Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘Never set them free again’ Chilling finding in Rohde murder
Hannah’s family demands a harsh sentence for her murderers
THE father and aunt of murdered Stellenbosch University student Hannah Cornelius this week asked the western Cape High Court to impose the maximum sentence on the three men found guilty of her kidnapping, robbery, rape and murder.
The Cornelius family and the mother of her friend, Marilyn Marsh, were testifying in aggravation of sentence.
Vernon Petersen, Geraldo Parsons and Eben van Niekerk were this week found guilty of the rape and murder of Cornelius as well as the kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder of her friend, Cheslin Marsh.
A fourth accused, Nashville Julius, was only found guilty of kidnapping and robbery of Cornelius and Marsh.
The friends were abducted from Marsh’s Nouveau student apartment building in Stellenbosch by the four men.
Cornelius was raped and killed and her body was discovered on the morning of May 27, 2017.
Her aunt, Eleanor Cornelius, referred to the four as “monsters” and asked the court to ensure that they are never set free again.
“No real man takes from a woman that which she did not willingly give. I had to tell my 90-year-old mother that her granddaughter, to whom she had given her car, was raped and murdered,” said Cornelius in court, struggling to maintain her composure.
She also did not mince her words when she berated the four men for “smiling” in court knowing what they had done.
“Fear and paranoia entered our front door and is here to stay,” added Cornelius.
She reminded the court that, for the Cornelius family, every wedding and every birthday party would be a reminder that Cornelius was no longer with them.
She also asked that the four men never be eligible for parole.
“This would be a smack in the face of humanity,” she concluded.
Cornelius’s father, Willem Cornelius, apologised to the court that this was his first appearance, saying he had not been able to bring himself to attend proceedings.
“I am just trying to give my youngest child the most normal life possible after this tragedy,” said Cornelius.
He also thanked the court, the investigating officers and the family of Marsh for speaking out for his daughter, “now that she can no longer speak for herself”.
The heartbroken father spoke of his daughter’s six distinctions which she obtained in her matric year and the promising future that she would have had.
“Hannah was a very different child. She did not have any teething problems and we never went through that terrible twos phase with her. There was no drama and she was a gifted pianist,” said Cornelius, remaining very composed.
In March this year his wife, Anna Cornelius, was found dead in shallow water by beach-goers in Scarborough.
Cornelius said he did not believe that his wife had committed suicide as was suspected and reported.
He told the court that he is still receiving psychological “care” to help him deal with his daughter’s murder and his wife’s death and that he did not know how long he would still receive “care”.
According to Cornelius, two of his daughter’s friends have been unable to resume their studies as a result of the tragedy.
The Cornelius family and their supporters all wore white roses on their lapels.
Sentencing has been set down for 2pm on Monday. SUSAN ROHDE may have been alive when her husband Jason staged her hanging behind the hotel room door.
Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe made this shocking finding in her damning judgment this week, which found Rohde guilty of murdering Susan in room 221 at the Spier Hotel in July 2016, as well as defeating and obstructing justice.
This may have happened even though Judge Salie-Hlophe found it reasonably possibly true that prior to the staging Jason had punched his wife in the face, strangled her with his bare hands and then smothered her repeatedly with his pillow.
For Judge Salie-Hlophe, the smoking gun in this trial was exhibit B13, a hotel bed pillow that bore the last-gasping imprints of the 46-yearold mother of three.
“A blood stain consistent with the abrasion of the deceased’s left eyebrow is found on the pillow case on the bed,” she said, joining the evidentiary dots of months of evidence.
“This was not the pillow case on her side of the bed…The pillowcase marked B13 not only had a blood stain consistent with the abrasion injury to the left eye, but also a stain consistent with the circular blood stain mark noted on the right upper-eyelid. In between these bloodstains are two smudges of mascara, consistent with the mascara on the deceased’s eyes.”
Noting that one of the State pathologists had testified that the secondary cause of Susan’s death – smothering – was most probably inflicted by a soft object being placed on the deceased’s face, Judge Salie-Hlophe pointed out.
“The court is able to see for itself that the markings on this pillow are identical to the markings on the deceased’s face, as noted at the time of her death. The bloodstain on the left of the pillow, consistent with the abrasion on her left eye is imprinted twice on the pillow, one slightly above that of the other.
“This is consistent with the imprint caused by a repeat smothering action, consistent with the pillow being pushed down more than once to sustain the pressure on the face of the deceased and to get a further grip in the course of smothering her.”
As a visibly devastated Jason Rohde hung his head in the dock, Judge Salie-Hlophe further found it “highly improbable that the deceased would sleep or lie on that pillow with her face sucked or pushed right into the pillow especially as she was injured, wearing make-up and would not be able to breath. This was by no account a voluntary action of the deceased”.
Painting a vivid picture of Susan’s last moments, Judge Salie- Hlophe chillingly described an early morning verbal battle over Jason’s infidelity that quickly became unspeakably violent.
“Heated exchanges on the bed must have led to physical violence… in all likelihood he struck a punch at her, hitting her left eye and causing the abrasion to her left occipital bridge with his ring-bearing fist. He also exerted pressure on her chest resulting in her ribs being broken.”