Millionaire murder accused not proud of affair but denies killing his wife

The murder trial of property mogul Jason Rohde started in the Cape Town High Court on Monday‚ more than a year after he allegedly murdered his wife Susan at the Spier wine estate in Stellenbosch.

His seasoned criminal advocate Pete Mihalik refuted the state’s claim‚ read out by state advocate Louis van Niekerk‚ that Rohde tampered with evidence‚ locked the bathroom door where he claims his wife hanged herself‚ and tried to mislead police about the identity of the murder suspect.

In the plea which Mihalik read out to Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlope‚ Rohde claims that Susan became suicidal after she found out that he was having an extramarital affair with Jolene Alterskye‚ an estate agent at Lew Geffen/Sotheby's Atlantic Seaboard office in Cape Town.

He said that the affair was “irrelevant” to the indictment against him but said it was something he was not proud of. He said his marriage “exponentially disintegrated” after Susan found out about the affair in 2016 and that she became "ever more irrational‚ obsessive‚ and angry”.

WATCH | Jason Rohde returns to scene of wife’s death

“Susan’s conduct vacillated between anger‚ resentment‚ desperation and sadness‚” he said. “I believe‚ with respect‚ that her exponential deterioration and her inability to reason or conduct herself rationally ultimately led to her committing suicide.”

He said that Susan insisted on attending the Lew Geffen/Sotheby's International Realty annual conference at Spier where the state alleged she was murdered on 24 July 2016. Both of them knew that Alterskye would attend.

“As the Sotheby’s weekend unfolded‚ the intensity of Susan’s anger became more manifest‚” he said‚ adding that she expressed that she did not want to live anymore.

Rohde claimed that he and Susan got into a ''verbal and physical confrontation" on the night before she was allegedly murdered.

She had allegedly continuously grabbed him and his arm hit her when he tried to "get 'her to let me go''. She sustained injuries and also fell‚ but he said he "never attacked her''. In addition Rohde claimed she sustained injuries before the weekend.

Van Niekerk said Susan was manually strangled and that her death was made to look like suicide. The trial continues in loco at the Spier wine estate on Monday afternoon.