[imagesource: Supplied to The Daily Maverick]
It’s approaching two years since Meghan Cremer’s body was found dumped in bushes in Olieboom Road, Philippi.
Three men were arrested in connection with her murder and two men, Charles Daniels and Shiraaj Jaftha, have already been convicted in the Wynberg Regional Court.
The third, Jeremy Sias, a worker on the farm, is on trial in the Western Cape High Court on charges of murder, aggravated robbery, theft, and obstruction of justice.
Earlier this week, Cremer’s mother testified about how her daughter’s face was so badly disfigured that she was only recognisable by the ring she had been wearing.
Gillian Cremer said she last corresponded with her daughter shortly before 5PM on August 3, after which messages didn’t deliver and calls went to voicemail.
CCTV images from outside the main farmhouse at Vaderlandsche Rietvlei Farm in Philippi, where Meghan lived in a cottage and stabled two horses, may prove important in the State’s case against Silas.
TimesLIVE reports that farm owner Geoffrey Mohr said there were eight or nine cameras dotted around the farm:
Still images were then shown in court of the CCTV screengrabs from outside the main farmhouse on the day of Cremer’s disappearance. The images show a man resembling Sias, wearing a red ‘Bronx’ jersey at 4.28pm walking past the house, just 50m from Cremer’s cottage.
The state alleges Sias entered her cottage shortly after this, at about 5pm, strangled Cremer, placed her in the boot of her white Toyota Auris and drove her off the farm, dumping her body a short distance away in Olieboom Road.
Sias says he found Cremer’s car with the keys in the ignition near a compost heap on August 3 and took it for a joyride, but only later that night did he see that her body was in the boot. He then disposed of her body in some bushes, because he had already used her bank cards.
He was also in possession of her cellphone, with News24 reporting that he dumped the body “because he realised he would be accused of killing her”.
Another CCTV image from yesterday’s court proceedings shows a white car (the same colour as Cremer’s) driving away from Vaderlandsche Rietvlei Farm at 6:24PM:
Oh, there’s also this:
He allegedly went partying that night with friends in Meghan’s vehicle when they were stopped in a roadblock. After a breathalyser test, Sias attempted to run away from law enforcement officials but was soon apprehended.
His blood was tested for alcohol levels but the results were below the legal limit so he was let go by officials despite not having a driving licence.
Days later, Cremer’s car was recovered by police. Daniels and Jaftha are alleged to have been trying to sell the car but were struggling because they didn’t have ownership papers.
The trial will resume on Monday.
