Multi-millionaire murder accused Jason Rohde will appear in the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday afternoon in connection with the death of his wife Susan.
Susan Rohde's body was found on July 24 in the bathroom of her hotel room at Spier wine farm in Stellenbosch‚ with the cord of a hair-straightening iron around her neck.
- Cops talk to 'mistress' in Rohde caseJason Rohde's reported extramarital relationship forms part of the police investigation into his wife's murder.
She had accompanied her husband of 23 years to a property convention at the estate.
- Rohde denied bail as probe into wife's death intensifiesMurder accused Jason Rohde – whose wife was found dead at a wine estate – was denied bail by the Stellenbosch Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Police changed the cause of death from suicide to murder following a pathology report which determined that the mechanism of death was allegedly “manual strangulation”.
Detectives arrested Rohde a month after her death at his home in Bryanston‚ Johannesburg‚ after receiving information about his assets in Australian accounts to the value of more than R20 million.
Rohde's five-man legal team‚ including renowned criminal lawyer Pete Mihalik‚ fired their first salvo at the state and police last week for what they said was an “unlawful” arrest.
State attorney Carien Theunissen asked magistrate Greg Jacobs for additional time for police to collect outstanding evidence such as DNA analysis‚ data analysis from Rohde's cellphone and laptop‚ and a blood splatter analysis.
The state is set to present evidence that could escalate the severity of the charges against Rohde from schedule 5 to schedule 6. This might preclude him from getting bail as the onus will be on him to convince the court of exceptional circumstances for his release.
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