Cape Town - Gill Packham sent her husband packing in the weeks leading up to her murder, according to a close confidant.
“She kicked Rob out of the house because she couldn’t condone his infidelity.
“He wanted an open marriage but she was having none of it.”
Packham moved in with his widowed sister, Judy Markham, who owns a home in Tokai not far from Pollsmoor Prison.
He had been living with her for several weeks before he is alleged to have murdered his 57-year-old wife in their Constantia home on February 22.
But despite her tough stance, she remained “loyal to her husband” and was committed to making her marriage work, said the confidant who asked not to be named.
“Gill didn’t want to leave Rob or divorce him.
“Even when she found out that he had been cheating on her for years and that her daughters knew about it, she was prepared to stick it out and work hard to make their relationship work.
“Before she died she used to say to me that she couldn’t be single at her age. ‘I don’t want to be a lonely old lady,’ she used to say. She wanted to maintain the image of the perfect family even though those close to her were advising her to leave.
“The irony is that Gill was anything close to an old woman. And had she walked out on Rob she might still be alive today and would probably have found new happiness.”
Some of the horror of Gill’s final hours was clarified in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court this week where Packham was served with the indictment confirming the charges against him.
Drafted by Susan Galloway, the seasoned prosecutor who put family axe murderer Henri van Breda behind bars, it declares that she will be requesting life imprisonment for Packham when he steps into the High Court dock in February.
On the first count of murder the State alleges Packham killed his wife of 30 years “by hitting her with a blunt object and/or inflicting violence the forms of which is unknown to the State”.
On the second count of defeating or obstructing the course of justice the State alleges Packham set Gill’s car alight with her dead body in the boot, tampered with the crime scene and supplied false information to the police.
In its summary of substantial facts the State further alleges that Packham was seen driving his wife’s car in traffic on the day she was murdered.
“During late afternoon a motor vehicle fitting the description of the deceased’s vehicle was found near Diep River train station. The vehicle had been set alight.
“A male person was observed driving away from the scene. The identity of the male is the accused.”
The summary handed to Packham in court further reveals that his wife was not burnt alive.
“The cause of death is noted as blunt traumatic head injuries and the consequence thereof. The body was burnt post-mortem.”