Wife killer Jason Rohde is still a free man after his lawyers secured an eleventh-hour reprieve in the Cape Town high court.
Following the dismissal of his Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) motion this week, Rohde was supposed to return to Drakenstein prison in Paarl in the Western Cape yesterday.
But on Friday the 52-year-old’s lawyers successfully argued for an extension of his bail while they prepare to approach the Constitutional Court.
On Tuesday, the SCA dismissed Rohde’s appeal against his high court conviction for the 2016 murder of his wife of 27 years, Susan Rohde, 47, in their Spier Hotel room in Stellenbosch.
However, the court upheld Rohde’s appeal against his sentence, reducing it from 20 years to 15, saying trial judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe had no evidence to support her “vivid speculation” that Rohde repeatedly assaulted and smothered his wife before strangling her.
“We are appealing to the Constitutional Court because Jason did not have a fair trial,” said Rohde’s lawyer, Tony Mostert. “Specifically, that included gross irregularities in his high court trial that were confirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeal but not corrected in its judgment of our appeal.”
In a supporting affidavit, Rohde said he “did not receive a fair trial, in particular relating to the evidence in respect of the deceased being suicidal or not showing suicidal signs and in disallowing the evidence of [forensic psychiatrist] Dr [Larissa] Panieri-Peter to complete her testimony, and in so doing my right to adduce evidence in terms of section 35(3)(i) of the constitution was seriously infringed”.
Rohde’s failed appeal has devastated him and his three children, according to his mother Brenda, 72. But Susan Rohde’s parents, Neville and Diane Holmes, said it did not mark the end of their ordeal.
“We have felt the need to be so restrained so as to spare our granddaughters any added emotional pain, hurt and embarrassment. But in so doing, we have added to our own pain because we feel that we have not spoken up for Susan in the way we wanted to and believe she deserves,” they said in a statement.
“This continues to add immeasurably to our anguish and even as we write this statement, we still feel so very torn. Our granddaughters find themselves in such a difficult and conflicted situation, but we have so much respect for them and the way that they have borne with fortitude what has been thrust upon them.
“We are craving time to grieve without restraint, and to start the healing process that we have so far felt too numb to begin.”
Susan’s siblings, Angela Norton and Mark Holmes, also issued statements about the difficulties of the past five years.
Speaking to the Sunday Times from Rohde’s Plettenberg Bay home, Brenda said she was shopping on Tuesday when she received a call from her son. “He said he had bad news. I couldn’t believe it. I was in total shock,” she said.
Rushing home, she found Rohde and his eldest daughter, Kathryn, huddled together crying. “Jason was distraught. All he could say was, ‘How can they do this, how can they do this?’,” she said.
Rohde’s 21-year-old twin daughters Josie and Alex, both Stellenbosch University students, were on campus when he called to break the news.
“Josie was about to walk into a maths exam. How she coped I do not know,” said Brenda.
“The girls’ lives have been so rocked by the loss of their mother, their dad’s trial and his imprisonment, and now this. But they are always there for their dad. After Jason broke the news they said, ‘Dad, we’re so sorry. How could this happen? We just want to tell you that we love you and support you all the way.’
“They’ve never questioned his innocence. They saw how he was with their mother. They never witnessed any violence in their home.”
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