When Judge Elizabeth Steyn handed down a guilty verdict to Rob Packham last month, she made it clear that she wasn’t buying his story.

Today, in the Cape Town High Court, she sentenced Packham an effective 22 years behind bars.

When the sentence was handed down, reports News24, the 58-year-old “clasped his hands and showed no emotion”.

Probably a better idea than that time he played hide and seek with the cameras.

More from that report:

He had not shown remorse, [Steyn] said: “Not once did he mention that he misses his wife or feels sympathy for his children.”

Packham’s sister Judith and one of his daughters Nicola watched as he was led away in handcuffs.

While his other daughter Kerry Meyer was absent, she had previously pleaded with the court not to “put him away forever”.

…During sentencing arguments, [Steyn] pointed out that he had not played open cards with the court and that she was still left wondering how the crimes had impacted on him.

The State’s prosecutor, Susan Galloway, had actually argued for a life sentence, based on a number of factors:

She said Packham had not taken the court into his confidence about why he had committed the crime, the couple had been married for more than 30 years, he had attacked his petite wife with an object in her own home, and she had been killed by the one person she should have been able to trust.

“He simply removed his wife from his life with direct intent as she, in all probability, no longer fitted with what he wanted.”

Advocate Craig Webster, arguing for the defence, asked the judge for fewer than 15 years, saying the crimes were “spontaneous” and “spur of the moment”.

When the hours and days following the murder are clearly plotted out, those claims are very tough to believe.

If he serves the full 22 years, Packham would be 80 when he emerges from jail.

[source:news24]