ONE of Bournemouth’s most notorious murder cases, which has left detectives baffled for three decades, is the subject of major new investigation led by the man who exposed Jimmy Savile.

An ITV documentary, made by Simon Cowell’s production company Syco, will follow attempts to unravel the numerous unanswered questions that followed Veronica Packman’s disappearance from her Westbourne home in 1985.

The subsequent events – which saw attempted cover-ups, fraud and two crown court trials – are now being examined by former police officer Mark Williams-Thomas, whose documentary on serial paedophile Savile resulted in the largest investigation of its type in UK history, Operation Yewtree.

Mr Williams-Thomas will revisit the Ipswich Road house in which Mrs Packman - known as Carol - lived and went missing from shortly after enquiring with a solicitor about getting divorced from husband Russell Causley, who had moved his mistress and fellow aircraft engineer Patricia into the family home a year before.

Causley, who had taken Patricia’s surname, told his family a series of lavish lies about Mrs Packman’s disappearance in an attempt to convince them she was still alive.

And in 1993 he attempted to fake his own death in an apparent boating accident as part of a multi-million pound insurance fraud.

He was jailed for two years and Patricia, now known as Patricia Ward, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence for conspiring to defraud.

This prompted the police to look again at Causley’s involvement in his wife’s disappearance, and he was subsequently convicted of her murder in 1996 despite the absence of a body.

However, the Daily Echo exclusively revealed last year that the 72-year-old had finally admitted his guilt in a letter written from behind bars.

But the circumstances surrounding the death, and details of others involved have remained a mystery.

And Mrs Packman’s grandson Neil Gillingham, who has tirelessly campaigned for Causley to remain in jail, told the Echo he is delighted the case has been picked up by an investigator with Mr Williams-Thomas’ clout and credentials.

“My grandmother’s murder has cast a shadow over my family for three decades,” he said.

“We have spent so long fighting to find the truth and I hope that this series will give us the exposure we need to finally achieve closure.”

Mr Gillingham’s mother, Samantha, added: “So much patience has been needed, but I am still hopeful that we can find out the truth and what really happened.

“This is our last shot, this is the biggest shot that we could possibly have to try and finally bring this to a close.”

The family have previously had a torrid time with their attempts to establish the truth.

In 2003 Causley’s conviction was quashed, before he was again found guilty at a retrial in 2004.

The family was given hope last year that he would finally reveal all in exchange for a place at a lower-category prison, but this promise has yet to materialise.

The series, The Investigator: A British Crime Story, will air in July.