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

[Tortoise]

At 40:00 minutes in the linked video of his evidence in chief:

"Mr Daniels didn't open the door, because there's no ways I was gonna allow a stranger to go into the bathroom with my wife in the bathroom"

Anyone think his possessiveness (of Susan) is a tad strange given his contempt for her that night? Deciding to divorce her and taking her to Jolene.

My other critique of his statement is that he misses the point that now that Daniels had unlocked the door, there was NO NEED for Daniels to go into the bathroom. JR didn't call him to help him with anything except opening the lock, which he had done. JR is building a narrative for knowing that Daniels will eventually go into the bathroom but not until JR has gone in first and called for him. "No ways I was gonna allow" was his intention at the time, as if he anticipated Daniels would eventually go in.

 

[Tortoise]

State Pathologist Khan testified that the abrasion to body indicates dragging against rough surfaces. Hotel bedroom floor made of quite rough surface.

Would she have those abrasions if she was wearing the gown while being dragged?

 

[Tortoise]

It should be a fairly simple matter to ascertain whether she was wearing the gown in the bathroom or if it was just draped over her. Her arms would still be in the sleeves.

 

[Hag]

It should be a fairly simple matter to ascertain whether she was wearing the gown in the bathroom or if it was just draped over her. Her arms would still be in the sleeves.

Do you think that even if she had the gown on, depending how she was dragged, it could easily have exposed her body to the rough floor as it possibly wasn’t tied (? The belt was on bed) ??

 

[patCee]

Maybe Jason needed to reassure himself there was nothing suspicious about the scene in the bathroom before Daniels went in, rather than protecting Susan's modesty. He likely wanted Daniels to go into the bathroom afterwards to be a witness to Susan's "suicide", and to help him alter a possible crime scene by removing the cord and her body.

 

[Hag]

It should be a fairly simple matter to ascertain whether she was wearing the gown in the bathroom or if it was just draped over her. Her arms would still be in the sleeves.

I haven’t seen it definitely explained if she was wearing the gown. I think she was said to be naked by the person who tried CPR......

 

[patCee]

I haven’t seen it definitely explained if she was wearing the gown. I think she was said to be naked by the person who tried CPR......

I think it was Mark Thompson, a colleague, who did the CPR, very odd. He talked about feeling embarrassed about her nakedness and bending over her. I think it was the same man who described her body as cold, with lips turned blue.

 

[patCee]

Thompson was a witness to her body being cold, enabling pathologist Kahn to confirm the time of death. Kahn didn't visit the scene until about 1 pm, if IIRC.

 

[JudgeJudi]

My other critique of his statement is that he misses the point that now that Daniels had unlocked the door, there was NO NEED for Daniels to go into the bathroom. JR didn't call him to help him with anything except opening the lock, which he had done. JR is building a narrative for knowing that Daniels will eventually go into the bathroom but not until JR has gone in first and called for him. "No ways I was gonna allow" was his intention at the time, as if he anticipated Daniels would eventually go in.

Daniels: When I opened the door I saw a leg near the basin.

Daniels says he saw Susan Rohde's legs from the knees to the feet.

Daniels says when Rohde saw the legs he called out "Susie" and went inside the bathroom

After 2 or 3 seconds #Rohde asked Daniels to help him. "When I went in the person was naked," said Daniels.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[Tortoise]

Daniels: When I opened the door I saw a leg near the basin.

Daniels says he saw Susan Rohde's legs from the knees to the feet.

Daniels says when Rohde saw the legs he called out "Susie" and went inside the bathroom

After 2 or 3 seconds #Rohde asked Daniels to help him. "When I went in the person was naked," said Daniels.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

I didn't make myself clear - JR didn't call him originally to help him with anything more than unlocking the door. Once he'd done that his job was seemingly done, so Daniels wouldn't be expected to go into the bathroom.

 

[patCee]

An extract of the messages between Jason and Susan, in the lead up to her death, revealing her distress and Jason's dismissive responses to her, suggesting she is at fault. The article describes the term 'gas-lighting' where one person is manipulated, abused and led to believe they are the one at fault.

"In other messages read in court Susan sounds desperate, telling Jason that she doesn’t care anymore: “You want me to go crazy, and that is exactly what you’re going to get.”

The former property mogul countered by accusing Susan of being the “bully”: “To call someone 40 times per day and at 5am in the morning is bullying.”

The morning before Susan’s death, Jason told her in a message that she made too many assumptions about him.

“You hear and think exactly what you want,” he told her."

Gas lighting – the abusive relationship tactic you need to know about

 

[Tortoise]

1. Thompson (arrived 08:35am) said Susan's urine and stool were not near the door, but next to her hip.

2. Coetzee-Khan (arrived 12:45pm) noted inconsistency between no faecal soiling on the door or on Susan's gown but faecal matter present between and under her buttocks.

3. Thompson noted she was clearly dead, cold and blue lips.

4. Thompson noted the cord on the door wasn't taut and a knot in the cord was too small to have been around her neck.

5. "Poolman explains how most materials have an elastic stage where they will go back to original condition if force is released. When stretched too far, the material will be deformed and not go back to normal.

"Poolman shows how he tested electrical cord found around Susan's neck. "If I have more than 40kg fully on the one end, the cable is going to fail," he says. The court previously heard that Susan weighed more than 50kg."

6. Khan's Autopsy: Single horizontal ligature mark on neck, with no relative neck haemorraging beneath, no friction abrasion, force applied to neck tissue above the cord. This rules out double cord IMO.

7. Khan's Autopsy: Downward force to vertebrae, muscles around spine damaged - not mentioned by Perumal.

8. Khan's Autopsy: Fractured left superior horn of thyroid cartilage, feature of manual strangulation - not mentioned by Perumal. Defence accuses Khan of cutting the cartilage!

9. Fractures to right 3rd, 4th and 5th ribs and associated blunt force trauma to lung (contusion and haemorrage) occurred less than an hour before strangulation, because Susan had coughed up blood and swallowed 100ml blood in her stomach plus more blood already passed into her small intestine - not mentioned by Perumal. So it could not be CPR injury.

10. Pallor to nose and lips and dental imprints inside lips and internal organ congestion consistent with smothering with a pillow simultaneous to strangulation. Mascara and blood on pillow.

11. Scratch marks and right thumb and right finger bruising and internal neck haemorrage consistent with manual strangulation higher than the cord.

Murder.

Time of death is distraction, smoke and mirrors. It doesn't matter if it was at 5am, 7am or 8am, or if Susan sent the messages to Jolene or Jason did, there was a fight resulting in murder.

 

[Tortoise]

The defence might be able to plant a seed of doubt that the single cord didn't fail because Susan was not fully suspended, on JR's version she was crouched forward and her feet were touching the ground, but, if she was crouched forward and not lying on the ground as Daniels says, her bottom would have been next to the door, and so too would the urine and faeces. Notice Judge Salie-Hlope specifically asks him where her bottom was, although the sound is really bad on the recording at that moment:

video linked in post #541 above, at 09:14 minutes, JR is giving a demonstration of Susan's position, using the door exhibited in court -

Judge: Where was her behind, suspended, on the floor..?

JR: Sorry?

Judge: Her behind, where was her behind?

JR: Uh, facing the back of the door, yes.



JR can't explain the broken ribs and lung contusion or ingested blood though. If it happened as a result of the fall in the garden she would have had to have died within an hour of that, for the blood to still be in her stomach, and she wouldn't have only been swearing about her toe, or texting Jolene, if she was coughing up that volume of blood.

 

[Dora in the field]

Jason is trying to portray Susan as unstable and in need of psychiatric help. That she could not accept the fact that their marriage was over and as a result she took her own life. But Susan was a fighter, she fought till the very end and that is why she had to die.

 

[Tortoise]

I just want to clarify point no.11 in my list above because I see it could be read two ways. Not actual bruising to Susan's fingers and thumb, but bruising left on Susan's neck from a right thumb and fingers, and corresponding scratch marks.

 

[JudgeJudi]

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prosecutor Louis van Niekerk asking Rohde about how he conducted his business. Accused says he was always honest and transparent.

Van Niekerk refers to an article in yesterday's Sunday Times on Jason Rohde's "twisted reality". Rohde: "That is an opinion of a journalist, I'm not here to speculate. We're here to get to the facts, the truth."

[OMG he's an arrogant so and so]

Adv Van Niekerk: Mr Daniels testified that message conveyed was 221 toilet door can't be opened. Rohde: Direct contradiction to what Mavis the receptionist said in her affidavit. She said door locked from inside. Somebody not telling the truth. Can't both be right.

[Love the way the Judge is putting him in his place. "You must answer the questions".]

Adv Van Niekerk: He wouldn't twist his recollection. Rohde: I also don't understand why Mavis and Captain September would lie under oath.

[According to Rohde, everyone is lying except him. The problem is he's already told the court that he's a liar ... lied to Susan, lied to the psychologist etc etc]

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

State: You made the call to Spier reception. Lets hear your recollection? Rohde: I told Mavis the receptionist door was locked form the inside, could she please send someone to assist me. Can't remember exact words, that was gist of what I said.

Just remember saying to Desmond Daniels, the handyman, that door locked from inside. You would assume there would be someone inside the bathroom. Logical thing to assume. Don't recall saying Susan was inside the bathroom.

Adv Van Niekerk says easy to open bathroom door from the outside. Rohde: Don't accept that at all. Didn't cross my mind that you could use a teaspoon or something to open the bathroom door. I have never done it myself.

[I've never seen anyone continually argue with counsel like this.]

You don't want to concede it is easy to open? Rohde: I am not saying it's not possible. I am saying that I haven't seen it being done myself. I personally haven't done it. It hasn't been demonstrated to me. Van Niekerk says it was demonstrated at inspection in loco.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

[I don't understand why vd Spuy hasn't warned him repeatedly before/after court to answer the question and don't add detail. It's one of the first things witnesses are told. I hope he digs a big hole for himself.]

Daniels in passageway at door handle. Rohde says he stood to his left. Daniels crouched and with a screwdriver unlocked door. Rohde says when Daniels arrived, he told him door locked from inside. Difficult to believe he'd open. Logical conclusion is someone inside.

Rohde says he was first person through door. Daniels testimony is he opened it 15cm. Rohde's testimony is he unlocked the door and was the one who opened and wedged himself into bathroom. "I disagree that he opened the door 15cm. That never happened."

Rohde: I had told Daniels door locked from inside. Logic would tell you there was someone inside the bathroom. Any person wouldn't open bathroom door when common sense says there is someone in the bathroom.

Rohde: Mr Daniels had been told that door was locked from inside. Why would you open a door knowing that it had been locked from the inside and someone was in the bathroom? It doesn't make sense.

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter

 

[JudgeJudi]

Daniels said he could only see Susan's legs. Rohde: I disagree. He was behind me when I went into the bathroom; he said he facing away from the door. First thing I saw was Susan's feet pointing toward basin.

Rohde: I can't comment on what part of Susan's foot Mr Daniels saw. Don't know how he saw it standing behind me, facing the coffee station. I am telling you what I did. I opened the door. Mr Daniels didn't.

Judge: Mr Rohde, try to stop answering a question with a question.

You had to turn the door handle from the outside? Rohde: correct. You pushed the door toward the inside of the bathroom. You couldn't see the feet. Rohde says first time he saw the feet was when he wedged himself into the bathroom. Adv Van Niekerk looks annoyed.

Door moved towards inside. At that moment, in that split second, you would see her feet? Rohde: Yes. Pointing toward basin. Daniels said he opened the door. Asked if there was resistance, he said "dit was maklik gewees".

Team News24 (@TeamNews24) | Twitter