South Africa - Susan Rohde, 47, murdered, Stellenbosch, 24 July 2016

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
Daniels testified that he saw a white woman lying on the bathroom floor on her back. "That is not true," Jason replies.

Daniels testified that there was a cord around her neck and Rohde asked for his assistance. Jason confirms this.

Daniels testified he removed the cord from the woman's neck. Jason says this is correct.

Daniels testified that the moment he opened the bathroom door, Mr Rohde went in first. Jason says it's true that when Daniels "unlocked" the door, he went in first.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Daniels testified that he did not go back into the bathroom but used the phone in the hotel room to inform security officials. "That is not correct," Jason says.

Lawyer asks if there was any stage that his wife was seen lying on her back before the cord was removed. Jason says there was never a moment like that.

Jason: "When I opened the door, she was in a crouched position." It was not possible to see feet.

Daniels testified that the cord was not tight around his wife's neck. Jason replies: "The cord wasn't loose around her neck. It was tight. And once again, I went into that bathroom first."

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Daniels testified there was no resistance behind the door and he opened it easily. Jason replies: "Mr Daniels unlocked the door, I could open it a few inches. I then had to wedge myself through the door to get into the bathroom. The door did not open easily."

Lawyer turns to Daniels' third statement. It has photos of Daniels with his hand on the bathroom door, which is open a few inches. Jason says the distance is correct.

Jason emphasises that Daniels didn't open the door. "There was no ways I was going to allow a stranger to go into the bathroom with my wife in the bathroom. I went through that door first."

Daniels demonstrated that Rohde held his wife with her face turned away. Jason says it is incorrect because his wife was facing him as he held her.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Jason says he did not pay attention to how many times the cord was looped around his wife's neck or how many knots it had.

Jason: The cord was in the same position as in the photos that the police took. I can't comment on photos of Daniels

Lawyer says the police photos show the cord around the main hook of the bathroom door, with two strands hanging. One strand ends with plug and the other strand with the hair curling iron. Jason confirms this is exactly how scene was left.

Daniels testified that Susan was completely naked. Jason replies: "That is incorrect. She had on her Spier bathrobe."

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Lawyer asks what was going through Jason's mind this whole time. Jason has appeared unemotional during his testimony today. He replies: "All I could think about was my children and how ashamed I was."

Jason: "My behaviour caused their mom to go to this length and ultimately there can only be one person to blame for that. And that's me."

When paramedics declared Susan dead, they took Jason to ambulance and put him on oxygen. "It felt like my world had come to an end. I couldn't breathe. I could hardly walk. I was just... finished."

After sitting in the ambulance, he was taken to an adjacent hotel room. "A whole lot of people arrived and I remember my brothers-in-law being there, my father-in-law. We hugged each other."

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Jason: "I was sitting in this chair. I honestly just wanted to die. If I could died in that moment... I just wanted to die."

Jason: Father-in-law asked me to show my hands. He demonstrates how he pulled his sleeves up and showed his palms. Father held his hands and turned them over. "He was checking my hands".

Jason could see his father-in-law checking the bathroom door mechanism in the room [the adjacent hotel room]. "I didn't understand what he was doing. I didn't understand what it was about".

Jason recalls the detective with a gold teeth and a medical glove on the one hand. He was asked to make a statement, wrote it out and handed it over. His father-in-law told him to get a lawyer. "I said: why do I need to a lawyer? I don't need a lawyer."

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Lawyer asks if he had any cuts/lacerations on arms or hands. Jason says he had "absolutely nothing". At the time, he said he had no objection to being examined by doctor at Stellenbosch police station.

Jason says he waited for district surgeon at police station for an hour-and-a-half. A lady told him he was free to go because the doctor was not coming.

Jason: "All I wanted to do was get back to my children. It was school holidays. I had two children at home in JHB and my one daughter was in Grahamstown, staying at a friend's farm."

Jason only had his cellphone with him. Some relatives drove him to the airport and there were no immediate flights. He got a ticket for the late afternoon.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Jason: "I left with my cellphone and wallet. Everything was with the police. I left my laptop in my briefcase [in the hotel room]."

Jason: "Susan died on the 24th. On the 26th, we had received a lot of flowers at home and there was a vase on a high level. I reached for it and nicked my left middle finger. It was quite a deep nick and it bled a lot. My daughter bandaged it."

Jason said the investigating officer called to arrange a meeting at Spier "to take me through the sequence of events and show him what transpired, where Susan had fallen. The whole story."

Jason recalled being "very relieved, happy" at getting call from IO on 26th. Why? "When I arrived back, it was very clear to me that my father-in-law had been told that I was somehow culpable in what had happened to Susan."

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Early on Thursday 28th July 2016, Jason flew from Lanseria to Cape Town. His attorney Daniel Witz referred Jason to Cape Town attorney Noorudien Hassan [who is now dead]. Hassan and Jason started driving to Spier

Jason: "We were 200m from Spier when Hassan got a call from Sergeant Adams. It was on speaker phone. Adams said to him Spier won't grant us [police] access to the facility and we must immediately go to SAPS detective office."

Once at detective's office, Sergeants Appollis and Adams were talking about gangsters. "I will never forget it. Appollis took out ID, showed me and said: We are charging you as a suspect in the murder of your wife."

Jason on being charged: "It's like your whole world is crashing in. It is like a dream you can't wake up from. It is unbelievable." Hassan asked what was going on and police said they had just seen the autopsy report and "there is no doubt".

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Jason said he flew to Cape Town to hand over another statement he had written. Instead he was charged and his fingerprints were taken. Hassan said there was "no ways" Jason should hand that statement over and took it from him.

We are adjourning for lunch. Trial resumes at 14:00.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
We are back after lunch. Jason says he had nothing to hide from police.

Van der Spuy goes to second autopsy by Dr Reggie Perumal that Defence requested. "I had nothing to hide", says Jason.

Jason says his work at Sotheby's was terminated after his arrest.

Jason speaks now about arrest. Doorbell rang around 6am. "I saw Sergeant Appollis and other people in van".

"He showed his badge and said you are under arrest for murder. He wouldn't answer when my mom asked where warrant was".

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Jason put in back of van. IO said I must tell [lawyer] Mihalik that he doesn't make arrests on " appointment".

Media were waiting outside Randburg police station. Later taken to holding cell, handcuffed and taken to Linden SAPS.

Jason: Cops at Linden were confused why I was there. They couldn't find keys to take handcuffs off.

Jason: From Linden, we drove to Cape Town. I remember Sergeant Appollis phoning a gentleman, referring to him as Colonel, and confirming my passports were at police station

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
Jason says he had already handed over his passports to his lawyers, who gave it to police, a while before he was arrested. "I handed in my kids laptops, everything to be examined. I didn't have to."

Jason: "The other thing that stood out for me in 14/15hr drive, was when I asked Sergeant Appollis if I could phone my children. I phoned home and kids asked: Where are you? I told them everything was fine." Police thought his answer was "very funny".

Judge Salie-Hlophe asks if Jason is okay to go on because he appears emotional and teary. He says he is fine. He insists the trial carry on. His lawyer also asks to adjourn. Again, Jason says he wants to continue. Lawyer warns him not to argue.

Judge Salie-Hlophe thinks it is a good idea to adjourn for today because it has been a long testimony. Lawyer Graham van der Spuy says Jason is almost done with his evidence-in-chief.

Jason is excused from stand until 9:30am tomorrow. He takes a sip of water, leaves dock slowly.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24
 
JJ and Tortoise I have never followed this. Do either of you have a feeling one way or the other as to his guilt?
 
I've asked Harmony to correct an error on p.19, #366. The third para commencing "Saunders asked her" was a tweet in a different trial. All the News24 reporters covering various trials post on the one page and they're all intermingled. :eek:
 
Interested Bystander said:
JJ and Tortoise I have never followed this. Do either of you have a feeling one way or the other as to his guilt?
Click to expand...

IB, as in the Panayiotou trial, I'm the only one posting here apart from a very occasional post. There's really no need to go back further than yesterday's evidence in chief. You'll see I've posted a comment or two regarding your enquiry.

The only thing I'll add after today's evidence is that he was blinking very frequently from time to time. This can be caused by lying or stress. I'm still on the fence until I hear his XX.
 
I thought I'd have a look to see what Nick van der Leek had to say. You won't believe his posts. Goodness knows what he'll have to say with XX. I can't wait.

"What was she trying to achieve?" "I actually don't know...I don't want to talk for Susan...I think she was trying to restrain me." Oh, the irony.

"Brendan was standing by the fireplace, I remember. {Another person] Mia was standing to the left of Brendan. Jolene was there, sitting on a single bed furtherest from the main door." Thanks for that. Incredible recall.

#Rohde has a slick tongue. Likes to talk a lot on the stand, often interrupts himself, far more than #VanBreda or #OscarPistorius. But in common with Henri and Oscar, has a very precise memory of seemingly incidental details when it doesn't matter.

#Rohde quite an entitled fellow. His wife is shouting at him, creating a scene in a hotel, and yet he insists on doing what he wants, making the whole situation worse. Although they're having a physical argument, apparently he's the victim. Wasn't she the one who ended up dead?

Describes seeing "mulch" on Susan's gown the next morning, which proves she fell on the flower bed. He didn't notice blood, or Susan herself?

Nick van der Leek (@HiRezLife) | Twitter
 
"I remember her saying 'My toe's bleeding.' But it wasn't bleeding as such. It was like if you graze part of your body on cement, or something like that." "And her nose?" "I noticed no blood coming from her nose..." Important: #Rohde minimizing his wife's injuries.

As Susan continues screaming at him, #Rohde decides to go to bed. Did she get into bed with you? "She must have gotten into bed, because she woke up in bed next to me." Another slip-up there.

Jolene sends a message to #Rohde's wife, telling her to "Wash your mouth out." Rohde claims Susan was still alive, telling Rohde "Look what your *advertiser censored* sent me." Timeline rushing to 7 'o clock in the morning. Rohde's running out of time for the suicide narrative.

Wow, this his version of the suicide narrative. #Rohde tells her he's done, she replies [he can't remember her last words to him], he rolls over, and sees out of the corner of his eye his wife going into the bathroom. The door slams.

Then #Rohde falls back asleep. There are no tears from Susan, at any point. And none from Rohde himself on the stand. What there is is a diarrhoea of explication. He's been thinking about his version for months, obviously, and very keen to tell it.

Nick van der Leek (@HiRezLife) | Twitter
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 223 more.
Total: 2,338 (members: 224, guests: 2,114)

Online statistics

Members online
224
Guests online
2,114
Total visitors
2,338
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
599,811
Messages
18,099,831
Members
230,931
Latest member
Barefoot!
Back
Top