Home / Crime and Justice / Acquitted Killer's New Life Unravels as Child Testifies
Acquitted Killer's New Life Unravels as Child Testifies
13 Dec, 2025
Summary
- Robert Rhodes murdered his wife Dawn and manipulated their child to lie.
- He was acquitted in 2017 but a retrial was ordered after the child spoke out.
- Rhodes was found guilty of murder nine years after his wife's death.
Robert Rhodes, who was acquitted of murdering his estranged wife Dawn in 2017, has now been convicted following a retrial. Rhodes had built a new life for himself over 150 miles away in Devon, starting a family and purchasing a new home.
His new beginning was shattered when his child, who had initially corroborated Rhodes' fabricated self-defense story, revealed the truth to a therapist in 2021. The child testified that Rhodes had planned Dawn's murder and manipulated them into assisting in the cover-up, including faking injuries.
After a lengthy trial, Rhodes was found guilty of murder, child cruelty, perjury, and perverting the course of justice. This verdict brings closure to Dawn's family after a nine-year wait for justice, vindicating her as the true victim.
