“He loved his life but not his wife.”
These were the words of Rob Packham’s former jolmeit as she took the stand at the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday to testify in his wife’s murder trial.
The former Twizza boss faces charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice after Gill Packham, 56, went missing on 22 February 2018.
She was found on the same day in the boot of her burnt-out BMW.
The well-dressed woman, who cannot be named or photographed as per a court order, was surrounded by four friends as she received vuil kyke from Packham and his family in the public gallery.
Dressed in a navy blue suit and white blouse, the brunette told the court she had met Packham in October 2015 and he said he’d separated from his wife.
During the affair, the couple met at her house, guesthouses and “went away together”.
The single mom of two says Packham had two cellphones, one of which his family did not know about, and that they were in regular contact.
The former mistress, who belonged to the same Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism (BDSM) group as Packham, says Gill had no knowledge of their jolling until October 2017.
She said Packham told her he planned to divorce Gill and had even visited attorneys in November 2017 and January 2018.
FINAL DAYS: Victim Gill learnt about Rob’s jolling in 2017
This despite his younger daughter, Nicola, telling the court that her parents were working on their marriage.
The jolmeit said the day before Gill was killed, she met Packham at the V&A Waterfront for coffee and he allegedly told her he still wanted a divorce.
“He always said he was unhappy. He loved his life but not his wife,” she testified.
On the day Gill went missing, she got a call from Packham at 8.30am saying he had overslept.
Later that morning he told her Gill was missing and he was “frazzled”.
Two days after the murder, Packham allegedly sent his former mistress a five-page email in which he told her: “This madness will soon be over then we can be together.”
On 25 March, she broke up with him following the media hype around his arrest.
Packham was released on bail and despite being forbidden from contacting her, she says he dropped flowers at her office, sent emails and even slipped letters under her garage door.
He also contacted her friend asking her for “raw primal sex”.
The trial continues.