Chris Dawson released from prison on bail in time for Christmas
Accused wife killer Chris Dawson has been released on bail just in time for Christmas after his legal team took a week to successfully submit the $1.5 million surety needed to secure his release.
NSW
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Accused wife killer Chris Dawson has been released on bail just in time for Christmas after his legal team took a week to successfully submit the $1.5 million sureties needed to secure his release.
Wearing sunglasses and the same shorts, dark polo shirt and thongs as he did when he was arrested, Dawson left Silverwater jail with his brother Peter, a well-known Sydney-based lawyer, about 1.40pm.
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Carrying his personal possessions in a prison-issue plastic bag, he got into the front passenger seat of a silver Porsche 4WD before being whisked away past a big throng of waiting media.
The 70-year-old, who is accused of murdering his wife Lyn in Sydney in 1982, was granted bail on December 17 but efforts to have him released from Silverwater Correction Complex dragged on for days because his exclusive Sunshine Coast home needed to be valued before it could be put up as surety of $750,000.
Peter Dawson put up his home as security for another $750,000 to meet the strict bail conditions that require Dawson to give up his passport and report daily to Maroochydore police station.
Dawson’s bail documents were rejected on Friday and Saturday due to complications in the paperwork before he was released today after a last-minute scramble to file everything at Parramatta Local Court.
The grandfather, who has been charged with murder, left prison on Monday afternoon ahead of returning to his Mount Coolum home to be with his third wife Susan in time for Christmas.
With his bail conditions banning him from going anywhere near a point of international departure, it is understood he has been negotiating with homicide detectives to allow him to fly home.
Located under the shadow of the rocky mountain and close to the beach, his suburb’s quiet streets are home to expensive houses and well-manicured lawns.
The former star rugby league player and teacher intends to plead not guilty to killing his wife, who was 33 when she disappeared from Sydney’s northern beaches in 1982, leaving behind two young daughters.
Dawson’s one-time teenager lover moved into the family house when she was 16 after Lyn vanished.
Lyn’s body has never been found.
It’s believed the case will not proceed to a trial until at least 2020 — a factor that helped convince a magistrate to release Dawson on bail.
He must stay at the Mount Coolum house, where he lives with Susan, and report to a local police station daily until the case returns to the courts.
Dawson was said to be “anxious” at the prospect of spending Christmas behind bars, with courts and other government offices shutting down for days from tomorrow.
“He’s very anxious and wants to get back to his family,” Dawson’s lawyer Greg Walsh told reporters outside Silverwater jail on Friday.
On Monday afternoon, Mr Walsh told reporters, “(We’ve) gone to a lot of trouble and a lot of effort.”
“I went to Coolangatta to meet with Susan to get all the documents that she had, and I was stuck on the tarmac for seven and a half hours.
“In any event, hopefully he’ll get bail today — he should get bail.”
Chris and Susan Dawson have been married for almost 30 years.
Younger than Chris, Susan has stood by her husband during intense public scrutiny over Lyn’s disappearance.
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