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

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor says that part of the lie Jason was living was continuing to see the marriage counsellor.

Marriage counsellor said in notes that couple was 100% committee. Jason says true at the time.

Prosecutor says he had a hidden agenda and was terrified that Susan would see "reality" at convention. Jason agrees.

Prosecutor asks how you tie a dressing gown. Jason shrugs and says he guesses with a knot.

Jason says he can't comment on the belt of her dressing gown because he didn't notice it.

Jason says it is fair to say the argument with Susan escalated after she saw him texting Jolene.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24

 

[JudgeJudi]

Jason: We argued in the bedroom and I put my green jersey on because I wanted to leave. It was a loud argument and we were using ugly words.

Jason: "I said I wanted to leave the room". Prosecutor asks if that is it. Jason says there was back and forth conversation, screaming, vulgar language. "I realised if I stayed in the room, we would have fought for lengthy period of time".

Jason: "As I described, there was a physical altercation". He demonstrates as he shows how they grabbed each other and he moved her out the door to stop blocking it. "It continued for 30s, a minute maybe"

Prosecutor wants to know the 1st time he made physical contact with Susan. Jason says he first touched her when they both grabbed the door handle. He throws up his hands a little when asked if he recalls it like that exactly. "It was a flurry of movements".

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24

 

[JudgeJudi]

Jason says he distinctly remembers grabbing her gown to get her out the way and grabs his own collar to demonstrate. He is very specific as he explains he used right hand to move her neck.

Prosecutor asks why he testified now about "if I had used my right hand". Jason says he testified he used that hand. He is right-handed.

Prosecutor says grabbing her like that would have required some force because she was resisting. He agrees but says she wasn't hurt. He concedes that he is assuming she didn't get hurt.

Jason: "When I opened the door, Susan grabbed back of my neck to pull me in". He shows how the "soft part" of his right forearm struck her in the face while he tried to hit her hand away.

Prosecutor van Niekerk indicates that he wants to set bathroom door up in court. Judge adjourns until 12:45. We will sit through lunch because trial is finishing earlier today.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24

 

[JudgeJudi]

We have found, handyman Daniels changed his account in Court on questioning.
With Rohde continually stating how 'absolutely correct' his own version is, disagreeing with Daniels account of finding Susan in the bathroom, Daniels version may be disregarded.

Did you see that the pathologist, Reggie Perumal, did an autopsy on behalf of the Defence on Susan as well? He chose not to testify in either OP's trial or that of HvB. It will be interesting to see if we see him here.

 

[JudgeJudi]

The bathroom door from Spier has been set up while we wait for Judge to return.



Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Thank you so much JJ for all the updates, I saw this when Nik VDL was tweeting yesterday and wondered if there was a thread here, I spent most of yesterday reading all your posts - at first I thought 'yep def guilty' then I switched to maybe she did take her own life, now I'm back to thinking 'guilty' again.

I can relate to all of that. Once I learned about Susan I began to think maybe she did commit suicide. The one thing that bothers me about that though is she was very close to her daughters and I find it hard to believe he'd abandon them in such a way.

Once Rohde started to testify I was amazed how frank he was about his bad behaviour, but then I began to feel it was overkill as he went on and on and on about it. I'm still wondering if that was all for the benefit of the Judge. Maybe by the time XX is finished we'll start falling off the wall one way or another.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Judge is back and prosecutor Louis van Niekerk stands up to continue with cross-examination. Jason keeps his arms behind his back.

[Did his counsel tell him he uses too many arm gestures?]

Prosecutor says a constable from Stellenbosch police station is here to help with the door demonstration.

Jason is asked to show how he found Susan. He says he recognises the electrical cord hanging from hook but can't say how many times it was around her neck.

Prosecutor says the record indicates that Jason had said the knot around her neck was tight. He wants Jason to demonstrate this. "What I meant is that tension around neck was very tight"

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24

My live stream is offline again!

 

[JudgeJudi]

Jason is hesitant to put cord around the police woman's neck. He says he doesn't want to hurt her. Reluctantly does it. Says sorry to her as he moves cord around.

Jason says he never saw how knot was tied. Just that there was no play. "I'm not being evasive".

Jason says the noose was not loose around her neck. "I can say that much". Jason says the noose was not loose around her neck. "I can say that much".

[How could Susan have a ligature mark on her neck if it was loose]

[Streaming good again]

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24

 

[JudgeJudi]

Jason: "I can tell you that when I opened the door and wedged myself through, the first thing I saw were her feet". He can't say which part of the feet.

Jason instructs model to crouch how he found Susan. "All I wants was cord removed".

Prosecutor says he wants to adjourn for the day on a "crucial aspect" that only came to the court's attention yesterday that he wants to consult with someone one.

Trial will resume at 9:30am tomorrow. Jason's bail is extended. Like yesterday, he takes a big glug of water as soon as the judge leaves.

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24

 

[JudgeJudi]

I need to watch yesterday and today's videos but I'll do it in the morning.

 

[tmar]

Wonder what this 'crucial aspect' may be, only brought to their attention?
Hope Rohde has a sleepless night, wondering what they have 'uncovered'.

 

[Interested Bystander]

Agreed. Hence my comment at the beginning of his tweets and "wow, just wow" at the end. He hasn't even heard XX and he's made up his mind as to JR's guilt. He also gets his "facts" wrong from time to time. He did this on a number of occasions in the OP trial. I don't get to see much at all of the live stream due to posting the tweets but I usually find them interesting to read.

Don't be taken in by defence counsel van der Spuy. He sounds very calm now, but when he's on the attack, watch out.

Hi JJ. On occasion, Nik likes to determine guilt before hearing all the evidence. I read two of his books and he seems to carry enormous bias at times plus the propensity to "write a story" rather than sticking absolutely to the facts.

I knew you would feel the way you do. You will know as much as he does but we know you will wait until you have heard all the arguments before making a final decision. To me this doesn't look so cut and dried, as do some cases. The cross should be interesting.

 

[JerseyGirl]

I dreamt of Susan holding my hand‚ Jason Rohde tells murder trial

 

[JudgeJudi]

I dreamt of Susan holding my hand‚ Jason Rohde tells murder trial

Thank you JG.

Jason told the court, "I've just been fighting for my life".

Pistorius said, "I've just been fighting for my life".

Amazing how murderers portray themselves as victims.

We need that puking into the toilet smiley back.

 

[Dora in the field]

I have been following this trial for a couple of days now. At first I thought that Susan commited suicide, but after investigating the circumstances of her death I tend to think that it was staged.

I will keep following Jason’s XX and how he reacts when pressured.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Second video for Day 3 - 30 May

 

[Tortoise]

My meter veers more towards murder than suicide.

I do not like his explanation for gripping her neck with his hand to move her out of his way to leave the room. That is contrived nonsense as far as I'm concerned, to account for holding her down, possibly while he smothered her. You don't move a person sideways by gripping their neck, sorry I think it's BS. And he glosses over the going to bed and falling asleep part. Suddenly there is a departure, a change in behaviour and personality, from going at him relentlessly to silently giving up.

 

[Tortoise]

Nick van der Leek (@HiRezLife) | Twitter

 

[Tortoise]

Nick's tweets - end of evidence in chief:
Nick van der Leek (@HiRezLife) | Twitter

Van der Spuy refers to extensive bruising in Susan's upper limbs. Susan had a massive bruise on her upper inside leg. #Rohde "How did she acquire those big bruises?" "My Lady can I make a statament about that?" "Just answer the question," Van der Spuy instructs him.

#Rohde replies that Susan did a handstand and fell on dumbbells. Sounds like a whopper to me. Rohde says the bruise was sustained "about a week before" the incident at their Johannesburg home.

Asked to comment on his wife being smothered to death [besides being manually strangled]: "That's absolutely not true. Absolutely not true." #Rohde alternates from the fig-leaf position to reverse fig-leaf. Seems to prefer to stand throughout his testimony, as #VanBreda did.

Van der Spuy asks his client to comment on the contention that Alterskye and #Rohde planned Susan's murder. "It's completely untrue. There was no foundation to that."

"I said to Mark that I had killed Susan." Van der Spuy: "Did you use the words, 'I killed her, I killed her, I killed her.'" My impression was that #Rohde did confess, but Susan's own family took his words to be symbolic, and once he'd recovered his composure, he ran with it.

#Rohde gave statement to the cops about an hour and a half after "I was taken out the bathroom". The statement was made in another room in the hotel, presumably at around 10:30. Always helpful when these first interviews are recorded and photographed. This one wasn't.

#Rohde describes his daughters calling him at his office, informing him that the cops were interviewing his domestic worker. "I said to him, 'what are you doing?' He said he'd come to take a statement from Lucy, the lady who's been working for my family for the last 14 years."

#Rohde asked the police to leave, asked them why they hadn't contacted his attorney, and instructed them to "please leave my home." One can see how this doesn't feel quite like an innocent man fully co-operating with an investigation. It's all mired in legal red tape.

#Rohde his children were upset, his middle daughter was sobbing, thinking he was going to be taken away. Rohde left his office and drove home. But Lucy, the domestic worker had been taken, and gave a statement regardless.

#Rohde Van der Spuy reviewing the contention that Susan "bruised easily". It's a double-edged sword. If she bruised easily, some wounds could have innocent explanations. On the other hand, if she bruised easily, then the strangle wounds around her neck would be easily imprinted.

#Rohde Van der Spuy: "Dr Khan said...Appollis had established that Susan didn't have a [bruising] condition." Rohde suggests the cops ought to have spoken to Susan's mom or sister... Not her GP?

 

[Tortoise]

Cont. from post #459

#Rohde's father in law [Susan's father] tested the hook of the bathroom door himself, while Susan lay dead on the bathroom floor. That had to have been tough. See the second image for a close-up of the locking mechanism.

#Rohde Van der Spuy refers to a WhatsApp, Sms or "whatever it's called" to Mrs Alterskye at 07:06 in the morning. This message is a problem. If Susan was already dead, who sent it? "At the time when that message was sent, where was your wife?" "My wife was...[shrugs]...alive..."

"I don't know what they're saying that I did." #rohde What a ridiculous thing to say, it's on the charge sheet. That's why he's in court. Hasn't he read the indictment?

#Rohde Same scenario as in #OscarPistorius "Is there any earthly reason why you'd perform CPR [if you wished to murder your wife]. "Logically, you'd have to say no." I don't think this is about logic, though, I think it's about a crime of passion. It's about emotion.

#Rohde Van der Spuy asks his client his last question. "Is there anything you want to say to the court..." "My Lady, I'm an adulterer. I destroyed the lives...I have to live with the shame of that...With all my faults, I'm not a murderer."

#Rohde "But I can also look at them [his daughters], but I can also look at them, knowing I didn't inflict death on their mom...The way I always think of it, I already have a life sentence." Rohde is done. Judge asks him a few questions.

#Rohde "I haven't been able to grieve for Susan. I don't know if you understand what I mean. I've just been fighting for my life. I haven't had a chance to literally grieve. The other night I had a dream of her,there's a lady in the audience, the gallery, that reminds me of her."

#Rohde Van der Spuy cleverly interjects, interrupts his client and asks for an adjournment, putting an end to Rohde's waffle. Unfortunate that the Judge didn't persevere with more questions. What did I say yesterday about giving a man enough rope...

One thing we know is that #Rohde is a liar. He's confirmed as much. He lied to his wife, his therapist. Are liars murderers? In my true crime narratives I often say not all liars are murderers, but all murderers are liars, and typically, their entire lives are lies.

Quite brazen, this idea that #Rohde staged the suicide, badly, then called Daniels, then had Daniels watch him enter the room first and contaminate the scene, messing up the rickety hair iron cord contraption. Look at these crazy photos for how the hair iron wire was set-up.

Van der Spuy referring to the WhatsApp or SMS or whatever was a huge WTF moment for me in the last session. It's a crucial piece of evidence, potentially a gamechanger for his client, and yet the lawyer isn't sure what the message is? #Rohde

Follow this link which opens to pertinent moment: https://youtu.be/T3YYei2GJG8?t=46m … #Rohde Here's more duping delight, it seems, scratching the ear, tongue wagging briefly, as his lawyer runs through the charges against him, including "obstructing the course of justice."