According to Justice Harrison, Dawson had three motives to kill his wife. Source: Twitter.
The NSW Supreme Court has found Chris Dawson guilty of murdering his first wife Lynette, 40 years after her disappearance.
Justice Ian Harrison handed down the verdict after a 10-week long trial saying, “I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette Dawson died on or about January 8, 1982, as a result of a conscious and voluntary act committed by Mr Dawson with the intention of causing her death.
“I am satisfied he resolved to kill his wife, and that there was also the financial motive of potentially losing his investments.”
The 74-year-old vehemently denied killing his 33-year-old wife so he could continue an affair with his teenager babysitter who has been referred to as “JC” for legalities.
JC was a student at the high school where he worked as a PE teacher. Evidence in the trial said that JC moved into Dawson’s home days after Lynette’s disappearance, with the pair getting married in 1984 and divorcing in 1990.
Justice Harrison says that Dawson told lies about the disappearance of Lynette and alleged that she was still alive, saying that she was spotted multiple times throughout the years and that she voluntarily abandoned her family which included her two children.
Lynette mysteriously disappeared from Sydney’s northern beaches on January 8 in 1982 and was never seen again by her friends or family.
“The whole of the circumstantial evidence satisfies me that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she died on or about 8 January 1982 and that she did not voluntarily abandon her home,” said Judge Harrison.
Lynette’s brother Greg Sims said that while it’s the verdict they wanted, her family won’t stop until her body is found.
“The journey is not complete. She’s still missing. We still need to bring her home. We would ask Chris also to find it in himself, to allow us to bring her home for peaceful rest.
“Finally showing some dignity, she deserves.”
Dawson was arrested by police at his Gold Coast home in December 2018 and pleaded not guilty to his charges.
He had applied for a judge-only trial due to heightened public attention on the case from the 2018 Teacher’s Pet Podcast that explored the disappearance of Lynette.
The podcast was listened to tens of millions of times around the world and won a Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism.
Dawson’s lawyer Greg Walsh has said that he will continue to fight the verdict.
“He has always asserted, and he still does, his absolute innocence of the crime in which he’s been convicted, and he will continue to assert that innocence, and he’ll certainly appeal.”
More details to come.
