A man who believed he had escaped justice for the brutal murder of his wife nearly a decade ago is now facing a life sentence, after his own child bravely revealed the truth to a therapist.
A Calculated Killing and a Chilling Cover-Up
Robert Rhodes, 52, from Withleigh, Devon, was convicted at Inner London Crown Court of murdering his wife, Dawn, on June 2, 2016. The attack took place in the kitchen of their family home in Redhill, Surrey, as their marriage disintegrated following his discovery of her affair.
Rhodes did not act in a moment of rage, but executed a coldly calculated plan. After fatally stabbing Dawn, he turned his attention to manipulating the couple's young child, who was under the age of 10. To bolster a false claim of self-defence, Rhodes stabbed himself and inflicted a cut on the child's arm, blaming both injuries on his wife.
He then coached the child to support his fabricated story, which initially succeeded. In 2017, a jury at the Old Bailey acquitted him of murder.
The Brave Revelation That Unravelled the Lie
The case took a dramatic turn four years later. In therapy, the child disclosed how they had been groomed and manipulated by their father as part of his scheme to "get rid of mummy". The child revealed that Rhodes had maintained secret contact while on bail, using a hidden phone to leave messages reminding them of the "agreement" to stick to his story.
The child described being instructed to tell Dawn to close her eyes for a surprise picture. Once she complied, unaware and defenceless, Rhodes entered the room and attacked her with a knife.
Armed with this profoundly shocking new evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service successfully applied to the Court of Appeal to quash the acquittal. In a rare double jeopardy second trial last December, a new jury found Rhodes guilty of murder.
Justice Finally Served
On Friday 16 January 2026, Rhodes appeared before Mrs Justice Ellenbogen at Inner London Crown Court to be sentenced. He will receive an automatic life sentence, with the judge to determine the minimum term he must serve.
In addition to murder, Rhodes was convicted of two counts of perjury for lying under oath at his first trial and in Family Court proceedings in 2018, perverting the course of justice, and child cruelty.
Libby Clark of the CPS praised the child's "immense bravery", stating the new evidence showed "just how much careful planning Robert Rhodes had put into murdering his wife". She added that Dawn could now be remembered correctly as a victim of domestic abuse and coercive control.
Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey of the Surrey and Sussex Police major crime team condemned Rhodes's actions as "simply despicable", noting he had "not only taken a life; he irreparably damaged another". When re-arrested, Rhodes had tellingly told officers: "I thought this would come back to bite me." His prediction has now come true.
