Russell Causley killed Carole Packman, 40, in 1985 because she wanted a divorce and was the first person in Britain to be convicted of murder without there being a body
A man who murdered his wife will make a bid for freedom in the UK’s first public parole hearing.
Russell Causley killed Carole Packman, 40, in 1985 after she sought a divorce from him.
He then faked his death and evaded justice for more than a decade after staging a £790,000 insurance scam.
He was jailed for Carole’s murder in 1996 and, after the conviction was quashed in 2003, jailed again in 2004.
Causley, now 79, was the first person in Britain to be convicted of murder without there being a body.
The public hearing is part of Government reforms to “increase transparency and improve victims’ experience of the parole system”.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said: “Pulling back the curtain on the parole process by allowing hearings to be heard in public is a major step forward for victims who want to see justice being done first-hand.
“It marks the first step in our reforms to overhaul the system – putting victims and public protection front and centre of the process.”
Causley’s hearing was due to take place last month but was delayed as “compelling evidence” had emerged of a “long campaign” that risked his safety.
He will give evidence today but will not appear on video amid further concerns for his safety. He had threatened to boycott the hearing and withhold evidence as he fought to keep his parole board private.
He was released from prison in 2020 after serving 23 years for the murder but was brought back to jail by the Probation Service in November 2021 for breaching his licence conditions.
Causley and Carole’s daughter, construction site manager Sam Gillingham, 53, has fought to keep her father locked up.
She previously said: “He’s a coward. For nearly four decades he has refused to say what he did with my mother’s body.
“That shows he’s not rehabilitated, what does that say to other inmates? I think he should die in jail.
“What he’s done to us is like mental torture, coercive control, domestic abuse. I won’t step back, I will carry on pushing for him to stay in prison.”
Carole disappeared from her home in Bournemouth, Dorset, a day after discussing divorce with a solicitor.
Causley “disappeared” from a yacht in 1993 but police found him alive in Brighton.
While serving a sentence for fraud, he told an inmate about killing Carole. He has never revealed what he did with her body
.
Source: The Mirror
