Defense pathologist testifies ‘noose was loose’ on Susan Rohde

ON TRIAL: Jason Rohde, right, walking out of court with his attorney, Tony Mostert, during a break.

ON TRIAL: Jason Rohde, right, walking out of court with his attorney, Tony Mostert, during a break.

Published Jun 20, 2018

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Cape Town - Forensic pathologist Reggie Perumal’s observations of the ligature mark on Susan Rohde’s neck contradict her husband Jason Rohde’s version of the tightness of the knot around the neck.

On July 24, 2016, Susan was found hanging from the hook of a bathroom door in a hotel room, her neck tied with an electronic cord. The two had been staying at the Spier Wine Estate attending Jason’s work convention in Stellenbosch.

It is the State’s case that Jason smothered Susan and staged it as a hanging.

On Tuesday, Perumal said it was unlikely that the knot and noose around Susan’s neck was tight, as described by her husband and contested by the State.

In Jason’s version, the handyman, Desmond Daniels, who came to assist him, struggled to remove the coiled electronic cord from Susan’s neck because of the tightness. “It cannot be that it was absolutely tight around the neck from a scientific point. If it was tight, I would see the ligature mark all around, it would be almost circumferential. If it was tight, a ligature imprint would run up to a point where the knot would be positioned.”

Perumal said based on his observation the noose was loose. He said the most likely part of suspension (knot) will be related to the right ear. Perumal said the ligature went on a low slope from the right ear around the neck, below the left ear and on an upward slope just behind the right ear.

Based on Perumal’s photos, the ligature mark was incomplete around Susan’s neck. State prosecutor Louis van Niekerk grilled Perumal over differences in his autopsy photos and the demonstration, marking a mannequin to show the ligature mark he made during his testimony.

The ligature mark on photos depict a downward slope from the left back side of the neck to the right and a gap where the ligature mark cannot be observed from below the back of the right ear.

The mannequin drawing shows the ligature going on an upward slope from the back of the left ear to the right.

Perumal said the drawing was not up to scale in measurements. Van Niekerk said the State would argue that the back ligature mark was not made by the ligature compared to the front.

Perumal said the back of the neck was denser and deeper because of the nature of the tissue. He said the marks on either side of the neck may differ because the laxity of tissue differed. 

The trial continues today, 20 June 2018.

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Cape Argus

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