'Drowned' man is retried for murder of wife

A MAN who faked his drowning off Guernsey in October 1993 is being retried for murder. Russell Causley, 60, has again denied murdering his wife, Veronica Packman, nearly 19 years ago.

She has not been seen or heard of since June 1985.

The accused had changed his name by deed poll from Packman to Causley, the surname of his lover, Patricia, Exeter Crown Court heard.

He claimed that his wife had gone off 'with a man in a red Porsche' or was working or living in Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland or Malta.

But the prosecution said that he murdered her after moving his mistress into the marital home.

In 1996, Mr Causley, who faked his own disappearance from a yacht off Guernsey in 1993 to claim the insurance money, was jailed for life for his wife's murder.

A detective involved in the disappearance case thought that Mr Causley had committed 'the perfect murder and could get away with it'.

But the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal, which last June quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial.

Detective Inspector Phil Falla, of the Guernsey force, who tracked down Mr Causley, was formally commended in May 1997 for his diligence and far-reaching contribution to an inquiry which had led to conviction.

He investigated claims that Mr Causley had been lost overboard from the yacht Etalon Noir on passage from Guernsey to France.

DI Falla's inquiries showed the allegation was false and revealed an intricate conspiracy to defraud an insurance company.

As a result, Mr Causley was jailed.

The inquiries had also revealed suspicious circumstances surrounding the disappearance, some eight years earlier, of Mr Causley's first wife.

A murder investigation was launched which led to conviction and a further commendation for the local officer.

He said yesterday that he was aware of the retrial - he had been placed on standby for the hearing in case updated statements were required.

He had all his records ready but eventually was not required to appear.

DI Falla said that the retrial was not totally unexpected.

'I'm not surprised with all the goings-on in the UK with retrials where everybody is trying it on. I think this is purely down to the defence trying to discredit part of the evidence, but my understanding is that the circumstantial evidence is still strong,' he said.

His real concern was for Mr Causley's daughter, Samantha Gillingham.

She wept in the witness box this week as she gave evidence against her father.

'I feel really sorry for her because she has never been able to put this to rest. This is going to open up wounds for her - we were hoping at some stage he would say what really happened,' he said.

The retrial brings back memories for DI Falla.

'It just seems like this will stick with you for the rest of your life. I'm not ashamed of that - I'm proud to have been part of it. If it was not for this quiet little island force, I doubt very much Causley would ever have been convicted of this woman's murder,' he said.

DI Falla had previously given evidence at Mr Causley's fraud trial at Southwark Crown Court. But he was not required to appear at his murder trial when the accused was sentenced to life imprisonment, based on circumstantial and hearsay confession evidence.

'We never found a body but managed to prove his wife did not exist any more,' he said.

'That was a big part of my life for over a year - it was one of those things where you were trying to convince people it really happened,' said DI Falla.

'It was constantly on my mind and I was trying to convince people she no longer existed.'

The woman had originally been reported to Bournemouth police station as a missing person.

DI Falla was the catalyst initially by phoning around the world to see whether she really existed.

'No body has ever been found and it was one of the rare occasions where you get a murder conviction without finding a body.'

It was alleged that Mr Causley told others when on remand for murder that he had killed her and disposed of the body. But it is understood Mr Causley's defence will argue that these 'confessions' are unsafe.

* The retrial opened on Tuesday and yesterday the prosecution was still presenting its case. The hearing resumes on Tuesday and is scheduled to finish by 7 April.