Eerie parallels between two notorious NSW wife murder cases

Two devoted mothers chillingly disappeared within five months of each other in NSW and by an uncanny coincidence, their husbands have both faced justice 40 years later.

They were two devoted mothers who chillingly disappeared within five months of each other and by an uncanny coincidence, their evil husbands have both faced justice within two months of each other 40 years later.

Callous Christopher Dawson, 75, and hard-drinking John Bowie, 72, had both concocted elaborate lies that their wives had just walked out on their families, their lives and their young children. Both have been convicted of murder.

Neither Lynette Dawson, 33, nor Roxlyn Bowie, 32, had been seen since they disappeared in 1982 and their bodies have never been found. Bowie’s jury was told he had likely fed his wife’s body to pigs at a piggery which he visited.

The chilling parallels between their deaths were not lost on veteran homicide investigator Russell Oxford.

Both husbands each had other women waiting in the wings, in Dawson’s case it was his schoolgirl babysitter and for Bowie, it was a camper he met at his local Walgett caravan park.

Lynette and husband Chris Dawson in 1974. Lynnette was last seen in 1982 and her husband was convicte this year of her murder.

Their trials were each told that the men’s motives were to have “unfettered” relationships with their lovers. Both mothers had two young children.

“These women did not just disappear,” retired Detective Chief Inspector Oxford said yesterday.

“They were devoted mothers to their children and loved their own families. That is what stood out to us.”

He said the murder convictions in both cases were verdicts of “commonsense”.

Roxlyn Bowie disappeared from her home in Walgett in northern New South Wales in 1982. Her husband John was in October convicted of her murder and awaits sentence.

“It is remarkable that the two cases from back in 1982 have both ended within months of each other this year,” Mr Oxford said.

“We did keep an eye on the Dawson investigation with interest that’s for sure because of the similar circumstances but we also concentrated on our own case against Bowie on its own merits.”

Both murders were solved because detectives did not give up.

For Mr Oxford, it was his last murder arrest after over 40 years in the police and 31 years after he began to investigate the disappearance of Roxlyn Bowie from her Walgett home on June 5, 1982.

Retired homicide cop Russell Oxford (far left) arrests wife-killer John Bowie in 2019. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“Hello John. I have waited 31 years to say this to you. You are under arrest for the murder of your wife Roxlyn,” he told Bowie, a former ambulance officer who was arrested on October 2, 2019.

Former schoolteacher and rugby player Dawson had been arrested on December 12, 2018 for the murder of Lynette Dawson who disappeared on January 9, 1982.

He was convicted on August 30. Bowie was convicted on October 30.

Veteran retired homicide detective Russell Oxford arrested John Bowie with the words: “Hello John. I have waited 31 years to say this to you. You are under arrest for the murder of your wife Roxlyn”.

The cases against both men were circumstantial but both made mistakes that pointed to their guilt.

Justice Ian Harrison found Dawson had lied about getting calls from Lynette when she never contacted her mother, her siblings, workmates or friends.

A ring belonging to Roxyln Bowie was found buried in a neighbour’s garden in Walgett and two witnesses reported seeing a man they knew as Bowie burying underwear near the local golf course.

In another twist, both men face sentencing hearings on the same day – December 2 in the NSW Supreme Court.