Rohde set to make first high court appearance over wife's murder

18 August 2017 - 08:55 By Aron Hyman
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Property millionaire Jason Rohde outside court in Stellenbosch. File photo.
Property millionaire Jason Rohde outside court in Stellenbosch. File photo.
Image: DAVID HARRISON

Murder accused property mogul Jason Rohde is due to appear for the first time in the high court in Cape Town on Friday for a pre-trial hearing.

The former Lew Geffen/Sotheby's International Realty CEO is charged with murdering his wife‚ Susan‚ and obstructing the administration of justice by making her death look like a suicide.

Susan was found with the cord of a hair iron around her neck behind a locked bathroom door in the couple's hotel room at Spier wine estate‚ near Stellenbosch‚ in July 2016.

The indictment against Rohde‚ handed in by the state last month at Stellenbosch Magistrate's Court‚ accuses Rohde of placing the cord around Susan’s neck “in a double strand around the clothing/towel hook at the back of the bathroom door”.

He then supplied false information to police‚ it says.

"The post-mortem examination conducted on the body of the deceased shows the cause of death as being consistent with asphyxia following manual strangulation and external airway obstruction. The features of the ligature imprint abrasion mark are consistent with post-mortem application to the neck.

"The accused is responsible for the death of his wife."

Rohde's attorney‚ Daniel Witz‚ said in July they would fight the case based on forensic evidence‚ adding that prosecution allegations of an argument over an affair between Rohde and Cape Town estate agent Jolene Alterskye were circumstantial.

"Our view is that the most important aspect of this case is the forensic evidence‚ and unless the state can overcome the forensic evidence then all the surrounding circumstances are not as relevant as the state currently think they are‚" he said.

Rohde’s lawyers are expected to give feedback on whether they are satisfied with the indictment against Rohde today before they head to trial in October.


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