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

[JudgeJudi]

State starts off by referring to the testimony of witness, Paul Gray, who identified Packham as the man he saw getting into a green BMW (the same as Gill's car) in Constantia the day his wife went missing.

SG: Lucius Way (where the witness saw you) is close to your home? Do you know anyone who lives in that street?
RP: Yes it's close. No I don't know anyone there.

SG: Other key locations in this case are not very far from your home?
RP confirms that they are in close proximity to where he lives.

SG: Mr Gray identified the person he saw getting into your wife's BMW at 2pm on Feb 22, 2018, as being you. Your version is that although you were in vicinity, it was not you. RP: Most definitely not.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG: This other person must then have had a similar appearance to you. If it had been a black male for instance, he couldn't have identified you because you are a white male. Same as a teenager or female.
RP confirms this is so.

SG: So this other person looked enough like you for the witness to have made a mistaken identification. RP: Correct. SG: In court, this witness also identified you, despite you losing weight and wearing glasses at the time. RP: I believe so

SG: And according to licence plate recognition technology, it doesn't look like a female driving. The person driving at 14:17 is not similar in stature to your wife.
RP: That is correct. I don't think it was my wife.

SG: What happened to your wife happened early that morning in the vicinity of your house, or in your house, and person who attacked her in a possible hijacking was still in the same area about 7 hours later. RP: It would appear so. I don't know.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

State turns to cellphone mapping. From just after 14:00 until 14:12 on Feb 22, RP's phone picks up signal at BL Agencies tower.

SG: From 07:30 on Feb 22, 2018, your phone picks up signal in Constantia area and then at BL Agencies tower. Your phone is moving from your house towards that tower.
RP confirms and says his first stop was at dealership in Diep River.

RP confirms he was not driving his wife's green BMW the morning she disappeared.

SG: On your version, both you and the unknown person who was driving your wife's BMW are for a period of 3 hours more or less in the same area.
RP: I can't comment on that. I don't know who person was.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG: You were driving around that same vicinity and yet did not find her vehicle. RP: I did not.
SG: Not only did a witness find it but someone else found it using licence plate recognition, "plain as day".

SG: The next sighting of your wife's car was at Diep River train station at 22:30, when it was alight.
RP: I think it was around 20:30, according to witnesses who saw it then.

SG refers to evidence of Keanan Thomas, who was the first on the scene at burning vehicle. She says he testified his friend arrived at his house around 20:00. And then heard dogs barking around 21:00 and went outside.

SG: Under cross-exam, Thomas conceded that he guessed it was around 20:30 or 21:00. She reads his testimony: "Timewise, I did state to the officer I am not 100% sure." He said his friend knew the time better.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG then refers to testimony of the friend Lance Govender, who was visiting Thomas. He said: "No, no I just say from what I recall it was 21:30... I looked at the time... there was a clock on the wall."

Defence objects and says State did not raise testimony of another witness, Ms Stead, who placed on record that it was around 21:00 when she arrived at the scene and emergency services were there.

SG tells defence that Ms Stead did not actually check the time. She goes back to Govender placing the commotion around 21:30. "That would be after you left your sister's house earlier that evening around 21:17".

SG: And earlier you said it took you around 11 minutes to get from your house to your sister's house. It would not be impossible for you to drive back from your sister's to Diep River railway station.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

RP disagrees and said it would take longer to get to Diep River station.

SG: At the end of the day, Mr Thomas identified you as the person he saw at Diep River station around 21:30 on Feb 22, 2018. He also did so despite you losing weight and wearing glasses.

RP replies that Mr Thomas also testified that he saw a photo of him on social media before the ID photo parade, which disadvantaged him.

SG: Mr Thomas went further though. He also identified your vehicle. A white Audi SUV. His friend Mr Govender recognised the vehicle as an Audi Q5. Thomas also remembered 3 numbers in your licence plate.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG: Are you listening? RP: It is fantasy but I am listening to you. It is an absolute coincidence. To pick 3 numbers from a number plate and guess it is my number plate. Sure my white car is not the only one in Cape Town either.

SG: We are sitting with a witness who recognises driver of a vehicle that is the same model, make, colour with a similar number plate and the tyre imprints also match your vehicle the day after. Is it still a coincidence? RP: Very much so.

SG: The blood on the compost bag is a bit more difficult to see but you can make out a dark spot. RP: Yes.

SG moves to blood found in the couple's garage and bathroom. You can see for yourself that the blood found in bathroom is not visible to the naked eye. Unlike garage door, which is seen clearly. RP: Correct.

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[JudgeJudi]

SG: There are much bigger blood stains on what appears to be the metal frame of the garage door on the inside. RP: Yes.

SG: The point I want to make is that your blood in the bathroom is not visible to the naked eye but your wife's blood in the garage is. RP: Correct.

SG: It appears that the blood droplets are more towards the left of the garage. There was no blood found in the rest of the garage.

SG is testing Packham's theory for why Gill's blood was found in garage. He says it may have been from cuts due to moving recycling or from gardening. He says plasters were inside the garage.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG is confused about why her blood was found on door frame going from garage to house if plasters were in garage.
RP says she must have touched the frame.
SG says it is a drop, not touch mark.
RP: Maybe she shook her hand.

Tea adjournment

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

 

[Interested Bystander]

I wonder where exactly he murdered her. Do we know whether the autopsy photos show she bled out much? What if he murdered her away from home, ie went out for a drive, and dumped her in the boot until such time as he could get back to set fire to her car? Do we know at what time her car was first parked at the station? Apologies for not knowing all this but I am not up to speed with this case and do not have the time to backtrack.

 

[JudgeJudi]

We are back after a tea break. SG says she has one last question, which she had intended to leave for argument.

SG: If one regards your narrative of events, court would have to accept that the real culprit who attacked or hijacked your wife, did so around 7am, he stayed in the area where he committed his crime for at least 30 minutes.

SG: In execution of crime, he goes so far as to kill your wife and put her in the boot of her car and then proceeds to drive around, not scared of being pulled over or stopped because number plates are missing.

SG: Or he could have left and come back, which would be worse, because the vehicle is seen again at 2pm. Then he either stayed or came back to same area. The prize for which he supposedly committed this attack (the vehicle) is then set alight.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

 

[JudgeJudi]

I wonder where exactly he murdered her. Do we know whether the autopsy photos show she bled out much? What if he murdered her away from home, ie went out for a drive, and dumped her in the boot until such time as he could get back to set fire to her car? Do we know at what time her car was first parked at the station? Apologies for not knowing all this but I am not up to speed with this case and do not have the time to backtrack.

Murder accused Rob Packham explains presence of blood droplets at his Constantia home

 

[JudgeJudi]

RP: My lady, I guess it is one possibility.
SG: So you are saying it possible that could have been committed?
RP: I am afraid I don't know. I did not put that scenario. I honestly don't know. I can't speculate. I don't want to.

SG goes through her theory of what happened. I will post this in a short while. State finishes cross-exam and defence has no further questions. Judge Steyn is asking clarifying questions.

Judge flew through questions and I had to take notes. I will post those later. Packham grabs his water bottle, puts it in his jacket and is excused.
Court will adjourn for 15 minutes.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

To recap the summary that SG put to RP. She said that it appeared he changed his narrative depending on who he spoke to. With his sister and daughters, he cried and sounded distressed.

SG: When you were at Wynberg SAPS to report your wife missing, you were calm and collected.
RP says that is not how he felt internally and was extremely anxious.

SG: When RP needed an alibi from his colleague, he called him buddy buddy and Lody (short for Lodewyk).
RP intervenes to say he hasn't called anyone buddy and he must have been confused).

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

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

 

[JudgeJudi]

SG says that RP eventually set the green BMW alight with his wife inside around 21:30, thinking the fire would destroy all evidence. "Your wife would simply become another statistic of a hijacking".

SG: In effect, Mr Packham, I am going to argue that you killed your wife and set the vehicle alive.
RP: I categorically denied what the prosecutor has just said.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

We are back after the adjournment. Advocate Craig Webster, for Packham, says he is closing the defence's case.

SG requests time for written heads of arguments.

Judge postpones case until April 24 for argument

Packham remains in custody until then.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[Interested Bystander]

Thank you JJ but it could just be that the blood in the garage was perfectly innocent and SG will not be able to make it stick as evidence. There really doesn't seem enough there to be able to make murder in the garage incontrovertible. Was a murder weapon found. Trouble is it would be so easy to throw that into a ravine or river whilst he was out doing his drives during the day. Was time of death ever determined/estimated or was her body too burned to be able to fix a time? I will try to find the autopsy findings to answer these questions myself. Apologies for not being up to speed.

Thank you for all the updates.

 

[tmar]

This Creep has had loads of time to go through all the evidence and create lies to try to fit into the possibilities.
But there are too many fibs to make this reasonable.

When SG again brought up his 'work alibi', I loved it when the Judge asks "What is the reason for this false alibi?"
RP answers, "I have explained this already"!!!!!

Have others noticed when RP lies, he tilts his head, looks at SG, with an expression of 'prove me wrong'!
Well, she certainly has.
Closing should be great.
MOO.