Africa-Press – South-Africa. Jeremy Sias bowed his head in the dock on Thursday as footage of him leading police to Meghan Cremer’s dead body was played in the Western Cape High Court.
Sergeant Bangile Mhlakaza, who drove the accused and another senior officer to the Philippi farmlands after he agreed to point out her body, testified that an emotional Sias had told him that it had not been his intention to murder Cremer.
Sias now denies killing Cremer, claiming to have found her body in the boot of her car after taking it for a joyride from the Vadelandsche Rietvlei Farm where he worked and she lived.
A video recording of the proceedings which took place in the early hours of 8 August 2019 was played, showing Sias hunched over and weeping, with Mhlakaza standing alongside him.
This was after he had led the officers to a bush under which Cremer’s decomposing remains had been dumped.
Mhlakaza said:
“We were in a bushy area and it crossed my mind that he might try to run. I grabbed him by the pants, thinking he was going to try to escape.
“But then he hugged me and said in English that it was not his intention to murder her.”
They hadn’t had any conversation or interaction besides Sias directing him to the site, Mhlakaza said.
Advocate Bashier Sibda, for Sias, agreed that his client had been emotional after pointing out Cremer’s remains.
He denied that his client had intended to run away.
“His taking two steps back was as a consequence of seeing Ms Cremer’s body, being confronted with the sight of it,” he told Mhlakaza.
The sergeant said his actions had been proactive.
He replied:
According to Sibda, his client had been “overwhelmed” by fear and remorse for hiding her body.
“This incident had befallen him when he discovered the body in her car. What had been a casual joyride for him had turned into a complete nightmare,” he said.
It was a culmination of the assault at the hands of the police. He was in a state of fear. The reason he had spoken those words was he had known [investigating officer Xolani] Basso would see the footage and he said it to placate him so that he would make good on his promises.”
According to Sias, this included going on trial in a lower court, receiving a light sentence, and being granted bail when he made his application.
Mhlakaza said he had not witnessed any police assault or intimidation.
He said:
Sibda maintained that his client had realised that he was already in considerable trouble for dumping Cremer’s body in the farmlands, using her car without her permission, and drawing money from her account to purchase KFC.
“He believed Basso’s promises,” Sibda insisted.
“There was no truth to what he had said.”
Mhlakaza, however, disagreed.
“Those were the word uttered at the scene – the suspect himself said it after he pointed out the body. His words were not to the effect of having dumped a body there. It was that he did not intend to murder her.”
The trial continues.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
