A man who murdered his wife but has never revealed what happened to her body has issued a confession just weeks before his parole hearing.
Russell Causley, 78, killed wife Carole Packman, 40, in 1985.
His daughter Sam Gillingham, 51, has now been told by police that Causley claims he strangled her mum before burning her body for three days.
Sam, who is desperate for her dad to remain behind bars, fears the “confession” may be a cynical attempt to win over the parole board.
She said: “He’s a manipulating, narcissistic murderer. This sits festering like an old wound which, once again, is flaring up to give me more pain and anxiety.
“For me, each hearing just brings every single part of pain that this has given me over the last three decades.”
She added: “It’s like a slow torture.”
Carole, 40, disappeared from the family home in Bournemouth, Dorset, when Sam was just 16 years old.
Causley got away with the murder for 10 years until he was jailed for trying to fake his own death in an insurance scam.
He allegedly told a cellmate about the “perfect” murder of his “b*tch wife”, leading to him being found guilty of her murder in 1996.
He faced a retrial in 2004, but was again found guilty.
In 2015, it emerged he had written a six-page letter revealing details of the killing.
He claimed he had struck her over the head and then strangled her before burning the body in his back garden.
But Causley later changed his story – saying he buried the body – before retracting the confessions entirely.
It has also been suggested Carole’s body may be at Romney Marsh, in Kent, which was mentioned by Causley during Scrabble games.
Each fresh revelation causes more heartache for Sam, of Northampton, and her son Neil Gillingham, 30. They believe Causley is just toying with them ahead of his shot at freedom next month.
Sam and Neil were told about his alleged confession by Dorset Police last week and claim officers have spoken to the killer in prison.
Neil – who will be providing a victim impact statement at the parole hearing – said: “To come up with this now is inhumane, insensitive and cruel.
“My grandfather is an evil, depraved murderer and a proven liar.”
Causley will go in front of the parole board before the introduction of Helen’s Law. The new legislation, delayed by Brexit and coronavirus, is currently passing through Parliament.
The law will force parole boards to consider the lack of co-operation from prisoners who want freedom.
The campaign for the new legislation was launched in the Mirror, in 2015, by grieving mum Marie McCourt.
Her daughter Helen, 22, died in 1988 at the hands of pub landlord Ian Simms.
Despite never revealing the location of her body, Simms was freed from his life sentence earlier this year.
Causley’s parole board hearing will take place in August.
A spokesman said: “The panel will carefully examine a whole range of evidence, including details of the original case and any evidence of behaviour change.”
