Evil dad who killed wife and manipulated child into murder cover-up set for life sentence

Robert Rhodes planned the killing and tricked their child, who was under 10, into helping corroborate his web of lies to support his version of events

A husband who brutally stabbed his wife to death and callously manipulated their young child to escape justice is now facing a life sentence for his shocking crime.

Robert Rhodes, 52, from Withleigh, Devon, murdered his wife Dawn in their kitchen in 2016 after learning she was having an affair with a work colleague.

He carefully orchestrated the killing and deceived their child, who was under 10, into assisting and backing up his elaborate lies.

Following the murder, Rhodes fooled police and courts into believing that he delivered the fatal blow to his wife when she attacked him.

The scheme succeeded, and he managed to be acquitted of murder at his Old Bailey trial in 2017, reports Devon Live.

But in 2021, his child confided in a therapist, disclosing they had been coerced into supporting Rhodes’ deception as part of his scheme to “get rid of mummy”.

The father underwent a rare double jeopardy second murder trial and was convicted by a jury in December last year based on the fresh evidence.

At Inner London Crown Court on Friday, January 16, Rhodes will be imprisoned for life when he receives his sentence from Mrs Justice Ellenbogen.

Alongside the murder conviction, Rhodes was also found guilty of two counts of perjury for giving false evidence at his Old Bailey trial and in the Family Courts in 2018, perverting the course of justice, and child cruelty. Rhodes murdered his wife on June 2, 2016 after lodging divorce papers.

The youngster – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – dialled 999 at 7.34pm, during which Rhodes claimed his spouse had come at him and their child wielding a knife.

Dawn Rhodes was discovered with a slashed throat on the kitchen floor of their Redhill, Surrey residence. Rhodes instantly launched his fabricated defence, telling officers that his wife had struck him twice on the back of the head, and later during his initial trial he portrayed her lunging at him after “flipping like a Hulk”.

To lend credibility to his story, the father had wounded himself and inflicted a gash on the child’s arm – injuries he pinned on his wife. The suspected murderer believed he had escaped justice when a jury cleared him in 2017.

However, the reality started emerging when the child opened up to a therapist about being manipulated, before approaching police. Rhodes had drawn the youngster into his plot, drilling them to back up his version of events.

Upon his second arrest for the killing, he revealingly told officers he had “thought this would come back to bite me”. His murder acquittal was overturned in the Court of Appeal, and senior judges granted the Crown Prosecution Service permission to pursue a second trial.

The testimony given by the child has proved crucial to the fresh case. They disclosed that Rhodes had stayed in touch whilst on bail in 2016 and 2017, directing them to maintain the charade.

The father carried on manipulating his child, even going so far as to conceal a phone at his mother’s residence where he would record messages for the youngster, reminding them of their pact.

The child had been told to instruct Dawn Rhodes to shut her eyes and wait to receive a photograph.

Once they departed the room, Rhodes then lunged at his wife with a blade as she stood with her eyes shut, oblivious to the looming assault.

“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”, said Libby Clark, from the CPS.

“He exploited a young child before the murder, explaining his plan to cover up the truth and make it appear as if Dawn had attacked him, so that he could claim that he acted in self-defence. This included Rhodes inflicting injuries on the young child’s arm.

“He continued with his web of lies over the intervening years. 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 for the murder of Dawn, something he mistakenly thought he could get away with.

“None of us can even begin to imagine what Rhodes has put the child through over a period of many years. Now though, as a result of their evidence, Dawn can now be remembered by everyone in the right way – as a victim of her violent partner.”

Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey, from the Surrey and Sussex Police major crime team, shed light on the case, stating: “During the first trial, Dawn was portrayed as the villain but had actually been a victim of domestic abuse and coercive control at the hands of her husband for years.”

He further condemned Rhodes’ actions, saying: “The fact that Rhodes not only murdered his wife in cold blood but then manipulated and groomed his own child to play a part in his evil scheme and cover up what he had done is simply despicable – not only did he take a life; he irreparably damaged another, as well as the lives of everyone else who loved Dawn.”

Despite the damning evidence against him, the Devon man denied all the charges at his second trial. On Friday, Rhodes will be handed an automatic life sentence for murder, with the judge set to determine how many years he must serve before having the chance of release on licence.

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