Chris Dawson’s brother claims JC ‘had motive’ to kill Lynette, court hears

An intercepted phone call between twins Chris and Paul Dawson suggested Chris’s schoolgirl lover ‘had a motive’ for his wife Lynette to disappear, a court has heard. LISTEN TO THE CALL.

Chris Dawson’s twin brother Paul Dawson has sensationally pointed the finger at Chris’s schoolgirl lover as the potential killer of his missing wife Lynette, a court has heard.

Paul Dawson told his brother’s murder trial on Thursday that the girl, known as JC who went on to marry Chris, had threatened Lyn – and had the motive to murder her “if she had been murdered”.

Paul Dawson, 73, said JC had more to gain than his brother did from Lynette going missing and she ”did gain more than Chris”.

JC, who had been a babysitter for Lynette and Chris Dawson’s two daughters moved into their Bayview home two days after Lynette was last seen on January 9, 1982. JC had an alcoholic mother and an abusive father, the court has been told.

The couple married in 1984, move to the Gold Coast and separated in 1990. JC has earlier told the Supreme Court how she as his “sex slave” and how he “controlled” her.

Identical twins Chris (left) and Paul Dawson.

She has given evidence that Chris Dawson told her that he had tried to hire a hitman to kill his wife but had changed his mind in case innocent people were hurt and her friends from the Gold Coast have said that JC told them after she left Chris Dawson in 1990 that she thought he had murdered his wife.

Dawson has denied the allegations.

A photo tendered to court of Chris Dawson and JC on their wedding day.

Former PE teacher Chris Dawson, 73, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his first wife Lynette who disappeared aged 33 more than 40 years ago from their home in Sydney’s northern beaches.

He claims that Lynette had just walked out of their marriage, leaving their two daughters behind.

The prosecution alleges that Dawson murdered her so he could move JC, who he met when she was a Year 11 student, into their home and have an “unfettered” relationship with her.

The fresh claims emerged as Paul Dawson was played an intercepted telephone call he made with Chris on March 16, 1999, after he and his wife Marilyn had been quizzed on the Gold Coast by NSW detectives about Lynette’s disappearance.

Chris Dawson and Lynette Dawson in 1966 both aged 17. Picture: Supplied.

In the phone call, Paul Dawson said to his brother: “If anyone had a motive it was (JC).”

Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC asked Paul Dawson in court on Thursday what he had meant by that.

“If Lyn had been murdered, JC had the motive..(she) had more to gain and she did gain more than Chris,” Paul Dawson said.

He said that he had been told that JC had threatened Lynette during a fourth birthday party of one of Paul’s daughters which was held at Chris and Lynette’s home. The two couples lived a couple of doors away from each other in Bayview.

He said he was told that Lynette had gone into the kitchen “shaky” and had said that JC had told her that “if she got in her way she would get rid of her … do away with her.”

Mr Everson asked if who he had told about that before.

“Anyone who asked,” Paul Dawson replied.
JC has never been charged with any wrongdoing.

The trial before Justice Ian Harrison continues.

Fresh witnesses could front court

The prosecution in the murder trial of former footy star Chris Dawson has dropped a bombshell in court by revealing they had fresh witnesses who wanted to give evidence.

Missing wife Lynette Dawson’s sister-in-law told the court that she told Lynette to “stand up and be counted” to save her marriage after the schoolgirl babysitter JC moved in as her husband’s lover.

Ex-teacher Marilyn Dawson, who married Chris Dawson’s twin brother Paul, said Lynette was strong and worldly but was “not coping” that Chris was having an affair with the schoolgirl in late 1981 and early 1982.

“When I spoke to her in the car, I felt she was devastated and a bit flat and I think not coping,” Marilyn Dawson told the Supreme Court.

She said that Lynette had been staying with relatives at times after JC moved into the couple’s Bayview mansion.

Chris Dawson leaves the Supreme Court of NSW in Sydney. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

“I said you need to stay at home because you don’t want this other person in your home unsupervised,” Marilyn Dawson said.

“I wanted to stand up and be counted about her home and her children and her marriage. She was a strong girl, a very strong personality, a nurse.

“I think she said in the end, I don’t know what to do. I’m bad, I’m devastated. I think she had a lot on her plate with two children and she couldn’t believe what was going on.”

A few days after Marilyn and Lynette had this conversation in Marilyn’s car, Lynette went missing.

Chris Dawson, 73, a former PE teacher, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Lynette who disappeared aged 33, from their home at Bayview in Sydney’s northern beaches. She was last seen on January 9, 1982.

He claims that Lynette had just walked out of their marriage, leaving their two daughters behind.

Marilyn Dawson said that Dawson and JC spent Christmas Day 1981 “in bed” at the home she shared with Paul, a couple of doors away from Lynette and Chris’ home.

Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC asked Ms Dawson: “Who was in your bed on Christmas Day 1981?”

Marilyn Dawson said: “Chris and JC I think because they asked could they stay at my home on Christmas Day.”

She said she had not told Chris Dawson’s wife Lynette because “they asked me not to”.

Chris Dawson with Lynette before they married.

“I knew I wasn’t happy about it but I am not confrontational so I didn’t say anything because I felt torn between helping Chris and helping his family,” she said.

But when Dawson’s twin brother Paul took the stand, he told the Supreme Court that he had never discussed Christmas Day 1981 with him despite his wife’s evidence that Chris spent the day in Paul’s bed with his schoolgirl lover.

Paul and his wife Marilyn also gave conflicting evidence about their knowledge of the state of Chris Dawson’s marriage to his wife Lynette at the time.

Giving evidence via AVL following his wife, Paul Dawson was asked about the status of his brother’s marriage at the end of 1981.

“It was good. Chris was being very positive towards it and when I spoke to Lyn on Christmas Day, she was very positive towards it,” Paul Dawson said.

Mr Everson asked him who was there when he woke up on Christmas Day 1981 and Paul Dawson said his wife, their three daughters and himself.

Mr Everson: “Did you get any visitors that morning?”

Paul Dawson: “Not from my memory no.”

Mr Everson: “What contact did you have with Chris on the day?”

Paul Dawson: “I think he rang to say he wouldn’t be joining us for Christmas. It’s very hard to remember a conversation from 40 years ago.”

Mr Everson asked him how many times had he discussed that day with Chris and Paul Dawson said: “I can’t remember any at all.”

At that point, Mr Everson tendered an intercepted telephone call between the brothers from March 16, 1999.

Marilyn Dawson has disputed this was Christmas Day 1981, with Lynette in the middle with her arms folded and Chris Dawson to Lynette’s right. She said Chris was not with them that day and no one was allowed to smoke in her in-law’s home. A note attached to the photo, which has been tendered in court, states ‘the last photo of my Lyn’.

The court adjourned at that stage yesterday, with the telephone call due to be played on Thursday.

In a bombshell revelation, Mr Everson told the court that a number of people had come forward since the trial began on May 9 and police had taken statements from them.

He foreshadowed legal argument, which might take place on Thursday, about whether the fresh evidence can be admitted as the trial is halfway through.

In other developments, Marilyn Dawson gave evidence about discussions herself, her husband and Chris and Lynette Dawson had about Lynette’s problems of “falling pregnant” before their two daughters were born.

The trial before Justice Ian Harrison continues.