HOME WITH A WOMAN’S TOUCH
Spier murder victim Susan Rohde lived in a picture-perfect home but friends say she was stressed and unhappy
THE front door stands ajar, allowing a glimpse of the entrance hall which is bathed in warm, welcoming lamplight. An inspirational quote written on a heart-shaped blackboard and pots with small shrubs and purple pansies lend a cheerful finishing touch. But not everything in the luxurious mansion in Bryanston, Johannesburg, where Susan and Jason Rohde lived was as picture-perfect as the virtual tour on the Lew Geffen Sotheby’s website leads one to imagine.
“It’s all really tragic,” says one of Susan’s friends, who asked not to be named. “I saw her a few days before she died and she was looking so thin. She really looked stressed. I don’t think it was a happy situation. Neighbours heard fighting all the time.”
Looking at the pictures on the Sotheby’s website, it’s evident Susan (47) poured her heart and soul into creating a light and loving family home. But this illusion was shattered on 24 July when she was found hanging behind a bathroom door in the hotel on the Spier wine estate outside Stellenbosch.
Initially it was thought to be suicide but after a postmortem revealed evidence that someone may have strangled her with their bare hands, Jason (47), the CEO of Geffen International Realty Franchises (a division of Sotheby’s), was arrested at their Bryanston home and charged with murder.
The last time the couple had been seen together was at the Sotheby’s annual conference held at Spier – where they were reportedly overheard having a blazing argument about an affair that Jason had allegedly been having with an attractive estate agent, Jolene Alterskye (YOU, 8 September).
He was released on R100 000 bail pending his next court appearance, on condition he stays with his sister, Tori Coughlan, and her husband, Paul, on their smallholding in Morning Star, close to Melkbosstrand outside Cape Town. They are “very kind, friendly people”, a neighbour tells us.
The lawn is thick and green and the house is hidden behind large trees and bushes on the property where beautiful, well-fed horses roam.
Although Tori declined our request for an interview she told us she believes in her brother’s innocence and is standing by him and his family as they try to get through this difficult time.
Susan and Jason’s three daughters – Kate (18) and the 16-year-old twin sisters – are reportedly in the care of their grandparents for now.