Carole Packman: Killer husband recommended for open prison

Carole Packman disappeared in 1985 and her body has never been found

A husband who killed his wife has been recommended for a move to an open prison, despite never revealing the location of her body.

Carole Packman, 40, disappeared from the family home in Bournemouth in 1985.

Russell Causley was twice jailed for her murder - in 1996 and, after a quashed conviction, again in 2004.

Daughter Sam Gillingham said the Parole Board's recommendation was a "slippery slope" to her 75-year-old father's release.

• What happened to Carole Packman?

Despite repeatedly asking him where her mother's body is, Causley has remained silent.

Mrs Gillingham does not believe he should be released on parole until he reveals what he did with her mother's body.

Sam Gillingham believed her mother had walked out on her and her father after finding a note

"I'm gutted. I wanted him to stay where he was," Mrs Gillingham said.

"Recommending him for open prison is a slippery slope. It's a step closer as they prepare him for release.

"I want him to give me my mother."

'Resort to violence'

The Parole Board said it only makes an open prison recommendation if a panel is "satisfied that the risk to the public has reduced sufficiently" to be managed in such a jail.

It listed Causley's "willingness to resort to violence" and "lack of victim empathy" as risk factors in its report.

The board said his "inconsistent account of the offence" and "personality traits" meant it could not support his release, but added he had shown "improved engagement" with professionals.

It said his advanced age was a "protective factor" and there had been a "perceived reduction in his risk levels".

Patricia Causley moved into the family home and started having an affair with Causley, who later changed his surname to her's

The report added that over the course of his life sentence Mr Causley had changed his account of the offence from being totally innocent to accepting full responsibility.

It said he currently maintained he did not commit murder but accepted some role in covering up the offence and had expressed remorse.

Mrs Packman's grandson Neil Gillingham said the "fight doesn't stop" and added he would be asking for justification if a move to a category D prison is granted.

Mrs Gillingahm said she was "gutted" her father had been recommended for open prison

For years, Mrs Gillingham believed her mother had walked out on her when she was 16.

She found a note, seemingly written by Mrs Packman explaining she was leaving, but later reported her missing to police.

A year earlier, Causley had invited his 26-year-old colleague Patricia Causley into the family home as a lodger.

The pair became lovers and he changed his surname to her's in 1989.

Causley was eventually arrested for fraud, and subsequently murder, when he faked his own death in order to claim his own life insurance.

Sam Gillingham, right, said she needed to find her mother Carole Packman and lay her to rest

He was first convicted of Mrs Packman's murder by a jury at Winchester Crown Court on 18 December, 1996.

In June 2003, the murder conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal after his alleged confessions were deemed unsafe.

A retrial found him guilty a year later, after his sister broke her silence - telling jurors she had heard her brother admit his crime.

He became eligible to be considered for release in 2012.

The Ministry of Justice will now consider the Parole Board's recommendation and the Secretary of State will make a final decision on whether Causley moves to an open prison.