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CEO Jason Rohde adamant his wife committed suicide

Jason Rohde and wife Susan, who was found with an electric cord around her neck. Image: FACEBOOK
Jason Rohde and wife Susan, who was found with an electric cord around her neck. Image: FACEBOOK
Image: FACEBOOK

Businessman Jason Rohde and his wife Susan were seeing a marriage counsellor before she was found dead at a wine estate in Stellenbosch.

This was revealed when the 47-year-old CEO of Geffen International Realty Franchises made his first appearance in the Stellenbosch Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Rohde‚ wearing an outdoor sport jacket and jeans‚ appeared taken aback as he entered the court and faced a barrage of camera flashes.

He sat dead still with his hands clasped together‚ looking forward as a member of the public thrust a cellphone forward to take his photograph‚ mere centimetres away from his nose.

Susan Rohde’s body was found in a bathroom at Spier wine estate – where she had accompanied him to a company function where they stayed overnight — on July 24.

 Her death was initially thought to have been a suicide‚ but police later opened a murder investigation after obtaining the results of a post mortem report.

The state has asked for an extension of seven days to gather evidence‚ notably DNA‚ and a forensic analysis of the family computer and his personal cellphone.

Rohde’s defence team contends that he was unlawfully arrested because the detective who took him into custody while he was still “in bed” did not provide a warrant.

Rohde has commissioned a separate forensic report which‚ he says‚ concluded “in no uncertain terms” that his wife committed suicide.

Rohde said in an affidavit that the marriage counsellor he and Susan were seeing was concerned that she was at risk of committing suicide.

The hearing continues. — TMG Digital

 

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