Cape Town - Jason Rohde’s former mistress has hired top criminal lawyer William Booth for the duration of the property mogul’s murder trial in which she is a State witness.
Sotheby’s Sea Point estate agent Jolene Alterskye is a major figure in the trial. Susan Rohde’s discovery of her affair with her husband when he was Sotheby’s chief executive triggered her emotional meltdown and eventual death at Spier Hotel in July 2016.
Jason Rohde is on trial for murdering his wife in their hotel room and then staging her death to look like a suicide.
Booth’s role is to keep a watching brief on the trial and guide Alterskye through the process of being a witness in a high-profile case “where there has been a lot of speculation about her role in this matter".
“My role is to assist the prosecutor and my client as a witness,” said Booth. “I consult with her about what happens in court, prepare her for her testimony and generally guide her objectively and correctly through the whole process.
“It’s not a case of telling her what to say and what not to say because my client has already made a police statement. It’s more about preparing her for testimony in a criminal court which can be a harrowing and traumatic experience.”
Booth says there is no risk of coaching the witness. “What I do is work through the witness statement with her. There’s no influence or undue pressure on her. It’s about helping her deal with the whole thing.”
Although on the State witness list, it’s not yet confirmed if Alterskye will be called, says Booth. If she is then his role will also be to assist her in dealing with the media scrum outside court.
Booth says it remains to be seen whether Alterskye can add anything to the State’s case that Rohde murdered his wife. “She didn’t witness anything. She had a relationship with the accused and no longer has had one for some time with him. But she is more than willing to testify. She has nothing to hide. She is not a suspect in the case at all. There’s no suspicion that she has done anything illegal.”
Earlier this week Alterskye's name was raised by one of Rohde’s trio of advocates when he amplified the accused’s version of the marital brawl that ensued after the couple returned to their room at around 2am from a Sotheby’s dinner dance.
Up until then, Susan, Jason and Jolene had kept their distance from each other, but when he texted Jolene from the bathroom Susan went “ballistic”.
In the ensuing struggle to prevent Jason from leaving the room and attending an after party, there was a lot of pushing and pulling at each other, said his advocate. Eventually Jason made his escape by grabbing his wife by her throat with his right hand and forcing her out of his way. When she grabbed his collar he swung his arm backwards and hit her in her face.
Undeterred and still cursing and screaming, Susan pursued him and there was more pushing and pulling.
Eventually Jason gave up trying to find where Alterskye was partying. As he headed back to the hotel room there was more pushing and pulling and in one attempt to break free Jason’s backhand struck Susan on the nose.
Along the way Susan, barefoot and naked except for her bathrobe, tripped and fell on to a low garden bed retaining wall.
Back in their hotel room there was another heated verbal exchange when Susan screamed “I’ve cut my f****** toe!” Later Jason fell asleep and was woken at about 7am by Susan who showed him a message from Alterskye and declared: “Your whore has sent me a message.” Jason responded that he wanted out of the marriage and Susan went to the bathroom where she was later found dead.
Presented with this account, state pathologist Dr Akmal Cotzee-Khan said it may explain some of the injuries to Susan’s body including three broken ribs from the fall.
However the grab to the throat would not explain the underlying neck haemorrhages and the thyroid bone fracture he found during his autopsy which are indicative of manual strangulation. The court also heard that three broken ribs punctured Susan’s lungs causing her to choke and swallow blood.
Rohde’s defence claimed the blood found in Susan’s stomach and small intestine could have come from a nose bleed and accused Khan of negligently slicing through the thyroid bone during his autopsy.