The neighbour of murder accused Jeremy Sias told a court that he tried to sell Meghan Cremer’s car after she was killed.
Sias returned to the Western Cape High Court on Monday where he is on trial for the horrific 2019 murder which resulted in Meghan’s body being found dumped on a veldjie in Philippi after she had been robbed, viciously assaulted and strangled.
Sias, who had worked on the same farm where Meghan lived, has pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder, robbery, theft and defeating the ends of justice.
According to the indictment, the showjumper was accosted by Sias on 3 August at the Vaderlansche Rietvlei Stables in Philippi where she rented a cottage.
It is alleged that he attacked her, battered her beyond recognition and strangled her to death, then stole valuables including her laptop, handbag, bank cards and Toyota Auris.
He later enlisted the help of Charles Daniels and Shiraaj Jaftha to sell her car and the duo were caught with the vehicle.
They have been charged separately as there was no evidence linking them to Meghan’s murder.
Taking the stand on Monday, Abraham Fransman told the court that Sias approached him to buy Meghan’s car on 4 August 2019.
The man, who is a well known community leader in the Egoli Informal Settlement, says he lived a few doors away from Sias and knew he worked on a nearby farm.
Fransman explained that Sias and his friend Wilton Azur arrived at his workplace during the early hours of the morning but he was not there.
He later saw the duo at his house and sent them to Daniels as he thought he might want to buy the car.
According to him, Sias claimed that the car was a gift from a former employer in Stellenbosch.
“I asked him since when he worked in Stellenbosch because I knew him to work on the farms (in Philippi) and he and Wilton at the same time said they were casualling for an old boss in Stellenbosch that day.”
He said Sias also gave him a FNB bank card and a pin number and asked him to draw money at an ATM.
Fransman was shown CCTV footage showing him and another man at the ATM in Pelikan Park which he admitted to, adding that there was no money in the account.
Asked why he went to the ATM for Sias, Fransman said he often went to the ATMs for pensioners in Egoli and wanted to help Sias out because he had to return to work later that day.
Fransman said he became aware that something was wrong when police arrived at his home saying the bank card belonged to a woman who had been reported missing.
During cross examination, defence lawyer Mohammed Sibda submitted that it was in fact Fransman who suggested that Sias not go to the ATMs as he would be picked up by the cameras.
Fransman replied: “Why would I go myself if I knew there were cameras if that is true?
“I helped him because he had to go back to work. I suspected the car was stolen but I have no right to judge people and I didn’t know him to be like that. I trusted him.”