After 14 months in the mang, Jeremy Sias has officially been granted parole and is back home with his family in the Egoli Informal Settlement.
When approached for comment, the man who was acquitted of the murder of showjumper Meghan Cremer declined to tell his side of the story, only saying that he had ‘been through hell’ since his arrest.
Sias who worked on the Vaderlandsche Rietvlei farm was accused of murdering Cremer after she went missing in 2019.
Sias went on trial for the murder after the State alleged that he strangled her to death and robbed her, including taking her Toyota Auris.
In his defence, and presented by Advocate Bash Sibda, Sias claimed to have found Cremer’s car abandoned near the farm and went on a joyride with his friends.
But he admitted to dumping Cremer’s body after allegedly finding it in the boot.
Judge Elizabeth Baartman found Sias not guilty of murder, saying the State had failed to prove its case, after an explosive testimony by the wife of the farm owner, Linda Mohr, who outed Cremer as a druggie, and who presented WhatsApp messages as proof.
Mohr further told the court that three “Malay” men came to the farm to watch Meghan as she took show jumping lessons, seemingly to intimidate her.
Sias was eventually convicted for two counts of theft and defeating the ends of justice, for dumping her body.
He was given an eight-year sentence which was suspended for four years.
Department of Correctional Services spokesperson, Candice van Reenen, confirms his release on parole.
She says: “The Department of Correctional Services can confirm that the inmate has been placed out to the system of Community Corrections as of 31 July 2024.
“He was sentenced in May 2023. He has undergone correctional programmes as part of his rehabilitation path.”
She says among his parole conditions are that he will be subjected to visits from the Community Corrections officials, is prohibited from using drugs and consuming alcohol, he may not leave the magisterial district without permission and he may not engage in criminal activity.
Late last year the state lodged an appeal against the acquittal.
Asked about the progress with the appeal, regional National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said: “We filed our papers, the matter must be argued before the court. Unfortunately the judge is currently still acting at the SCA.”