Update

GEORGE NEWS - A police warrant officer specialising in forensic videography and photography testified on Tuesday 25 November about some CCTV footage and several WhatsApp videos obtained during the investigation into the murder of Joan Singrew (53), whose body was found in some bushes near Charles Street in Great Brak River on 25 November 2024.

Joan's husband, Duane (47), and his cousin, Heinrich Jumat (46), were arrested days after the murder.

Testifying exactly one year later in the George Circuit High Court, the warrant officer explained that he had collected footage from some businesses in Great Brak River and establishments in George, all showing a consistent thread: the same white Ford Figo.

The first footage shown in court on Tuesday dated back to four days before Joan's body was discovered. A white Ford Figo, believed to be the one Duane was driving at the time of his wife's disappearance, was seen parked outside a house in Rosemoor at about 10:30 on Thursday 21 November. 

The Figo's door was open, and a man climbed into the driver's side. Later, at 12:25, a vehicle believed to be the same Figo was recorded driving towards the area where Joan's body would later be discovered.

By 12:47 it was seen travelling back in the opposite direction, and at about 12:50, it was recorded leaving Great Brak River towards the N2.

WhatsApp video footage further showed Duane removing a knife from a kitchen cupboard in their home the night before Joan disappeared. During Joan's daughter's testimony recently, the court heard that Duane had claimed he needed it because he was working on a car.

Earlier in the trial, forensic pathologist Dr Christa Hattingh testified that Joan had been strangled before her body was dumped down a steep embankment.

Police officers searching for Joan spotted a blue jersey in shallow shrubbery next to Charles Street and ultimately found her body in an area that was barely accessible. Without that sighting, her remains might never have been found.

This week, Duane's other cousin, Rosco (44), from Great Brak River, also testified. He told the court Duane had planned to retrieve Joan's body from the embankment and burn it. 

The court also heard that he saw what appeared to be a woman's legs protruding from a bag in Duane's car, and that both Duane and Jumat had threatened to kill him and nearly kidnapped him.

Rosco also stated that Duane had asked him about the safest way to access the area where Joan's body lay.

More witnesses will testify this week.

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