Rohde murder case postponed for further investigation
DRESSED in a suit and tie‚ Jason Rohde entered the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court with a confident stride.
It was a far cry from what he looked like several months ago when he was arrested for his wife’s murder.
Police had him in handcuffs in August last year for Susan Rohde’s murder. While he always looked calm‚ he was often unshaven and dressed casually.
But the Johannesburg businessman’s highly anticipated appearance was brief yesterday morning.
He will fly to the Western Cape in June again because the case was postponed for further investigation.
Rohde’s bail conditions were also amended slightly. Now he is to report to Randburg police station three times a week between 8am and 8pm.
This came after an agreement between Rohde’s lawyers and state prosecutor Carien Theunissen was reached.
“The state requires an extension of time for further investigations because there is outstanding DNA evidence,” Rohde’s lawyer, Daniel Witz, said.
“We agreed to allow the state a longer period rather than bring in Jason all the time at severe financial expense.
“We amended the bail conditions to allow him to have some sort of normality with his family and his personal life.”
Witz said Rohde’s eldest daughter was studying and was no longer based in Johannesburg. And his twins were at high school in another province.
Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said it would have been a “futile exercise” to go ahead with the trial because the investigation was still ongoing.
“We agreed to the postponement and the request for bail amendment‚” Ntabazalila said.
“We’re still pursuing the case because we believe there is still a case for him to answer.”
Rohde and his wife attended a company convention at Spier wine estate in Stellenbosch in July last year.
Her body was found in the bathroom of their hotel room.
Rohde was removed as a director of Geffen International Realty Franchises and suspended as CEO of the company after he was taken into custody. — TMG