Constitutional Court ruling signals end of the road for wife killer Rob Packham

The Constitutional Court has dismissed an application for leave to appeal the murder conviction of Rob Packham, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Wednesday.

Regional NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said he was still waiting for a copy of the court’s order.

Packham, who is serving 22 years in jail for killing his wife Gill, had previously been unsuccessful with bids to secure leave in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

In May last year, the Western Cape High Court found Packham guilty of murder and for trying to defeat the ends of justice by setting his wife’s car and body alight in February 2018.

He initially applied for leave to appeal his conviction to the High Court, but Judge Elize Steyn dismissed it.

During his sentencing, she said Gill’s murder was callous, brutal and shocking.

Emotional

Packham had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He told the court that he searched frantically for his wife when she did not pitch up at her workplace on 22 February 2018, and that it had been a very dark and emotional time.

While admitting that he had been in a relationship with another woman while married, Packham said he was committed to his marriage and that they had been intending to renew their vows.

Prosecutor Susan Galloway maintained that he had found himself in a corner because of his affair and had killed his wife – making up cover stories along the way, getting rid of evidence, and setting it up to look like a hijacking.

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