Cape Town man accused of killing wife

A CONSTANTIA man accused of murdering his wife‚ Gill Packham‚ says he was driving around looking for his wife in places the couple used to frequent on the day she was murdered.

Rob Packham sobbed in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town yesterday where he was charged with murdering his wife of 30 years.

Gill’s body was found in the back of her burning green BMW sedan at 9.30pm on February 22. She was declared missing by a relative earlier that same day after she failed to arrive for work at Springfield Convent School, where she was a secretary.

State prosecutor Advocate Brynmor Benjamin told the court that Packham was the last person seen with Gill at about 7.34am on the day of the murder when he was supposed to be at work.

He is the general manager of the Twizza soft drink company.

He was also allegedly seen driving Gill’s car‚ but with its number plates removed‚ and sped away from a state witness.

The car was also picked up by a traffic camera.

Benjamin said Packham had also tried to obstruct the administration of justice by calling a colleague to establish an alibi by inferring that he was at a meeting at work at 7.30am.

It is also alleged that on the evening of the murder‚ a vehicle similar to Packham’s vehicle was seen driving away from the Diep River railway station behind which Gill’s burning BMW was found by police, who extinguished the fire and found her burnt body in the boot. – TimesLIVE