Murder accused property boss gears up to get bail
MURDER accused Jason Rohde is expected to make a formal bail application tomorrow as the State further investigates the circumstances of his wife’s alleged murder.
Rohde made his first appearance in the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in connection with the alleged murder of his wife Susan Rohde.
The 47-year-old woman was found dead at the Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch on July 24, reportedly with the cord of a hair-straightening iron around her neck.
Rohde, also 47, is the suspended chief executive of Sotheby’s International Realty South Africa.
Yesterday, his lawyer Daniel Witz said the State was to establish his client’s financial position and analyse DNA evidence and information on Susan Rohde’s phone and laptop.
“He (Rohde) is staying strong despite all the odds. He is staying resolute. He is thinking of his daughters and the family is sending him their support,” Witz said.
He said Rohde’s three daughters were waiting for their father to return home.
“The defence will apply for Mr Rohde to be released on bail.”
Rohde was in court again on Friday after the State asked for a postponement for further investigation into information that surfaced on Thursday.
It has emerged that a postmortem suggests Susan was strangled and smothered, and after her death, injuries were inflicted on her neck.
Reports say that the affidavit of investigating officer detective sergeant Marlon Appollis, who attended a post-mortem conducted by Dr Kahn and Abrahams at the Paarl mortuary, says the mechanism of death was manual strangulation.
Appollis says the doctors indicated that there was pathology consistent with smothering and asphyxia and Kahn also noted the features of the ligature imprint abrasion mark are consistent with post-mortem application to the neck.
They also believe Susan died around 5.40am.
While the State alleges that she was killed by manual strangulation, Rohde’s defence says Susan committed suicide by hanging herself after 7am.
Rohde has hired an investigation team, including an independent pathologist, and five lawyers to help him prove his case.
Magistrate Greg Jacobs has postponed the matter until tomorrow as Rohde remains in custody.
The defence has also taken issue with Rohde’s arrest last Tuesday in Johannesburg, saying he had been taken in by at least eight armed police officers, as well as two police officials from Stellenbosch. They say no arrest warrant was shown to Rohde.
His three minor daughters were at home at the time of his arrest, but did not witness his arrest as he had requested.