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

[JudgeJudi]

Van der Westhuizen is excused from the stand after lunch as defence has no questions. The State calls the next witness, Lt Col Christiaan Labuschagne, who was relief commander at Wynberg SAPS last year.

CL: It was around 5:30pm when I heard someone wanted to report a missing person. I went to the counter and approached the gentleman. He looked relaxed and was busy on his phone. I took him to a cubicle so we could talk privately.

CL: He wanted to report his wife missing. He said the schoolmaster phoned him just after 9am to report that his wife did not report for wife (sic) work. He said he was patrolling areas on routes between house and school to see if he could find her.

CL: The accused said he last saw his wife around 7am. He said he lives in a part of Constantia which falls under Diep River police station. It would be better for him to open a case there.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

CL: I informed him to open up an SAP55A (missing person) form, and to inform detectives to come on board so the search can start immediately. And to have her ID number and a photo.

SG asks about waiting times to report a missing person. CL replies: "There is a misperception that a time limit exists. You can report a missing person at any time." He says Diep River SAPS is about 3-4km away from Wynberg SAPS, where he was.

CL: I asked if his wife had affair. He immediately said no. The second question I asked was if they had an argument. He was silent for a while. "Then he said yes, they had a fight the previous night but by the time she left for work, it was all resolved."

SG asks about Packham's mood at the police station. CL replies: He sounded very collected and very calm to me.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Under cross-exam, Webster says CL had never met Packham before he entered the police station. CL replies that he has dealt with many cases, and knows whether someone is stressed.

CL: "If my wife was missing, would be agitated and would want to be helped immediately." He says Packham sat quietly, looked collected and his hand movements with his cellphone were "fluid".

Webster says other witnesses recalled that Packham was very stressed during the day. CL says that when he got to reception, he could not determine who wanted to report a missing person. His assistant had to point Packham out.

Webster: Packham was told he could only report a missing person 24 hours later, the next morning. CL says that may be the advocate's instructions but his people know the protocol.
CL is excused from the stand.

The court case is postponed until Tuesday.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Netwerk24 didn't stream a video yesterday (Day 5), but I just found one from News24. I think it starts with the second witness.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Day 6 of Rob Packham's murder trial in the Western Cape High Court. The next witness should be very interesting.

The defence has made a further admission that was requested by the State. Packham admits during the course of the investigation of the matter, Detective Sonnenberg got CCTV footage from a nearby house in Riesling Rd, Constantia on 22 February 2018.

State prosecutor Susan Galloway (SG) hands up stills from that CCTV footage.

SG: The next witness has asked that she not be recorded via audio or video. There is also an existing order from Judge Erasmus that her identity not be revealed.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

The State calls its next witness, Packham's mistress, who is dressed in a smart navy blazer and white shirt. She may not be identified as she has two minor children. She confirms she was in a relationship with him.

Mistress: I met him in October 2015. He told me he was separated from his late wife. I was aware that he had two cellphones. "He had one phone which was his work telephone and had his second phone which he referred to as his burner phone."

Mistress: The burner phone is "a phone he would use to correspond with people and as I understood, his family and his wife had no knowledge of."

M: I understood he was staying with his eldest daughter in a flat in Claremont. We were still seeing each other until the day that his wife went missing. I cut ties with him on 25 March 2018.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

M: In December 2015, he informed me he had decided to move back in with his wife. She decided to continue with the relationship and they maintained contact. Gill was not aware of affair "until about late October 2017"

M: His daughter had addressed him on his extramarital relationships and said either he had to speak to Gill or she would speak to her mother. He told me that.

M: "The accused would on most mornings contact me via telephone... during the day we would be in contact via telephone, Whatsapp message. We met either at my place of residence, guesthouses, went away together"

State wants to know if they ever discussed taking the relationship further. M: "At the time when his wife had found out about his extramarital relationships, there were discussions where he spoke of divorce as an option."

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

She says that Packham told her he had spoken with an attorney over the phone about divorce options and then later met with a family attorney.

His mistress at the time last saw him on Feb 21, a day before Gill went missing. "We had coffee at the V&A Waterfront at the coffee shed and discussed whether he was coming to a decision with regards to his marriage."

M said that Packham confided he was unhappily married. "He said he loved his wife but he didn't love his life".

M: We had contact on Feb 22 and then I saw him on March 1. On Feb 22, I received a sms or Whatsapp at around 8:30, saying good morning and he had overslept.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Second video from yesterday:

 

[JudgeJudi]

M: I then received a voice Whatsapp msg from him around 10am saying he was feeling frazzled because his wife had not arrived at work and he was on his way to look for her.

She made suggestions to him about where to look for his wife and whether his daughters or sister had maybe heard from her. She said she can't remember him responding to this on Whatsapp.

M recommended that he contact Pink Ladies to report her missing. He said he contacted them and they said they can only put an alert out once he had smsed a case number.

M later broke off the relationship because of his arrest. She felt it was in not in the best interest of her children and her career to continue. She said Packham tried over the next few months to remain in contact.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

I can't find a livestream for today. Can someone have a look please.

 

[JudgeJudi]

M had a legal letter sent to his counsel to ask that he stop the contact. But she said it did not have the desired effect and he made between 18-20 attempts to contact her directly or indirectly.

M says items were left outside her house, letters placed under her garage door and things delivered to her work. Packham also stayed in contact with a lot of their mutual friends.

M: Even though she received correspondence from someone else, she worked out it was Packham because of the words and details used, and CCTV showing it was him who had delivered items.

SG asks M whether she and Packham ever spoke about the future together. She said the only thing she recalls is an email on 24 Feb 2018, where she recalled the line "this madness will soon be over and we can be together".

We adjourn for tea.

Typed too fast earlier: His (ex) mistress said that Packham confided he was unhappily married. "He said he loved his life but he didn't love his wife".

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[Hag]

M had a legal letter sent to his counsel to ask that he stop the contact. But she said it did not have the desired effect and he made between 18-20 attempts to contact her directly or indirectly.

M says items were left outside her house, letters placed under her garage door and things delivered to her work. Packham also stayed in contact with a lot of their mutual friends.

M: Even though she received correspondence from someone else, she worked out it was Packham because of the words and details used, and CCTV showing it was him who had delivered items.

SG asks M whether she and Packham ever spoke about the future together. She said the only thing she recalls is an email on 24 Feb 2018, where she recalled the line "this madness will soon be over and we can be together".

We adjourn for tea.

Typed too fast earlier: His (ex) mistress said that Packham confided he was unhappily married. "He said he loved his life but he didn't love his wife".

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

Thanks so much for Posts. I like this last paragraph more! I’ve had no luck with finding live broadcast, either.

 

[JudgeJudi]

We are back after a tea break.
The defence starts its cross-examination of Packham's ex-mistress.

Adv Craig Webster, for the defence, says there was a lot of media hype and attention after Packham was arrested. M nods her head. She said she broke it off in the interests of herself and her two children.

M said two police officers came to her work for a police statement. She said that was uncomfortable. CW asks if she was considered a person of interest or suspect. She shakes her head, said nothing like that was said to her.

CW: You mentioned that on Feb 24, you received an email from the accused in which he said the madness would soon be over and we can be together.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

CW: I put it to you that it was a time when he was very highly stressed and he has no recollection of sending that message. M said he did send the email, at 2am. The defence says it has no further questions.

M is excused from the stand. The State says it will call another witness tomorrow. Packham remains in custody until then.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

I'd love to know what the stills from the CCTV footage shows. Must be interesting.

RP is an absolute bas***d. I really hope Galloway can find it was premeditated. He deserves every bit of 25 years ... at least.

 

[mrjitty]

CW: I put it to you that it was a time when he was very highly stressed and he has no recollection of sending that message. M said he did send the email, at 2am. The defence says it has no further questions.

The judge should have smacked counsel upside the head for this question.

 

[Manny8171]

I see the house has been sold.

I just don't understand why...his daughters knew about the affair. His friends and colleagues properly as well. Just get divorced, walk away. Let GP find a new life, she seemed to have a lot of caring friends and family. Sell the Audi and buy a Hyundai. He did not have children living with them to be concerned about.
Why kill her!
I don't think it was premediated, his clumsy cover up speaks to that.
But his absolutely deplorable method of covering up and lies must count towards a hefty sentence.

From an article after during the van Brede trial.
How jail time is determined in South Africa

How is an appropriate sentence determined?

According to Adv. Jackie Nagtegaal at Law For All‚ the trial courts in South Africa are responsible for sentencing criminal offenders. “It is up to them to determine the type and severity of a sentence in each case” she explains.

“While it isn’t an easy task to determine the appropriate punishment‚ there are three principles that the courts use to guide them in determining the correct sentence” says Nagtegaal. These principles are collectively known as the “Triad of Zinn”: the gravity of the offence‚ the circumstances of the offender‚ and public interest.

 

[mrjitty]

The judge should have smacked counsel upside the head for this question.

I wonder if this means Packham intends to testify?

 

[JudgeJudi]

The judge should have smacked counsel upside the head for this question.

RP hasn't even testified, so how can he possibly get away with saying that! Now I really am worried about Steyn J. When I checked her out, I could only find 2 criminal cases that she's done in the last couple of years. I could find virtually nothing of interest. The BIB is alarming when we're dealing with a murder trial.

At least we have Galloway. She definitely inspires confidence after van Breda.

"Elize Steyn obtained her LLB degree in Bloemfontein in 1975, receiving the accolade of best final-year LLB student. After working as a prosecutor she began practising as an advocate at the Cape Bar in 1978, specialising in family law and the law relating to administration of estates. Apart from a year working in London, Steyn has been in practice in Cape Town for 30 years. She took silk in 1999. A member of the Cape Bar Council and chairperson of the Cape Bar Bursary Fund for many years, she is an acting judge. She has also served on the board of the Jan Van Riebeeck Hoërskool and was instrumental in drafting the school’s code of conduct.

Private sector: Advocates

 

[JudgeJudi]

I wonder if this means Packham intends to testify?

Well, you probably share the same view as me if he doesn't.