Court told of Rohde fight

A MORE detailed account of the physical fight between former property boss Jason Rohde and his now dead wife, Susan, was heard by the Western Cape High Court.

Defence advocate Graham van der Spuy, in continuation of his cross-examination of State forensic pathologist Doctor Akmal Khan, gave a breakdown of events leading to the morning of Susan’s death.

She was found dead in a room the couple shared at the Spier Estate Hotel on July 24 last year. Initially it was believed she had committed suicide but according to an autopsy report Susan died from manual strangulation.

Van der Spuy read Jason’s version of events to get comment from the pathologist on whether the physical contact was in line with the injuries in the autopsy report.

According to Van der Spuy, on July 23 Jason and Susan attended a work function.

Afterwards Susan changed into her bathrobe. Jason sent his mistress, Jolene Alterskye, who was also an employee, a text message. Susan saw this and ordered him to delete it.

“Susan went ballistic, started swearing and calling Jolene a whole number of deplorable swearwords. She blocked the door as I was attempting to leave the room,” Van der Spuy read.

It is alleged Susan grabbed Jason’s collar and pulled him away from the door.

“The accused said on many occasions he tried to remove her from the door. He grabbed her by the wrist and lower arms repeatedly, but was unsuccessful at moving her away. He grabbed her bathrobe and jerked the collar. He eventually held her by the neck and then grabbed her right hand,” he said.

The advocate said Jason recalls that during the scuffle the back of his arm hit Susan’s face.

On the same night, he recalled hitting her on the nose in a blocking movement. Susan had also fallen on her right side after she tripped on a pavement and landed on the edge of the garden bed.

Khan said the nose and face injuries were consistent with the history of injuries described in court. He said he could not comment on the neck issue. –