Inside the 40-year battle to bring Chris Dawson to justice, as the murder trial that riveted the globe concludes with a guilty verdict. After 40 years, Chris Dawson has been found guilty of murdering his wife Lynette. Justice Ian Harrison was conclusively established guilty Dawson killed Lyn in 1982 Dawson was subjected to a three-month trial that gripped Australia and the rest of the world.
Chris Dawson has been found guilty of murdering his wife after more than 40 years of intrigue and mystery.
Lynette Dawson, a mother of two from Sydney, vanished in 1982 and was never seen again.
Her disappearance prompted a 30-year police inquiry, and her husband Chris Dawson was charged with her murder following renewed interest generated by a podcast released by The Australian.
The prosecution said that he murdered his wife in order to have “unrestricted access” to his former student and adolescent babysitter.
Dawson pled not guilty and the defense claimed Lynette had merely vanished to escape the couple’s tumultuous marriage.
Dawson faced a three-month trial that gripped the nation four years after the indictment was brought. On Tuesday, dozens of Pink-clad Lynette supporters flooded the court, while Mr. Dawson remained silent as he made his way past a mob of journalists.
Here is all the court heard about the incident.
Lynette Simms started dating Chris Dawson in 1965, when she was a student at Sydney Girls High and he was a student at Sydney Boys High. At age 16, the couple met at a high school function.
In 1965, Chris and Lynnette. She disappeared in 1982 at the age of 34.
1970 – On March 26 at St Jude’s Anglican Church in Randwick, Lynette Simms and Chris Dawson, both aged 21 at the time, are married.
Chris and Lynette Dawson purchase unoccupied land at 2 Gilwinga Drive, Bayview, in 1975, after selling their home in Cromer, north of Sydney.
They pay $31,000 for the land and $70,000 to construct their future residence.
In July of 1977, Chris and Lynette’s first daughter and “miracle baby” is born.
Chris and Lynette Dawson in 1970 on their wedding day
Lynette disappeared at age 34, leaving behind two children.
The former home of Chris and Lynette Dawson in Bayview Heights
1979: Chris Dawson begins teaching physical education at a high school in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The couple welcomes their second daughter in July.
Chris Dawson begins teaching JC, a young girl, year 11 physical education in 1980. It was shown in court that he noticed her in 10th grade and changed the class roster so he would be her teacher.
Throughout 1980, JC’s home life was problematic, and Chris Dawson became her companion and confidante. She seeks his counsel and eventually becomes the couple’s babysitter.
1981: Lynette Dawson begins working part-time at a Warriewood daycare center. She tells her coworker, Anna Grantham, that Chris had been “violent” toward her, pulling her hair and pushing her into the muck beside the pool. She was struggling to breathe.
JC moves in with the Dawsons in October 1981 due of her turbulent family life. Lyn was anxious about JC moving in due to the instability of her marriage at the time.
Around this time, neighbor Julie Andrew observes Lyn and Chris bickering over the fence.
Chris was shaking his wife by the shoulders while Lyn held one of her daughters; she subsequently revealed to Julie that she was furious by JC’s presence in the home.
Chris underwent a nose operation and instructed Lyn not to see him in the hospital. Helena, the mother of Lyn, paid a visit to her son-in-law to find JC seated next to him in bed.
JC briefly resided with Chris’ twin brother Paul Dawson (left) two doors down. Picture: Supplied
JC moved out of 2 Gilwinga Drive in November 1981 after Lynette confronts her about having sex with Chris when his wife was sleeping or in the shower.
A few doors away, JC moves into the home of Chris’ identical brother Paul. JC stated that Lynette was hospitable, but Chris would sing harsh songs to his wife.
Chris placed a $500 deposit on a Manly apartment to be shared with JC in December 1981. Approximately at this time, JC informed the court that Chris drove them to a bar or club and then called his attorney brother Peter for assistance regarding the Bayview house and a divorce. Peter allegedly threatened Chris that he would be financially punished if he moved in with JC.
A week before Christmas, Lyn’s friend Roslyn McLoughlin testified that Lyn was ‘unhappy’ and had bruising on her arm and thigh when she last saw her. Lyn implored with the mothers in her tennis group to return to her house, but they were too busy.
Lyn was waiting for Chris to pick her up from work on December 23, 1981, but he never arrived. She took a taxi home, where she discovered a message from Chris requesting that she not “create a too negative picture of him to the children.” Lyn was invited to her sibling’s house for Christmas, but she opted to remain at home to await her husband’s return.
The day JC departed to begin a new life with Dawson, she was with JC. Picture: Supplied
Chris and JC had loaded up his car with their possessions and left away for Queensland in the hopes of establishing a new life. They made it to Murwillumbah, on the boundary between New South Wales and Queensland, but turned back before the border when JC began to feel ill. She reconsidered her decision to relocate.
On Christmas morning, December 25, 1981, the couple returns to Sydney and visits Paul and Marilyn’s home. They do not inform Lyn of Chris’s return. Chris and JC travel to the high school where Paul taught and spend the night in the gymnasium.
Chris returns to Bayview on December 26, 1981, while JC visits her mother’s house and has an encounter with her violent stepfather. Chris picks her up and brings her to Neutral Bay, where she spends a week with her sister. Chris visits frequently.
Chris informs Lyn on December 31, 1981, that he had planned to attend a New Year’s Eve party on a yacht in Pittwater. Lyn proposes that they go as a family, but Chris declines. JC informed the court that Chris did not attend a party but instead spent the night in his car with her.
Lyn and her daughters travel to Clovelly to be with her parents on January 1, 1982.
JC travels to South West Rocks for a camping trip with family and friends to commemorate the end of his 12th year on January 2, 1982. Chris begs her to contact him daily.
On 3 January 1982, Lyn and her daughters return to Bayview.
Paul, his wife, and their two girls depart Sydney for a vacation on the Central Coast on January 4, 1982. Around this time, Lyn’s coworkers claim to have observed additional bruising on Lyn, who informed them that she and Chris were planning to attend marriage counseling.
Chris and Lynette Dawson undergo marriage counseling on January 8, 1982. Lynette had a phone call with her mother Helena later that evening, despite Chris’s reluctance to put her on the phone, according to Helena. It is her final conversation with friends and relatives. Lyn informs her mother that Chris served her a “delicious drink” and that the counseling session was successful. She stated that “all will work out.” Ms. Simms wrote in her diary, “Rang Lyn, who sounded half inebriated, stated everything was fine.”
According to Mr. Dawson, on January 9, 1982, Lyn awoke early to do laundry and make lunch for her girls. He asserted that she was upset the night before, but apologized for her breakdown and was more composed. According to him, he drove his wife to the Mona Vale bus station so that she could go shopping. Lyn was meant to meet him later that afternoon at Northbridge Baths, where he takes his girls swimming, but she never showed up.
Greeting cards and messages that Chris Dawson gave to witness JC throughout their relationship in the early 1980s.
JC received notes from Chris Dawson.
She was supposed to meet him later that afternoon at the Northbridge Baths before meeting her mother, but she never showed up. Helena Simms recalls that Chris was angry and questioned whether Lyn had called her when she arrived. According to Mr. Dawson, she subsequently called him and stated that she needs time apart. He arranges for a friend to transport Helena and his two girls to her home in eastern Sydney.
Chris travels to South West Rocks on January 10, 1982, where JC is vacationing with friends. Later, JC states that he is “nervous and anxious.” They return to Sydney, where Chris invites JC to move in with him.
Chris asserts that Lyn called him again and that she wanted more time to consider the situation. He notifies her employer that she would be absent for a week due to illness.
12 January 1982 –
Two purchases appear on the bank card statement of Lynette Dawson. Two for Katies Narrabeen, dated January 12 and January 27, respectively. However, it is unclear when the transactions occurred. There is no evidence to support the assertion.
16 January 1982 –
Chris Dawson states that he has his final phone conversation with Lynette Dawson.
JC on her 18th birthday wearing clothes belonging to Lyn. Picture: Supplied
Mid-January finds JC settling permanently at 2 Gilwinga Drive, sleeping in the Dawsons’ marital bed.
Chris Dawson files a missing person’s report at the Mona Vale police station on February 18, 1982, after Lyn’s mother encourages him to do so. Six weeks have passed since her disappearance, and Chris claims she departed on her own accord. He claims to have no regard for her wellbeing.
Chris tells the police that he last saw Lynette on January 9, when he dropped her off at the bus stop, and that he had spoken with her on the phone several times.
Chris Dawson inserts an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph on March 27, 1982, which reads, “Lyn, I adore you, and we all miss you.” Please call. We want you home. Chris.’
April 1982 – Witnesses claim to have saw Lyn throughout the month of April, however there is no evidence.
Chris Dawson files a “antecedent complaint” with the police and petitions the court for the dissolution of his marriage to Lynette on the grounds of abandonment in August 1982. He claims to be a “desolate, abandoned husband” who attempted to locate his wife. He informs the cops that Lyn’s bank spending caused marital troubles.
It is given after two months. He is awarded all marital property, including 2 Gilwinga Drive, and child custody.
Chris Dawson transported his missing wife’s stuff in garbage bags to her mother’s house in October 1982. This included a sales inspection for the Bayview house, which revealed that she had not approved to the sale of the property in December before she disappeared.
Two years after Lyn’s disappearance, Chris Dawson and JC were married in 1984. Picture: Supplied
1983: Chris seeks legal counsel from his attorney friend Jeff Linden in order to file for divorce. He claims in a written affidavit for property settlement that Lyn abandoned the family home.
Family and friends of Chris and Lynette visit Chris in Bayview, where they observe JC wearing Lyn’s jewelry.
Chris Dawson and JC marry in January 1984 and move to the Gold Coast later that year. Chris resizes Lyn’s rings for JC.
Chris attempts to get all of Lyn’s assets, including her portion in the Bayview house, transferred to his name and sells the property during 1984.
JC and Chris construct a home near his brother Paul and his wife Marilyn in January 1985. JC gives birth to the couple’s daughter, while Chris begins working at Keebra Park High and eventually relocates to Coombabah, where his brother teaches.
Sue Strath, a friend of Lyn, writes to the office of the NSW Ombudsman, requesting that the watchdog intervene in what she perceives to be the police’s lack of action. Senior police officers assert that there was no evidence of criminal activity or suspicion.
From 1985 through 1990, JC refers to her Queensland house with Chris as “the complex.” Following the birth of their daughter, their relationship begins to weaken. She claimed that he was controlling and gave her little independence. Later, JC confessed that she did not realize her circumstance was exceptional until she met with other mothers.
Outside the courtroom during Chris Dawson’s trial
In 1987 or 1988, the new owners of the Bayview property on Gilwinga Drive contact attorney Jeff Linder for another reason, and the topic turns to Lynette Dawson’s disappearance. Chris Dawson recently visited the residence and inquired as to where the new homeowner was excavating, Mr. Linden is informed. Nobody reported the conversation to law enforcement. Now, Jeff Linden claims that the talk was unnerving.
JC and Chris Dawson separate in 1990. She relocates to Sydney with their kid and contacts Lyn’s family and the police to alert them of their marriage. JC commences divorce proceedings.
The Bayview property is surveyed with ground-penetrating radar, but no digging is performed. They search the area surrounding the swimming pool but find nothing.
JC files a police report on May 17, 1990, in which she makes several significant charges.
Chris Dawson is interviewed by police at Beenleigh station in Queensland on January 15, 1991, following the reopening of the Lyn Dawson file. In 1985, his wife’s friend, who was also Lyn’s friend, contacted the Ombudsman and requested senior police officer Paul Hulme to investigate the situation. It is discovered that Lyn’s case file is nearly bare.
Chris Dawson (second from the right) during a January 1991 police questioning. Image: Provided.
The inquiry into Lynette Dawson’s disappearance is reopened in 1998, with Detective Sergeant Damian Loone in charge.
The phones of Paul and Chris are wiretapped in 1999, but the brothers never discuss Lyn or the police inquiry. Paul and Marilyn are questioned by authorities where Paul claims he was on vacation with his family during Lyn’s disappearance. He asserts that she may have fled with a religious organization. Paul tells the police he was unaware that JC was with Christ when they went for Queensland in 1981, but Marilyn recalls that they stayed in their home upon their return. She admits she did not notify Lyn, but claims Lyn created “opportunities” for her husband and the nanny to be together. Marilyn stated that Lyn did not defend her marriage to Chris.
Chris denies an interview request.
In January 2000, the police excavate a small area surrounding the pool at the Bayview residence. A pink cardigan and a popper container with an expiration date of 1981 were discovered. It appeared that the cardigan had been slashed and was in parts. There is no connection to Lyn.
The initial coronial investigation into Lynette Dawson’s disappearance is held in February 2001. Deputy State Coroner Jan Stevenson asserts that Lynette Dawson was murdered by a known acquaintance and suggests that charges be filed. The Director of Public Prosecutions will not press charges.
Siblings of Lynette Dawson, Gregory Simms and Pat Jenkins (center), visit Glebe Coroner’s Court in 2001. Photograph of Samantha Studdert
A second coroner’s inquest is convened in February 2003 and recommends that Dawson be charged over five days. The DPP refuses to file charges yet again.
August 2003 – The District Attorney Nicholas Cowdery refuses to prosecute, citing a lack of evidence.
2013: The NSW Police offer a reward of $100,000 for any information.
The reward is doubled to $200,000 in 2014.
2015: Detective Senior Constable Daniel Poole is placed in charge of a third police inquiry.
May 2018 –
The podcast Teacher’s Pet is established by journalist Hedley Thomas. It amasses more than sixty million downloads, earning Mr. Thomas the Gold Walkley.
Police began digging in the backyard of 2 Gilwinga Drive, Bayview, in September 2018. They discover no body.
Police excavations outside the former Dawson residence
Chris Dawson is brought off a flight by NSW Police investigators after his extradition from the Gold Coast.
December 5, 2018 –
Chris Dawson is arrested and extradited from Queensland to New South Wales, where he is charged with murder.
Chris Dawson’s Supreme Court trial before Justice Ian Harrison begins in May 2022.
The judge finds Chris Dawson guilty of murdering his wife on August 30, 2022.