Court hears of Cremer’s drug habit

THE Meghan Cremer murder trial took a dramatic turn in the Western Cape High Court yesterday when Vaderlandsche Rietvlei equestrian trainer Linda Mohr took the stand to reveal she was never asked to testify.

Jeremy Sias, who was employed as a general worker at the farm when Cremer was killed in August 2019, is on trial for her murder. With the State’s case concluded, defence lawyer advocate Mohamed Sibda is trying to convince the court his client is not guilty.

The much-anticipated testimony of Mohr yesterday shocked the court as even Judge Elizabeth Baartman seemed astounded by her evidence.

Mohr said she met Cremer more than six years ago, when the show jumper had asked to see a stable for her horse.

The two became good friends. “We would always invite her for dinners. She had free access to our house and would come and talk to us at any time.”

Sibda questioned her on whether she had noticed anything out of the ordinary about Cremer around the time she had gone missing. Mohr testified that months before Cremer was killed, her behaviour had changed.

Cremer had offered to buy a R75 000 horse from Mohr and wanted to pay in cash. “I was very uneasy about taking that amount of cash,” which Cremer later sent via EFT.

She said there was an incident which in her 30 years of being at the farm, “has never happened”. Three men dressed in “white robes” had come to the stables to watch Cremer while Mohr was giving her lessons.

“They kept walking up and down the road, watching Meghan. I thought they were Malays. I asked, ‘Meghan, do you know these people?’ and she gave me no reaction,” Mohr said.

She said after Cremer’s body was discovered, she found out from her son James Mohr that Cremer had been using cocaine.

“Meghan lost a lot of weight from December to March/April. After she was found, my son showed me a WhatsApp which he still has. It was James and Meghan talking, saying that drugs is a terrible thing … and that he must please not tell me that she is on cocaine,” Mohr said.

Another point that stood out for her during that period – Cremer failing to pay her bill to Mohr for July 2019 – the only time she had missed a payment.

“She phoned and said she’s short of cash … never ever did she not pay”.

Judge Baartman told her the court was informed she was a reluctant witness. To which Mohr replied: “No one ever asked me to be a witness … ”

She said when the man who was in a romantic relationship with Cremer, Thomas Mbalula, had reported her missing to the police, they refused to assist him “because why is a black man reporting a white woman missing”.

She also said that from her observation, police were intent on pinning the crime on Sias and only wanted portions of the video footage of the farm on the day Cremer was killed.

When she informed one of the detectives of Cremer’s alleged drug habits they ignored her, she testified.

Meghan’s mother, Gill Cremer, said Mohr’s claims would be disputed in court. |