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

[Tortoise]

Nick's tweets - Cross-examination

Nick van der Leek (@HiRezLife) | Twitter

#Rohde Van Niekerk is a non nonsense prosecutor; he's going to let him have it. Already standing with his arms folded, and Rohde answering "my point is..." Rohde not looking at Van Niekerk as he talks to him about his "complete" lies.

Van Niekerk: "Up to the events at Spier, that was your plan. Living this double life." #Rohde argues that he wasn't trying to "have it both ways".

"When was the first time you mentioned the word 'divorce' to Susan?" "When we had our daily rows." "When was the first time?" "I can't give you a date, advocate." #Rohde contends he meant it on the morning of her death, not before.

"I think it was a good marriage." #Rohde

#Rohde "The bottomline is you've got to be deceitful. Otherwise it's not an affair." Alrighty then. Fair dinkum but in a murder trial...

"I didn't want to rub it in her face." "So if you didn't want to rub it in her face...you kept a distance from Jolene...correct?" "That's correct."#Rohde Van Niekerk giving him plenty of rope. Rohde shrugging his shoulders constantly, almost like a default setting.

Van Niekerk:"C'mon sir...99% sure...did you have sex with her?" "Ummm..." Van der Spuy leaps up, citing a language barrier. "I would have had intercourse with her...that's absolutely correct."#Rohde Expect a lot more silly semantics like these. Rohde looks down, then straight up.

#Rohde starting to sway from side to side in the dock. Looking down, licking his lips. Is it getting a little uncomfortable?

#Rohde Van Niekerk uses Rohde's daughter's name. An obvious dig, and Rohde asks him not to refer to her by name. Judge backs him up. What do you think? Oh and now Rohde refers to his daughter by name...

#Rohde refers to his daughter again by name, now the Judge castigates him. Oh, the irony. Watch the moment here: https://youtu.be/8lwU5m9Pr90?t=30m52s …

The trouble with loose lips in court, is you've got to keep track of everything you've said. It's the prosecutor's job to do that. #Rohde Loose lips sink ships.

#Rohde It's a good opening gambit from Van Niekerk to start off by focusing on the dynamic between father and daughters on the one hand, and their mother. What makes it so hard is they're out there listening too. "I can't comment on my daughter's impression..." No, you can't.

#Rohde sighs. He's looking straight at the livefeed camera, His gaze sometimes fades into the middle distance. He sighs heavily as the prosecutor continues. He slips again, using his daughter's name, reverts to reverse fig-leaf. Losing his cool and concentration - this early?

 

[Tortoise]

Cont. from post #461

"At that stage I would have started lying to Carol Nadir."

#Rohde Van Niekerk makes another dig. "What do you understand by the term 'hidden agenda'?" Van der Spuy objects. Van Niekerk explains the meaning. See, silly semantics. Van der Spuy has sprung up a few times now. Catch the moment here: https://youtu.be/8lwU5m9Pr90?t=37m58s …

"Advocate I'm not trying to avoid your answer..." A few minutes ago he said "I'm not trying to be flippant." I don't think I've ever seen an accused shrugging this much, all the time. #Rohde

#Rohde takes the prosecutor through the physical alteration he had with his wife on the night of his wife's death. He's quite expressive with his hand movements.

#Rohde Van Niekerk asks him to go through it step by step. "Are you talking about the first time I grabbed her?" He does seem quite flippant. He's very matter-of-fact about what he says is an argument that led directly to her taking her own life.

Very expressive. All over the place in the dock.

In the same way we've seen in the #OscarPistorius trial, we're now going to see the accused demonstrate what he did outside and inside a bathroom door, this time to the prosecutor.

Van Niekerk asks Rohde to demonstrate how the knot-noose-lasso was around Susan's neck. Rohde very dodgy and resistant about demonstrating how the knot looked. Model stands beside him awkwardly. It is awkward. "I'm not trying to be evasive. I'm trying to be honest."

#Rohde asks model to bend her knees in order to set her up to look like Susan did. Gives various instructions, while insisting what he can't testify to. "She was in a crouched position like that, with her feet pointing that way, with the cord like that."

#Rohde trying to explain why he "wasn't interested" in looking at the cord around Susan's neck, because he was trying to lift her up. Odd thing to say. Wouldn't that be the first thing he noticed? He's adamant that the knot/noose was tight.

Now more lip smacking as he gets to demonstrate to the court what happened to Susan. #Rohde Duping delight? If it is, he's enjoying this moment. He's proud or glad about what he did.

"All I wanted to do was get this cord off Susan's neck. I wanted this thing removed." Didn't you want to save Susan? Didn't you want to check to see how she was?

"I'm not being flippant, but why would I be studying the knot around my wife's neck? What relevance is it to me?" The thing is, like the locked bathroom door, the knot is the first thing a genuine rescuer would focus on in order to rescue, the last thing a murderer would.

"I wanted, I was in absolute shock, I wanted to get this off her neck." The priority should be her face. Her status. Is #Rohde calling out her name, reaching for her or the cord? If his fingerprints were on the cord then it's important to get them on again - plausible deniability

Any guesses what this might be about? #Rohde I have an idea it might be regarding his stipulation, by inference, that the time of death is between 07:00 and 08:00, and the implications involved.

 

[Interested Bystander]

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.

Welcome Dora. It is always good to have new input and ideas.

We used to have lovely 'Welcome' emoticons but at the moment I can do no better than a smile.

 

[Dora in the field]

Welcome Dora. It is always good to have new input and ideas.

We used to have lovely 'Welcome' emoticons but at the moment I can do no better than a smile.

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[patCee]

It seems Susan Rohde was very active, popular and valued within her community with many friends, "she kept her friends". Over 1000 family and friends attended her funeral. It's also reported that her family became hostile to Jason Rohde after her death. It is alleged Jason arrived late to her funeral and did not join other mourners at the traditional gathering afterwards.

Susan Rohde’s friends speak out | IOL News

 

[Hag]

I’m thinking that in a highly volatile situation Susan’s death possibly was “accidental”. So far I’m doubtful she ended her own life.

 

[L2L]

Not certain of guilt or innocence yet. Accidental? Could be. Can't make up my mind about this one. Right now, I'm a little inclined to believe his version of events - call me naive - as against those of either OP or HvB whose guilt was never in doubt for me. Waiting ......

 

[Dora in the field]

Why would Jason take his wife along to the Spier Hotel convention? His mistress would be there. What was he trying to achieve? To drive her mad?
He testified that Susan had trouble sleeping and had lost a great amount of weight.

Susan's brother could not understand too. He testified: "I asked him why he would take her to the lion's den if she was so fragile and he replied: 'I am the CEO'."

 

[Hag]

Why would Jason take his wife along to the Spier Hotel convention? His mistress would be there. What was he trying to achieve? To drive her mad?
He testified that Susan had trouble sleeping and had lost a great amount of weight.

Susan's brother could not understand too. He testified: "I asked him why he would take her to the lion's den if she was so fragile and he replied: 'I am the CEO'."

My understanding is that she “absolutely insisted” on being there. Nothing and no one would stop her!

 

[JudgeJudi]

Why would Jason take his wife along to the Spier Hotel convention? His mistress would be there. What was he trying to achieve? To drive her mad?
He testified that Susan had trouble sleeping and had lost a great amount of weight.

Susan's brother could not understand too. He testified: "I asked him why he would take her to the lion's den if she was so fragile and he replied: 'I am the CEO'."

Susan insisted on going, knowing Jolene would be there.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Snap.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Day 4 of Jason Rohde on the stand. He will continue with his cross-examination today after demonstrating to the court yesterday how he found his wife's body. The State is setting up a projector and we will probably see some post-mortem photos.

Jason stands up as judge enters. The projector has been set up with a slide that says: "Hanging Scenarios... Double cord accused's version" and a photo of the bathroom door and cord dangling.

Prosecutor: "You know the cord was around her neck and tight?" Jason agrees with that... "as I have said many times, I don't know how many times [it was wrapped around]."

Jason's body and shoulders are turned away from prosecutor Louis van Niekerk. He faces Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor: "The State is struggling to come to grips with your version, Sir." Hands up an 18-page bundle with various photos. Lights are switched off to look at projected screen.

Prosecutor tells court that photos of the deceased will not be live streamed just now because they are sensitive.

The slide we are on shows Jason demonstrating the discovery of his wife's body yesterday. Slide says 'double cord down, at angle'. Jason says not correct. "I couldn't be sure if it was a double cord".

Slide, which deals with accused's version, also states 'Knot either at right side or behind neck - crouching (but suspended) position'.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Live stream

WATCH LIVE: Rohde under cross-examination

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor is checking his testimony and reminding him he said there was tension on the cord. "Somewhere, you agree, there must have been a knot to cause that tension and suspension effect?" Jason agrees.

Jason: "What I saw, I saw in one second. So let me just make that clear from the outset." He takes laser and points to figure, saying bum was closer to door and knees more bent."

As Jason points out what he remembers, he does not say "her knees were more bent" but "her knees would have been more bent". Other times, he does refer to "was" or "were". Maybe just nerves or emotion.

Jason concludes that the stick figure is inaccurate.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor moves to "Scenario 2". Stick figure is shown slumped to one side. Jason: "I never testified she was falling to the right hand side [or in a vertical position]. What I said was her feet were pointing to right hand side under basin."

Jason says his wife's knees were bent and feet facing to right side. "Her knees would have been downwards, facing to floor. I am not a doctor".

Judge tells Jason: "Tell us your experience or observation at the time. If you can't recall something, you can say. It is not for you to draw inference or say that something is logical. Your experts will come and guide us." He nods.

[Huh? What on earth does that mean?]

Prosecutor says his testimony was that Susan was very heavy and it was not easy for Daniels to take noose off. Jason: "I just shouted for him to help immediately. I can't tell you exactly what my words were. I just screamed."

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Jason says Daniels [handyman] wedged himself through door and took noose off her neck, while he was behind the door, holding his wife up in his arms.

Prosecutor: "As you picked her up, the tension would have slackened". Jason agrees. Prosecutor: "But this cord was still tight around her neck?" Jason: "Yes, that is what I perceived".

Jason: "I didn't see it slackening but it is logical". He says he did not see noose around her neck. "I maintained that from outset. My perception was that it was tight because he didn't simply take it off in one second".

Prosecutor says with Jason's perceptions or eyewitness account, the only conclusion is that "this cord was tight around neck because there was a knot". Jason says he's not qualified to answer because he doesn't know if you need a knot to wrap cord around.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor says they are faced with Daniel's evidence on position of body and cord, "which differs completely from yours".

According to Dr Khan's post-mortem report, the imprint mark of the ligature on Susan's neck was "incomplete and horizontally aligned over the anterior aspect and left lateral aspect".

According to [defence pathologist] Dr Perumal's post-mortem report, the imprint "anteriorly sloped upwards towards the right".

Prosecutor: Our argument is that none of them make mention that there was a knot imprint. Jason says he never testified about knot. State will argue that only logical conclusion is there must have been knot for there to be so much tension, as he testified.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor says court must make a decision on who to believe with completely opposite versions, his or Daniels. Jason: "I am telling you what I saw. I am telling you what happened."

Prosecutor: "The State will argue that... it is a lie. You are making it up." Jason blinks, keeps quiet for 10 seconds. Judge asks prosecutor to be more specific.

Prosecutor: "Your version simply can't be true, in a nutshell". Defence asks if that is a question. Jason: "I think I will let Adv van der Spuy and Dr Perumal put my version forward, which is the true statement."

Jason continues: "I am not going to comment on your statement because there is no truth to it".

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

State points out commonalities between Dr Khan and Perumal:

1) Ligature is incomplete (Jason says it's incorrect).
2) No mention of double track ligature marks (that is also incorrect. I never testified seeing a double cord).
3) No point of suspension noted (Jason: I will let Dr Perumal testify). 4) No knot imprint noted on any side or behind the neck (As I said, let's hear what Dr Perumal has to say).

Prosecutor takes out a female plastic head, "because we are trying to make sense what you saw and what Mr Daniels saw".

Next slides are of three post-mortem photos, which won't be shown on live stream. They show Susan's head, with the ligature mark around her neck. "There is no evidence here of the double cord," says prosecutor.

Prosecutor says he has made it clear that Jason is not an expert and he gave him the option to comment. He will not take it further as far as slides are concerned. He will ask Dr Perumal.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter