In Britain, a man has been found guilty of murdering his wife eight years after he was acquitted. Their child has given new evidence.
Robert Rhodes stabbed his wife Don in the neck. But he was acquitted in 2017 because he claimed the woman tried to attack him on her own.
The retrial came after Rhodes’ child told during therapy how he forced her to help with the murder plan and hurt herself to make it look like self-defence.
It used to be that a person could not be tried again for the same offence once acquitted. But in 2005 the Double Prosecution Act changed in England and Wales to allow a second trial for the most serious offences, including murder.
Rhodes, 52, who denied ever planning to kill his wife, also yadu Rhodes claimed he killed his wife in self-defence.
He claimed she “fell apart like crazy” during an argument.
“Crying in the shadows.”
“We mourned Don in the shadows, supported only by a few people who saw through his [Rhodes’] deceit,” Ms Rhodes’ mother Liz Spencer and sister Kirsty Spencer said in a statement.
“She was everything to us and he was nothing, she would be glorified and he would be forgotten. Dawn was caring, capable and strong. She would do anything for anyone and she was loved by friends and family alike.”
Sister Kirsty added: “There is no justice for Dawn because she is dead. The only thing I recognise is that for the first time in years Don’s voice has finally been heard.”
Don’s brother, Darren, added: There are no words to describe this awful situation. It is difficult for us to understand the mentality of a man so warped, so complicit.
The child revealed the truth about the attack to his GP in 2021 and he reported it to the police.
Don’s persona was effectively stomped into the dirt. Dawn Rhodes was a murder victim and the child was a victim who was trained and manipulated to do what she did & q uot;.
“Sheer Courage.”
The double jeopardy defence rules allow people who have already been acquitted to be retried only in exceptional circumstances – when new and compelling evidence emerges.
Libby Clarke of the CPS notes: “The new evidence from the child witness was extremely shocking and showed just how carefully Robert Rhodes had planned the murder of his wife.”
“It was thanks to the immense courage of the child, who explained exactly what happened that night, that Robert Rhodes was finally brought to justice for Don’s murder, even though he wrongly thought he would get away with it.”
“None of us can even imagine what Rhodes put the child through over the years. However, now, thanks to her testimony, Don is properly remembered