A man initially cleared of his wife’s murder has been convicted of the crime after their child presented compelling new evidence.
Robert Rhodes, 52, from Withleigh, Devon, was found guilty by a unanimous jury at Inner London Crown Court of murdering his wife, Dawn, on 2 June 2016, Surrey Police confirmed.
He was also convicted of child cruelty, having inflicted a wound on a child under 10 – who cannot be named for legal reasons – in an attempt to conceal the crime. Further charges included perverting the course of justice, by causing injuries to himself and the child, and manipulating the child to inflict injuries upon him as part of his cover-up attempt.
Police said Rhodes was also found guilty of perjury at the Old Bailey in 2017 and perjury at the family court in 2018 for falsely giving evidence that he knew was untrue.
Jurors in the trial at Inner London Crown Court heard how Rhodes had originally been acquitted of the murder in 2017 after the jury believed his account that Dawn had tried to attack him first and he was acting in self defence.
A main witness in the trial – the child under 10 – told their therapist in November 2021 that their father had planned Dawn’s murder and had manipulated them into being involved in it.
Police said Rhodes described this as “our plan” and then made the child lie about how their mother had died.
In an interview, the child talked about how their father had caused the relationship with their mother to deteriorate and how he had manipulated them into helping Rhodes get rid of their mother.
The child also told police that during supervised contact with Rhodes in 2016 and 2017 – while he was on bail after being charged with Dawn’s murder – he continued to give them instructions to stick to the plan and told them that they had “got some things wrong”.
Police said Rhodes continued to manipulate and groom the child, including hiding a phone at his mother’s house on which he would leave messages for the child reminding them about the agreement they had made.
Rhodes’s acquittal was quashed in November 2024 and permission was granted for a retrial.
During the retrial, the court heard how the marriage had been in difficulty prior to Dawn’s death and Rhodes had filed for divorce.
Police said the child made a 999 call at 7.34pm on June 2 during which Rhodes said his wife had attacked him and their child with a knife and that he had acted in self-defence.
Police found Dawn Rhodes lying on the kitchen floor with her throat cut to the extent that all the structures in her neck had been severed.
Rhodes told police that his wife had hit him twice on the back of the head, and the child said a deep laceration to their arm had been caused by their mother.
Rhodes was arrested for murder that evening.
He told police that he and Dawn had been arguing in the kitchen when she picked up a knife and swung it towards the child, at which point he said he told the child to go upstairs.
Rhodes said that he managed to get hold of the knife and that she came at him in a fury.
He said he swung at her with the knife, making contact with her neck, before he ran upstairs and called police.
The child gave an account consistent with the one Rhodes had given as to how their injuries had been inflicted.
In the aftermath of the murder, Rhodes told police he lashed out at his wife after she “flipped” like the green Marvel Comics character The Hulk.
Senior investigating officer detective chief inspector Kimball Edey, from the Surrey and Sussex Police major crime team, said: “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.
“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.
“The fact that the child came forward nine years after their mother’s death to tell the truth about what happened is remarkable and shows enormous bravery.
“While it should be acknowledged that the child was under the age of criminal responsibility at the time of Dawn’s death and that they were not responsible for the acts that Rhodes manipulated them into doing, the realisation that they were complicit in Dawn’s death and coming forward to set the record straight nine years later, is nothing short of extraordinary.”
Dawn’s mother Liz Spencer said she was “a loving daughter, sister and mother”, adding: “Being a mother was what brought joy to Dawn, she always wanted to be a mother.
“Dawn was caring, capable and strong. She would do anything for anyone and was loved by both friends and family.
“Dawn was an organiser and very much a people person. She would organise local charity events to include the community and her colleagues where she worked at the Raven Housing Trust.
“She would always be involved in the organisation of work social events, especially around Christmas time. Dawn was loved by all her peers.
“During her life, Dawn was looking for someone to build a life with. She was looking for someone to love and be loved by someone to trust and be trusted by and someone to respect and be respected by.”
Rhodes will be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Friday January 16.
