A carpenter has been sentenced to 29-and-a-half years in prison for murdering his estranged wife, following a rare retrial made possible by harrowing new evidence from the couple's own child.
A Child's Coerced Role in a Brutal Killing
Robert Rhodes, 52, from Withleigh in Devon, was convicted of murdering Dawn Rhodes at their former family home in Redhill, Surrey, in June 2016. He had previously been acquitted of the crime in 2017 after convincing an Old Bailey jury he acted in self-defence.
The case took a dramatic turn in 2021 when the couple's child, who was under ten at the time of the murder, came forward with a new account. Initially disclosed during therapy, the child told Surrey Police that Rhodes had killed their mother and that they had been coerced into helping him.
The court heard how the plot involved the child luring Dawn Rhodes into a vulnerable position. The child was instructed to tell their mother they had drawn her a picture, ask her to close her eyes and hold out her hands, and then leave the room. Rhodes then entered and murdered her by slitting her throat.
Cover-Up and a Landmark Legal Reversal
Police discovered Dawn Rhodes on the kitchen floor on 2 June 2016, with injuries so severe that all the structures in her neck had been severed. Both Rhodes and the child were found with knife wounds at the scene, which Rhodes had claimed were inflicted by Dawn during a struggle.
The retrial at Inner London Crown Court heard these wounds were actually part of a calculated "cover-up". After killing his wife, Rhodes inflicted two wounds on his own scalp, instructed the child to cut his back twice, and then cut the child's arm so deeply it required surgery.
The child's compelling testimony led the Court of Appeal to quash Rhodes's acquittal in November 2024. This triggered a rare retrial under changes to the double jeopardy law, which since 2005 has allowed for a second prosecution for serious offences if new and compelling evidence emerges.
Sentencing and a Final Act of Cowardice
After more than 22 hours of deliberation, a jury unanimously found Rhodes guilty of murder in December 2025. He was also convicted of child cruelty, perverting the course of justice, and two counts of perjury.
Rhodes refused to attend his sentencing hearing, a move directly addressed by Judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogen, who said the defendant had now added "cowardice" to his characteristics. The court heard that even while on bail after the initial charge, Rhodes used supervised contact with the child to remind them to "stick to the plan," even hiding a phone at his mother's house to leave messages.
The child, who was under the age of criminal responsibility at the time, holds no liability for their role. Rhodes will now serve a minimum term of 29 years and six months for a murder that remained hidden for years until a child found the courage to speak the truth.
