Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Rohde’s sister breaks silence
‘He didn’t look like the brother I know’
“JASON looked like a shellshocked civilian in a war movie. He was emotionally numb. He didn’t look like the brother I know.”
These were the impressions of the stunned younger sister of murder accused Jason Rohde when she visited him for the first time after his admission to a Claremont clinic last week for what has been described as a major depressive episode.
The former Sotheby’s chief executive is being tried in the Western Cape High Court for the July 2016 murder of his wife, Susan.
“Jason always puts on a strong front,” said Victoria, 39, breaking the family silence maintained since her brother’s arrest. “He puts his family first and himself last. But he couldn’t keep it up. Eventually the stress took its toll.”
Victoria requested that her surname not be published. “I don’t want to be hounded by the media,” she said.
She said she felt it was time to speak up for her brother “when he is so emotionally vulnerable” and to address “misconceptions about Jason”.
“He’s very protective of his family and friends and didn’t want them to be hassled by the press. So he told them to stay away from court and in the media, that looked like he had no support. But that’s not true.
“Jason has had overwhelming support from his family and friends, including friends he has lost contact with. They’re coming out of the woodwork.
“They’ve been incredible. They know him and they say they believe in him.”
Addressing rumours that Rohde’s murder charge has split the family, Victoria said he and his three teenage daughters remain very close.
“He’s got the most fantastic relationship with them. And all three of them love and support him because they know their father. He’s always been a steady dad, disciplining them in a kind manner, never raising his voice or smacking them.
“Like Jason, they are strong and they are moving on with their lives even though they are grieving for their mom. Like Jason, there’s no pity party with them. I never hear Jason feeling sorry for himself and his girls have that trait.
“I thought they would struggle with their exams last year but they all passed. That’s because they get incredible support, not just from Jason, but from both sides of their family.”
Everyone in the Rohde family continues to miss Susan, said Victoria.
“Susan was my role model. I absolutely adored her and still do. I was a very misunderstood and angry child because I was born deaf. I used to take my anger out on Jason and chase him with a tennis racket and he would just run away from me.
“But Susan immediately understood me when she came into my life. She didn’t judge me and knew why I was so angry. She was like a mother to me. I cared about her as much as Jason.”
Christmas remains a painful time for the family, but Rohde and his daughters managed to have an enjoyable holiday in Plettenberg Bay, said Victoria, who spent five days with them.
“But I could see Jason was battling. So I was relieved when he took his psychiatrist’s advice to check into the clinic for treatment.”
Hence, her shock when she received news that the police were en route to arrest her brother this week.
“I couldn’t believe it. I thought everything would be okay because Jason’s doctor was in court and he wanted Jason to stay in the clinic.”
Victoria witnessed her sedated sibling being wheeled out of the clinic to a police car, she said. “I agree with his psychiatrist. It was demeaning and degrading. And totally unnecessary. My brother needed expert medical care. It’s not like Jason was running away. He just needed time to get his emotional strength back.
“I understand the judge wanted him in court but the police could have fetched him from the clinic in the morning and taken him to court. Why arrest him and drive him all the way to Stellenbosch to spend the night in jail?”
Rohde’s daughters, too, were distressed and perplexed, said Victoria.
Adding to the frustration and the distress was Victoria’s inability to console her nieces verbally because she cannot talk on the phone.
Victoria said she was relieved when Judge Gayaat Salie- Hlophe later ordered the immediate release of her brother back into psychiatric care until February 21, when his trial fitness will be reassessed.