, this is indicative of his guilt.

SG says that Rob would have had enough time to drive from his sister's house in Tokai to set his wife's BMW alive at Diep River train station, and then be seen by witness at 21:30 driving away.

SG says the State has established a prima facie case for the accused's guilt. She points out that he gave a "bare denial" for crimes he is charged with and never submitted a plea explanation.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

State says that probability of unknown attacker/hijacker staying in area or leaving and coming back, and then setting his prize of BMW alight, is negligible. SG says it would have made sense if attacker dumped body and took car.

SG: All the evidence supports the inference that the accused is the assailant and subsequently set the BMW alight. His version is not reasonably possibly, true and should be rejected as false.

SG: The State witnesses kept to their version and no evidence to rebut this was presented by the defence.

State says circumstantial evidence also supports the identification of the accused by witnesses. SG: the evidence shows that the photo identity parade was independent and objective.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG: In this instance, the suspect was a white male of a certain age. The photo ID parade system provided mug shots of similar people. To use people of colour, as suggested by defence, would have increased the odds of accused being identified.

SG: Accused tampered with scene by removing accused's body, he removed plates of the BMW, he set the car alight with wife's body inside and provided false info to the police to mislead police on attacker's identity.

SG turns to second charge, which is defeating or obstructing ends of justice. Defeating is more serious of the two, which causes guilty person to go free or innocent person to be found guilty.

Judge asks whether accused defeated or obstructed ends of justice. SG says he attempted to defeat.

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[JudgeJudi]

SG: His intent is dolus directus: he hit his wife twice, the blow to the temple was with severe force, she was smaller in stature, he disposed of the murder weapon, placed her body in the boot and set the car alight. He never reported her missing.

SG: The totality of the evidence points to the guilt of the accused on second charge. His evidence is clearly fabricated. During the investigation, he supplied false information to the police.

State finishes its closing arguments. Advocate Craig Webster says he had anticipated that they would give argument tomorrow. Defence is still finalising its papers.

Court is adjourned until 10:30 tomorrow morning.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

It looks pretty obvious to me that he won't be seeing blue skies for a long, long time. I hope he goes to Pollsmoor. Hideous place for a hideous guy. His sister lives in Pollsmoor. Now nice.

 

[tmar]

It looks pretty obvious to me that he won't be seeing blue skies for a long, long time. I hope he goes to Pollsmoor. Hideous place for a hideous guy. His sister lives in Pollsmoor. Now nice.

I agree, it is obvious this arrogant creep will be found guilty.
I wonder what tricks he'll come up with regarding a lesser sentence, down the track.

 

[mrjitty]

ok - Skuzzbag?

 

[JudgeJudi]

The Court was told RP found himself in a "tight spot" between two women and attempted to extricate himself by killing his wife.

Presenting her closing arguments, Galloway quoted a phrase allegedly used by RP in a conversation with his mistress: "I love my life, but not my wife."

She focused on evidence of his demeanour and movements on February 22 2018, when GP died, and the following days. "The conduct of the accused … was not consistent with that of a reasonable person placed in the same situation," she said. His behaviour included asking a colleague to provide him with an alibi for the morning of the murder. RP claims the alibi was intended to help him surprise Gill with a new car for her coming birthday.

"Packham's work phone was in forwarding mode at several points in the day, making him unreachable. He later gave the police an incorrect PIN code for the same phone," said Galloway.

He also failed to properly report his wife missing, and missed a meeting he set up with police because he went for a "scenic drive".

SG said, "Whenever there is no plausible answer, he blames someone else," referring to the hijacking or kidnapping scenarios he suggested earlier in the trial. "There is no evidence in or around the house to support this."

A witness identified RP as the driver of his wife's car and he was identified by two other witnesses as fleeing Diep River railway station later that night.

In attempting to defeat the ends of justice, SG said he disposed of the murder weapon, moved his wife's body from the crime scene to the boot of her car and set the car alight.

Galloway linked the "totality of the evidence" to RP’s guilt.

Rob Packham killed his wife 'to get out of a tight spot', says prosecutor

 

[JudgeJudi]

Susan Galloway said while he testified, RP spoke in a confident, sometimes superior manner, sounding well-rehearsed and at times becoming sarcastic and argumentative. She argued that the accused’s version had been fabricated and should be rejected.

She argued that he killed his wife, disposed of the murder weapon, placed her body in the boot of her car and set it alight.

She said his conduct on the day of GP’s disappearance was not consistent with the conduct of a person in his situation as he failed to report his wife missing and missed a meeting with the investigating officer hours after her car was found alight. Last week, RP offered a different scenario, saying there was a possibility his wife could have been kidnapped and murdered by an unknown culprit.

Rob Packham’s version of wife’s murder ‘fabricated’

 

[mrjitty]

I thought it was interesting that SG pointed out that RP never established any positive alibi

I still need to listen to the rest!

 

[JudgeJudi]