A court has been informed that Lynette Dawson was murdered in 1982 as a result of a crafty husband’s obsession with his young sweetheart and babysitter.
Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC contended that Christopher Michael Dawson, now 73, killed his wife on January 8 or 9, 1982, after many attempts to develop a connection with his former high school classmate, known as JC, had failed. The case was heard in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday.
During his closing arguments, Mr. Everson stated, “By this time, the Crown maintains that the accused had his dominoes set up and they were ready to fall.”
Before committing murder, Dawson is said to have explored four alternative escape routes from his marriage, including moving in with JC in a Manly, Sydney apartment, paying a hitman to kill his wife, selling the couple’s Bayview property, and going to Queensland with JC to start a new life.
According to Mr. Everson, all of these schemes fell through, proving that a spouse fascinated and besotted with his adolescent girlfriend had reached a breaking point and turned to murder.
From the time JC began babysitting for the Dawsons in 1980 to Mrs. Dawson’s disappearance in early January 1982, Justice Ian Harrison was taken through the incidents.
Dawson’s obsession with JC caused him to ward off and threaten teenage boys who were attracted to her, and publicly attending her high school formal as her date, the court heard.
By December 25, 1981, Dawson had slid so far into moral turpitude that he had returned from his aborted trip to Queensland with JC and hid the fact that he was back from his wife, instead staying at his twin brother Paul Dawson’s home, Mr Everson said.
Dawson was alleged to have abandoned his family on New Year’s Eve 1981 as well to spend time with JC, and grew upset when JC wanted to end the relationship in early January 1982, flying to Southwest Rocks for a holiday with her friends.
At a marriage counselling session on January 8, the day of the alleged murder, Dawson purportedly put his hands around his wife’s throat, telling her that if this did not work, he would get rid of her.
The Crown contends Dawson disposed of the body on the night of January 9 after a meeting with family friend Philip Day and Mrs Dawson’s mother Helena Simms at Northbridge Baths.
At the baths, Dawson claimed he received a call from his wife saying she needed time away. However, Mr Everson argued that the call was a fabrication, saying no one had actually seen him take the call or heard what was said.
Dawson is alleged to have driven to Southwest Rocks through the night of January 10, arriving there the next day and driving back with JC to Sydney where she moved into the Bayview home.
This haste for the trip so soon after Mrs Dawson vanished showed Dawson’s enthusiasm for JC and was inconsistent with his claims his wife would be back home in a couple of days, Mr Everson said.
Dawson’s version of events, that Mrs Dawson had simply left home without warning, was inconceivable, the court heard. Evidence showed she was looking forwards to her future after marriage counselling, and that she had remained committed to her ‘Chrissy’ even while he was spending time with JC in late 1981.
Mr Everson urged the court to find that JC was a credible witness, despite Dawson’s legal team arguing that she had made up allegations against him due to an acrimonious custody battle when the couple separated in 1990.
While JC had only gone to the police in 1990 with allegations that Dawson had wanted to hire a hitman to kill his wife, she had also made these same claims to her friends and Mrs Dawson’s family at the time.
‘The conduct of (JC) and the disclosures that she made to those people are consistent with a person coming out of a controlling relationship who was scared and talking about what she knew,’ Mr Everson said.
Dawson has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, denying any involvement in his wife’s disappearance.
The trial continues.