man Convicted of Murdering Wife After Child’s Testimony Overturns Previous Acquittal
A man has been found guilty of murdering his wife eight years after being initially cleared of the crime, a landmark case brought about by new evidence provided by their child. robert Rhodes, 52, was convicted in 2024 for the murder of Dawn Rhodes, which occurred on June 2, 2016.
The conviction marks a significant moment in British legal history, highlighting the evolving submission of double jeopardy laws. Previously, an individual could not be retried for the same offense after an acquittal. However, a 2005 change in the law allowed for a second trial in the most serious cases, including murder, when compelling new evidence emerges.
Rhodes was first acquitted in 2017, claiming his wife had attacked him and the stabbing was an act of self-defense. The case was reopened in 2024 following revelations from Rhodes’ child, disclosed during therapy sessions. The child recounted how they were coerced into assisting Rhodes with a plan to kill Dawn and injure himself, creating a false narrative of self-defense.
According to reports, days before the attack on june 2, 2016, Rhodes instructed the child to approach dawn and request she participate in a seemingly harmless game: closing her eyes and extending her hands. Upon the child’s departure, Rhodes then stabbed Dawn in the neck at their home near Redhill in Surrey. The motive for the murder stemmed from Rhodes discovering, on Christmas Eve 2015, that his wife was having an affair with a colleague.
The disturbing manipulation didn’t end with the murder. Rhodes later asked the child to stab him in the back of the shoulder and even cut themselves on the arm, further reinforcing the fabricated story presented to authorities. In initial police interviews, both Rhodes and the child falsely claimed Dawn had attacked them with a knife.
“Dawn’s character was essentially dragged through the mud,” stated a senior official with Surrey Police. “dawn Rhodes was a victim of murder and the child is a victim who was groomed and manipulated to do the things they have told us that they did.”
The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, remained silent for years, finally revealing the truth to a therapist in 2021. This prompted a renewed inquiry and ultimately,Rhodes’ arrest and conviction. He was also found guilty of child cruelty, perverting the course of justice, and two counts of perjury.
The jury deliberated for 22 hours before reaching a guilty verdict, a case Judge Mrs Justice Naomi Ellenbogen described as “challenging and upsetting.” Libby Clark, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), emphasized the “immense bravery” of the child witness. “The new evidence that came from the child witness was profoundly shocking and showed just how much careful planning Robert Rhodes had put into murdering his wife,” Clark said. “It is thanks to the immense bravery of the child in coming forward to explain exactly what happened that night that Robert Rhodes has finally been brought to justice.”
Family members of Dawn Rhodes expressed a mixture of relief and enduring grief. In a statement, Dawn’s mother, Liz Spencer, and sister, Kirsty Spencer, said, “We grieved for Dawn in the shadows with the support of only a few who saw through his [Rhodes’] deceit. She was everything to us and he is nothing, she will be celebrated and he will be forgotten.” Kirsty Spencer added, “Ther cannot be justice for Dawn because she is dead. The only acknowledgment I make is that for the first time in years, Dawn’s voice has finally been heard.” Dawn’s brother, Darren, described the situation as “horrific,” struggling to comprehend “the mindset of an individual so twisted as to even contemplate this as a solution to his own unhappiness, implicating a child under 10 in the process.”
A detective involved in the case, Det Ch Insp Kimball Edey, described Rhodes as exhibiting a “high level of malevolence, manipulation, and I would go so far as to say evil.” Rhodes will be sentenced in the new year. This case serves as a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of domestic violence and the enduring power of truth, even after years of deception.
