CAPE TOWN, June (ANA) - Defence forensic expert Reggie Perumal, hired by murder accused Jason Rohde, on Wednesday disputed the findings of state pathologist Dr Akmal Coetzee-Khan that Rohde’s wife Susan died as a result of a lack of oxygen after manual strangulation and smothering.
Perumal took the witness stand on Wednesday in the Western Cape High Court where Jason Rohde is standing trial after his wife Susan's body was found dead at the Spier Wine Estate in 2016.
Rohde is accused of strangling his wife and staging her suicide. She was found hanged with an electrical cord from a hook behind the bathroom door of the hotel room they shared.
On Wednesday Perumal, who conducted the second autopsy at the behest of Jason Rohde, testified that a number of points from the first autopsy which was conducted by the State were inaccurate, and also pointed out that there were errors in the calculations made at the crime scene to determine the time of death.
Perumal said that one of the basic fundamentals of a forensic pathology student is to determine the exact time of death.
“Now when a student does not understand the principles, it’s a very, very sad state," he told the court.
"Challenges in forensic pathology is making proper observations,” said Perumal, responding to defense Advocate Graham van der Spuy who asked him to comment on perceived miscalculations at the crime scene.
Van der Spuy told the court that he was seeking Perumal’s comments on the apparent miscalculations of time of death as this could play a “significant role” as to whether Jason Rohde was guilty or not.
The defence has argued that Susan Rohde hanged herself after a fight over Jason Rohde’s mistress Jolene Alterskye who was also at the hotel on the night of Susan’s death.
The matter continues.
- African News Agency (ANA),
