NATIONAL NEWS - Property magnate and former Lew Geffen/Sothebys CEO Jason Rohde was found guilty of murdering his wife on Thursday at the Cape Town high court.
His bail was withdrawn and he will be held in custody.
Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe read an executive summary of the 258-page judgment on the case.
The judge was convinced by the state’s argument that Susan Rohde was murdered by her husband, and the defence was ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts to convince the court her death was in fact a suicide.
The former CEO had been adamant that, rather than being murdered, his wife committed suicide after finding out about an extramarital affair he had been having with his colleague Jolene Alterskye.
“In the absence of an intruder, did the deceased take her life or was she murdered by the accused? Was it suicide or murder?” was the judge’s summary of the question the court was expected to answer.
Salie-Hlophe mentioned that Jason’s colleague Mark Thompson, who had attempted to resuscitate Susan on the morning her body was discovered, had given testimony that gave the impression early on that Susan’s death may not have been a suicide.
She also mentioned that Susan Rohde had not been depressed leading up to her suicide, noting a lack of “suicidal tendencies”.
