‘Cold and hungry’: Slain teen’s friends believed he left Wilton campsite murder scene to go home

A group of mates camping with a teenager, who was allegedly stabbed by a chef and left to die on the side of a desolate road, thought he had hitched a ride home.

• Timeline to tragedy: How Wilton alleged teen murder unfolded

A group of mates camping with a teenager who was allegedly stabbed by a chef and left to die on the side of a bush road thought he had hitched a ride home after telling friends he was “cold and hungry” and didn’t want to stay overnight.

But tragically, as the remaining five boys packed up their makeshift campsite at Wilton on Saturday morning and headed to the main road to be picked up by their parents, they discovered the body of their 15-year-old friend, lying in long grass, surrounded by blood.

Distraught and confused, the group desperately tried to revive their mate after calling triple-0 for help, but there was little they could do.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons but whose family said he was an adored son and big brother, had allegedly been stabbed in the arm causing him to bleed profusely and then fallen from a moving car, after a shocking and violent altercation with local sports club chef and father-to-be Jacob Greig, 32, who police have now charged with murder.

The friends of the teenage boy thought he had gone home on Friday night. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

Greig, whose eight-month pregnant wife was at home that night, had gone to the remote location with a female friend after work.

One traumatised friend of the teen, who wasn’t on the camping trip but had spoken with some of the boys who were, said the confusion stemmed from some of the original group of eight deciding to head home early from the overnight bush trip.

About 10pm, two of the mates made their way from the campsite to Wilton Park Rd to be collected by relatives and were escorted there by the teen victim.

“He left with the boys who were getting picked up, so everyone thought he left too … everyone is making out like they (the teen’s mates) didn’t care, but that’s not right, they just thought he’d gone home,” the friend said.

“He was saying he was cold and hungry … they just thought he went (home).”

But police allege that soon after he waved off his two friends, the teen – who had been drinking alcohol – approached a slow-moving car and tried to open two of its doors, pulling off a rear handle which dropped on to the road.

According to a statement of facts tendered to Parramatta Local Court, in that car was a female driver and Greig in the passenger seat, who allegedly jumped out carrying a torch and a large knife and screamed to the alleged victim: “Oi, you, you f**king dog.”

In scenes captured on CCTV cameras from a nearby carpark, police allege Greig taunted the teenage boy and made threats to kill him, before slashing him on the right arm.

“I’ll f**king get you good,” Greig is alleged to have said to the teen.

Police allege the teen, who told Greig he was trying to go home, jumped on top of the car as it drove away and fell heavily on to the road. He then crawled to the grass where his body was found the following morning.

Greig is due to face court again on January 8 next year.