A MAN who was jailed for life for the murder of his wife who went missing in Bournemouth in 1985 is to be released from prison.

Russell Causley, 78, has been assessed by the Parole Board as being suitable for release despite never having revealed the whereabouts of his wife’s body.

In a summary of its decision, released on Tuesday, the board said Mr Causley will be subject to a number of licence conditions, including living at a designated address and enhanced supervision including electronic tagging and a curfew.

Read more: Freeing wife killer Russell Causley is a ‘slap in the face’ for family

A Parole Board spokesman said: “Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

“The panel carefully examined a whole range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as understood the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

“The Parole Board has a huge amount of sympathy for families of victims who have never been found and appreciates the pain and anguish this causes.

Last month his grandson said he should never be released from prison.

Russell Causley is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife Carole Packman, who disappeared in the summer of 1985, 12 months after her husband had moved his lover into their home in Ipswich Road, Bournemouth.

Causley has twice been convicted of murdering his wife, but he has not revealed how he disposed of her body.

His grandson, Neil Gillingham, said his grandfather’s refusal to provide details over his grandmother’s death had “plagued” his life, and said he believed Causley still posed a threat to his family.

He said: “I do not think he can be trusted around women, around my mum or around me, it’s been acknowledged he poses a physical risk to me and an emotional risk to my mum.

“There is a risk and we do not believe we can mitigate against that.”

Mr Gillingham added: “He has proved he hasn’t changed, my grandfather hasn’t changed, he hasn’t given us any closure or himself any closure.

“I would say to him: ‘Why don’t you close the book that is plaguing your life?’

“But he won’t, because he is a control freak and a narcissist and and a narcissist won’t lose control.”

Following his wife’s death, Causley changed his surname to that of his lover, Patricia Causley, in 1989.

He was convicted of murder at Winchester Crown Court in December 1996 after police reopened their investigation into Mrs Packman’s disappearance after Causley faked his own death as part of an insurance fraud.

The original murder conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in June 2003, but appeal judges ordered that he should be tried again. He was convicted at Exeter Crown Court in 2004.