How Chris Dawson and Lynette Simms’ life together unravelled
12 years after marrying her highschool sweetheart, Lynette Simms vanished. Decades on, her husband Chris Dawson is in jail for her murder. Here’s how it unfolded.
Decades after his wife Lynette Simms vanished, Chris Dawson was charged and found guilty of her murder.
On Thursday, his bid to overturn the conviction failed, with the former sporting star likely to die in jail.
The Court of Appeal found Dawson did kill his wife, to make way for his teenage lover to become his new life partner.
Here’s how the tragic events unfolded.
1948: Chris Dawson and Lynette Simms born.
26 March, 1970: After meeting at Sydney Boys High School and Sydney Girls High School respectively and then dating, Chris Dawson and Lynette Simms marry at the age of 21 at St Jude’s Anglican Church, Randwick.
1970: Lynette graduates as a nurse after studying at the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
1972 to 1978: Chris Dawson is a professional rugby league player for the Newtown Jets.
1975: Chris and Lynette pay $31,000 for a vacant block at 2 Gilwinga Drive, Bayview and pay $70,000 to build their family home.
1977 to 1979: Lynette and Chris have two daughters.
1979: Chris Dawson starts working as a physical education teacher at a Sydney northern beaches high school. At the time a young girl - who can only be known by the court-ordered pseudonym JC - was a year 10 student.
1980: Dawson was JC’s year 11 physical education teacher.
Late 1981: JC comes to live at the Dawson house due to her tumultuous home life. Lynette later confronts JC about her sexual relationship with Dawson, saying: “You’ve been taking liberties with my husband”.
October 1981: JC attends her school formal with Dawson as her date.
21 December, 1981: Dawson signed an agreement for the sale of 2 Gilwinga Drive, Bayview. Lynette’s signature was not on the document.
Late December 1981: Just before Christmas, Dawson and JC pack up their belongings in his car with the intention of driving to Queensland to start a new life. However, she asks to turn around the car and they arrive back in Sydney on Christmas Day.
Early 1982: JC travels to South West Rocks to holiday with her sisters. According to JC’s testimony, while there during a phone call Dawson told her: “Lyn’s gone. She’s not coming back.” Dawson travels to South West Rocks to pick her up and they drive back, arriving in Sydney sometime between 10-12 January.
8 January, 1982: Lynette and Chris Dawson attend marriage counselling. She that evening speaks to her mother, Helena Simms, on the phone. She is never seen alive again.
9 January, 1982: Chris Dawson claimed he dropped off his wife at a Mona Vale bus stop so she could go shopping. Dawson works a lifeguard shift at the Northbridge Baths and Lynette does not meet him and her mother there.
18 February, 1982: Dawson goes to Mona Vale Police Station to report his wife missing.
27 March, 1982: A notice appears in the Daily Telegraph reading: “Lyn, I love you, we all miss you. Please ring. We want you home, Chris.” The notice appears in the paper a day after what would have been their 12th wedding anniversary.
15 January 1984: Dawson and JC marry and in December that year move to Queensland.
8 January 1985: Dawson and JC have a daughter.
Early 1990: Dawson and JC separate and JC moves back to Sydney.
17 May 1990: JC makes her first statement to police.
February 2001: The first coronial inquest into Lynette’s disappearance concludes that she was murdered by a known person. The coroner recommends charges be laid. The Director of Public Prosecutions determined there was insufficient evidence.
February 2003: A second inquest recommends murder charges be laid against a known person. The DPP again refuses to charge Dawson citing insufficient evidence.
September 2018: Police begin digging up the Bayview property in search of forensic evidence.
December 2018: Chris Dawson is arrested in Queensland and charged with Lynette’s murder. He is extradited to Sydney before being released on bail.
June 2019: He pleads not guilty.
9 May, 2022: Dawson’s trial before Justice Ian Harrison begins in the NSW Supreme Court. The trial concludes on July 11.
30 August, 2022: Justice Harrison finds Chris Dawson guilty of Lynette’s murder.
2 December, 2022: Dawson is sentenced to 24 years in prison, with an 18-year non-parole period.
May 2023: Dawson stands trial in the NSW District Court on one count of carnal knowledge relating to allegations he engaged in unlawful sexual acts with an underage student at a Sydney high school. He pleaded not guilty.
28 June, 2023: Dawson is found guilty of carnal knowledge by Judge Sarah Huggett.
15 September, 2023: Dawson is sentenced to three years in jail and has one year added onto his non-parole period for the carnal knowledge offence.
13 May, 2024: Chris Dawson appears in the Court of Criminal Appeal in an attempt to quash his conviction.
13 June, 2024: The Court of Criminal Appeal dismisses Dawson’s appeal against his conviction.
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