Our Team

Matthew Condon is an award-winning journalist and the author of more than 18 works of both fiction and non-fiction, including the bestselling true crime trilogy – Three Crooked Kings, Jacks and Jokers and All Fall Down. His other books include The Trout Opera and The Motorcycle Café. In 2019 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the community. He is a senior writer and podcaster for The Australian.

Matthew Condon

Latest

teacher’s trialNation

Colour of character enlivens Dawson court

The criminal history of one Robert Silkman preoccupied the murder trial of former school teacher Chris Dawson in the Supreme Court in Sydney on Thursday.

Matthew Condon

teacher’s trialNation

Evidence opens a window on seedy Sydney, circa 1975

One of the most anticipated witnesses in the case appeared at the trial of former schoolteacher Christopher Dawson.

Matthew Condon

teacher’s trialNation

Lynette Dawson. Lyn Dawson - pictured on the ABC's 'Chequerboard' program back in the 1970s. Picture: ABC

Seeking truth in the shadows

It was another day of mysteries – in shadow, and in daylight – in the murder trial of former schoolteacher and rugby league star Chris Dawson in Sydney’s Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Matthew Condon

Teacher’s trialNation

Witness Peter Breese leaves Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Wednesday, February 12, 2020. Chris Dawson, who was extradited from Queensland, is appearing in Downing Centre Local Court after being charged in December with murdering his wife, Lynette Dawson, who disappeared in 1982. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi) NO ARCHIVING

Ghosts emerge … and witnesses swear it was Lyn

It was a day that began and ended with ghosts, with evidence emerging of sightings of Lyn Dawson after she had supposedly vanished in January 1982.

Matthew Condon

Teacher’s TrialNation

Chris Dawson (right) leaves with his brother Peter Dawson (left) at Downing Centre Courts in Sydney Thursday, August, 8, 2019. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins) NO ARCHIVING

Courtroom cruise ship all at sea as evidentiary squalls rock boat

Trials can throw up moments of unfiltered drama, and on Thursday at the murder trial of former school teacher Christopher Dawson, such moments arrived with regularity.

Matthew Condon

The teacher’s trialNation

A recent picture of identical twins Chris (LEFT) and Paul Dawson. (Chris Dawson)

Double take from double vision as Dawson twin testifies

At 2.48pm on Wednesday in Court D of Sydney’s Supreme Court, a dark suited man suddenly appeared on the room’s four wall-mounted television screens.

Matthew Condon

The Teacher’s TrialNation

Copy pic of Lyn Dawson appearing on ABC show Chequerboard in the mid seventies.Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Mood swings in court as nostalgia gives way to pain

The murder trial of former schoolteacher Christopher Dawson continues its relentless graze through that nostalgic nirvana that was the early 1980s.

Matthew Condon

courtNation

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos May 26, 2022: Chris Dawson leaves the Supreme Court in Sydney.Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Web of chance entangles ordinary lives in intrigue

Some of Monday’s witnesses were ordinary people whose life story, for a delicate moment, intersected with another’s, and by fate became a small if potent tile in a murder trial.

Matthew Condon

courtNation

Babysitter’s ‘perfect home’ fantasy sours

The drama that preoccupied much of Chris Dawson’s murder trial on Thursday played out on a small and focused stage deep in the heart of 1970s Australian suburbia.

Matthew Condon

courtNation

Chris Dawson (left) and his twin brother Paul arrive at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Chris Dawson, 73, a former Newtown Jets rugby league player, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife in January 1982. (AAP Image/Jane Dempster) NO ARCHIVING

From tennis mums to murder claims

It was a day that swung mightily from an era of innocence to accusations of murder. From young mums playing social tennis to interrogation in a homicide squad interview room.

Matthew Condon

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/matthew-condon/page/15