“SNITCHES get stitches”…those were the chilling three words wife killer Robert Rhodes uttered to his child to threaten them into silence.
The monster’s gruesome plot worked and for five years he literally got away with murder after slitting Dawn Rhodes’ throat at the family home.
That was until 2021 when his wicked web of lies finally began to unravel.
Unbeknown to Rhodes, his own child had bravely opened up to a therapist and revealed the killer’s twisted plot.
The shocking testimony led to a rare double jeopardy case as Rhodes went back on trial.
He is now finally behind bars – ten years after the horrific killing – after a jury convicted him of murder.
The harrowing case began one evening in 2016 when Rhodes asked the child: “Do you want to get rid of mum?”
He had discovered Dawn was having an affair with a colleague and the couple’s marriage was crumbling.
It was then he hatched the gruesome plan – but tragically for the child, who was aged under ten at the time, they were pivotal to the plot.
After manipulating the youngster, Rhodes asked them to go to Dawn with a drawing and tell her: “I drew a picture for you, close your eyes and hold out your hands.”
The proud mum did as her child told her but instead of being presented with a picture, she had her throat cut with a kitchen knife by her evil husband.
Rhodes then stabbed himself to make it look like self-defence and slashed the child to make his story believable.
He called 999 to say Dawn had attacked them both and claimed he had acted in self-defence.
When officers arrived, the mum was found lying dead on the kitchen floor of the family home.
Rhodes claimed his wife had hit him twice on the back of the head after “flipping like a Hulk”.
His child – coerced into following the lie – described Dawn’s “rage” and “anger” in a police interview in May 2017.
They claimed they were told to run upstairs and “lock yourself in the bathroom”.
Rhodes meanwhile told police how he “grabbed the blade” of the knife and “held it as tight as I could”.
Piecing the twisted story together, he added: “I was scared, and it takes a lot to scare me.
“It’s like one minute she [Dawn] is fine and the next minute she’s like the Hulk.”
The shameless killer continued his lies during the trial when he made himself out to be a protector who had shielded the child from their knife-wielding mum.
He believed he had got away with murder when he was acquitted by a jury in 2017.
Despite the verdict, Rhodes continued to manipulate the child and even hid a phone in their home that he would message to remind them of the plan.
He was heard telling them at one point “snitches get stitches” as he attempted to keep a hold over the terrified youngster.
But his threats – chilling as they were – had not worked fully on the child.
After years of the dark secret eating at him, they finally opened up in 2021 to a therapist who alerted the police.
The child said they did not want to be involved but was manipulated into lying for Rhodes.
They added: “There was a plan and we went through with it. I was told to lie and I did.”
The youngster went on to reveal the killer had approached them on a bank holiday in 2016 asking for a “favour”.
As it turned out, this favour was to stab Rhodes in the back of the shoulder with the same knife used to kill Dawn and then let him cut their arm.
Domestic abuse – how to get help
DOMESTIC abuse can affect anyone – including men – and does not always involve physical violence.
Here are some signs that you could be in an abusive relationship:
- Emotional abuse – Including being belittled, blamed for the abuse – gaslighting – being isolated from family and friends, having no control over your finances, what you where and who you speak to
- Threats and intimidation – Some partners might threaten to kill or hurt you, destroy your belongings, stalk or harass you
- Physical abuse – This can range from slapping or hitting to being shoved over, choked or bitten.
- Sexual abuse – Being touched in a way you do not want to be touched, hurt during sex, pressured into sex or forced to have sex when you do not consent.
If any of the above apply to you or a friend, you can call these numbers:
Remember, you are not alone.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse over the course of their lifetime.
Every 30 seconds the police receive a call for help relating to domestic abuse.
The child said: “I didn’t want to do any of it. I just felt guilty but I did what I was told.”
Police and prosecutors finally had their smoking gun managed to quash Rhodes’ acquittal at the Court of Appeal.
When he was arrested for murder a second time, Rhodes told officers he “thought this would come back to bite me”.
The new case rested on the fresh evidence from the child and despite continuing to maintain his innocence, Rhodes was convicted of murder.
Rhodes, 52, now faces dying behind bars after he was today jailed for life.
Despite his web of deceit being destroyed, Rhodes still maintains his innocence and refused to attend his sentencing as a result.
Even at the final stage of the horrific case, the killer could not resist one last insult to Dawn’s memory.
