Chris Dawson lied from the beginning: how the judgment unfolded

Over four hours and 41 minutes, here’s how Justice Ian Harrison got to ‘guilty’.

Christopher Michael Dawson began lying on Saturday, January 9, 1982.

That was the startling finding at the beginning of judge Ian Harrison’s epic decision in the murder trial of the man who’s evaded justice for 40 years.

This was a wholly circumstantial case which meant, as the judge said repeatedly, he had to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the only reasonable explanation for the disappearance of Lyn Dawson was that Chris Dawson had killed her.

It became clear form the outset if anyone was going to poke holes in the evidence against Dawson, it was going to be the judge. That meant plenty of heart-stopping moments along the way, as the judge’s multi-clause sentences and cantilevered paragraphs meant he frequently uttered statements like “I cannot be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt”, only to take a breath and continue “without first establishing that …”

Over four hours and 41 minutes, here’s how His Honour got to “guilty”.

The phone call

The day after Lyn was last seen alive, January 9, 1982, Dawson claimed he dropped her at a bus stop and arranged to meet her, with their two daughters and Lyn’s mum Helena Simms, at the local pool where he was a lifeguard.

During the afternoon at the pool, Dawson told Mrs Simms he’d just received a call at the kiosk of the pool from Lyn, who he claimed said she’d gone away and needed some time.

A pool employee, KB, recalled during that summer taking a long-distance call from a woman asking for one of the Dawson brothers.

She said that at the time the call came, pool manager Col Stubbings was on duty.

But the judge said this could not be true, because he accepted evidence in a subsequently discovered diary written by another ­employee, JM, showing that Mr Stubbings had gone home earlier in the day on January 9.

Justice Harrison said: “I’m satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Dawson’s representations that he spoke to Lynette Dawson by telephone in a call to the Northbridge Baths is a lie.”

Why Lyn left

Dawson claimed to have taken numerous phone calls from Lyn but she never called anyone else from her large and loving circle of family and friends – and nobody ever overheard these calls, the judge said. “That leads me to conclude that Lynette Dawson did not leave her home voluntarily.”

Lyn is dead

Despite the immense publicity generated by two coronial hearings, a police reward and The Teacher’s Pet podcast, nobody has ever come forward to say Lyn Dawson is alive and no evidence has ever been found of her registering as a nurse, engaging with Centrelink, enrolling to vote or any other official record, the judge said.

A loving mum

Nobody except Peter Dawson – who called Lyn a “competent” mother – hesitated to describe her as a devoted and loving mother who would not abandon her ­children. “Lynette Dawson’s ­relationship with her daughters is a most compelling body of ­evidence in support of a rejection of the ­hypothesis that she might possibly have abandoned them.”

No financial means

Lyn could not drive, took no significant funds with her and had no way to support herself after leaving the marriage, the judge said.

No credible sightings

The judge dismissed all alleged sightings of Lyn as fanciful or fabricated. He said some witnesses might be confused, and others – like Chris Dawson’s brother-in-law Ross Hutcheon and sister Lynette – had fabricated claims of seeing Lyn after her disappearance.

Babysitter told truth

JC – the babysitter who became Chris Dawson’s second wife – gave “truthful and reliable” evidence, the judge said. JC’s description of herself as a child from an abusive home who was not in control of the circumstances was an “evocative description of her predicament with wider metaphorical implications”, the judge said.

JC later married and divorced Dawson and the judge said he rejected the contention that their bitter break-up had tainted her evidence. “I do not consider that JC’s evidence has been corrupted by the influence of her separation and divorce.”

Lyn had hope

Despite Dawson’s infidelities, Lyn never gave up her faith in him. “Lynette Dawson was not mentally unstable. Despite the evidence to suggest the marriage was under considerable strain or she might even have thought it was moribund, Lynette Dawson was still hopeful … even after Mr Dawson went away with JC.”

That, the judge said, meant he rejected Dawson’s claim that Lyn was in such despair about her marriage she decided to leave Chris, the children and her entire life.