A husband who manipulated his own child into helping him kill his wife and then cover up the crime has been sentenced to life in prison. Robert Rhodes, 52, was found guilty of the cold-blooded and premeditated murder of his estranged wife, Dawn Rhodes, at their home in Redhill, Surrey.
A Decade-Long Lie Unravels
The horrific truth of what happened on June 2, 2016 remained hidden for years after Rhodes convinced an Old Bailey jury he had acted in self-defence. His key alibi was his own young child, then in primary school, who gave a false account of Dawn attacking them both with a knife.
It was only years later, when the child, now a teenager plagued by guilt, confided in a friend and a therapist, that the case was reopened. The child revealed how Rhodes had groomed them, asking in the car days before the killing: "Do you want to get rid of mummy?"
They described a chilling plan where the child would lure Dawn by asking her to close her eyes and hold out her hands for a picture. Rhodes then cut his wife's throat. To support his false story, he then made the child stab him in the back with the same knife.
Manipulation and a Lifetime of Trauma
The court heard how Rhodes poisoned the child against their mother following the breakdown of the marriage, telling them "horrible things" to foster hate. After the murder, he continued coaching the child, hiding a phone to stay in contact and warning them "snitches get stitches".
In a powerful victim impact statement, the child told the court Rhodes's manipulation and abuse has ruined my life. They spoke of lifelong mental health struggles and the physical scar on their arm from the knife wound inflicted by their father.
Dawn Rhodes's mother, Liz Spencer, said she had waited nearly a decade for the result, adding: "I feel for the first time my daughter's voice is being heard."
Justice Served After Rare Retrial
Following an extremely rare retrial at Inner London Crown Court last month, a new jury found Rhodes guilty of murder. He was also convicted of two counts of perjury, perverting the course of justice, and child cruelty.
Rhodes refused to attend his sentencing at the same court, with his barrister stating he still maintained his innocence. In his absence, Judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogen jailed him for life with a minimum term of 29 and a half years.
Prosecutor John Price KC said the killing was an ambush in her own kitchen, followed by a wicked and callous cover-up designed to destroy Dawn's reputation. Evidence from Rhodes's phone included searches for spyware and poisons, and photos of Dawn taken from behind just hours before the anniversary of her death.
Specialist prosecutor Libby Clark stated the conviction was about finally showing Dawn Rhodes as the victim of domestic violence, not the aggressor her husband had portrayed her to be.
