A close friend of slain showjumper Meghan Cremer has told the Western Cape High Court he suspected that she was merting drugs before she was murdered.
The shocking claims by the farm owner’s son, James Mohr comes just days after his mother dropped the drug bombshell in the ongoing murder trial.
The mother and son were called by defence advocate Bashier Sibda, who questioned them about the ongoings on their Vaderlandsche farm in the days leading up to Meghan’s death.
According to the indictment, Meghan was killed and robbed by farmworker Jeremy Sias on August 3, 2019 at the farm where she rented a cottage. Sias pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder, robbery, theft and defeating the ends of justice.
He claims he found Meghan’s car abandoned and took it for a joyride only to discover her body in the boot.
On Thursday, James read out shocking WhatsApp messages exchanged between him and Meghan, where she admitted to going on a cocaine binge.
Addressing Judge Elizabeth Baartman, he explained that in the months leading up to her death, Meghan had lost weight.
James testified that he knew about her drug use and that he saw her with so much money he suspected she may have been merting.
In the WhatsApp chats, Meghan warned James not to take “large amounts of cocaine” saying the “sweats were the worst” and that “coke wasn’t cheap”.
She described taking cocaine as “bloody amazing” and asked him not to tell his sister about the drugs as she saw her as a mother figure.
James revealed in court that Meghan wanted to buy a laptop and when he went with her to a winkel, he got a skrik when she counted out over R10 000 in cash from her bag.
He says after she paid for the device, he could still see ‘n klomp kroon in her handbag and suspected that she may be merting as well, so he texted her the next day to “test the waters”.
“Hey gangster. You got the goods. Running low on drugs,” he texted her. But Meghan responded saying she was confused.
Earlier this week James’ mom and the farm owner’s wife, Linda, revealed that in the days leading up to her disappearance, three “Muslim-looking” men had arrived at the farm to enquire if Meghan lived there.
Linda also noted that Meghan suddenly could not pay her rent.
The defence has closed its case and the matter was postponed to November 30 for more arguments.