The Teacher’s Trial podcast: Chris Dawson pleads not guilty to Lyn Dawson murder

Justice Ian Harrison has sentenced Chris Dawson to 24 years in prison for the murder of his wife Lynette Simms.

Retired schoolteacher Christopher Dawson has been found guilty of the murder of his wife Lyn four decades ago. Listen to The Teacher’s Trial podcast for updates.

The Australian

13 min read

6:00AMDecember 03, 2022.

Updated 9:42AMDecember 05, 2022

Former teacher Chris Dawson has been found guilty of murdering his missing wife Lynette.

NSW Supreme Court judge Ian Harrison SC found Dawson killed Lyn, disposed of her body and then lied for decades to conceal the crime.

Four years after The Australian’s investigative podcast series The Teacher’s Pet detailed the highly suspicious circumstances around Lyn’s decades-old unsolved disappearance, Justice Harrison said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt Dawson was guilty.

The Teacher’s Pet podcast is back: find out how to listen

Chris Dawson found guilty of murdering Lynette Dawson

Dawson’s 10-week trial was held without a jury at his request, to ensure proceedings weren’t tainted by publicity or prejudiced by the long delay in charging him.

The prosecution presented a wholly circumstantial but powerful case, overcoming the hurdle of Lyn’s remains never being found.

Read the coverage of the judge’s findings and the verdict as it happened

Subscribers to The Australian have complete access to coverage of The Teacher’s Trial and The Teacher’s Pet. Subscribe to The Australian here.

Sentencing

December 2
Chris Dawson is sentenced to 24 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 18 years, by the highly experienced NSW Supreme Court judge who convicted him of his first wife Lyn’s murder, Ian Harrison SC. Follow the judgement as it happened

Sentencing submissions

November 10
Justice Ian Harrison hears submissions from the Crown and defence on what sentence Chris Dawson should serve for the 1982 murder of his wife. Follow the proceedings as they happened

The trial: coverage from the courtroom

May 16-20
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday

May 23-27
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Trial adjourned until Monday

May 30
Monday | Trial adjourned until Tuesday, June 7

June 7-10
Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday

June 14-17
Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday

June 20-24
Monday | Tuesday | Trial adjourned until Friday | Friday

June 27 - July 1
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Trial adjourned until Monday

July 4-8
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday

July 11-15
Monday | Judge retires to consider verdict

August 30: The verdict

The Teacher’s Trial podcast

From the team behind The Teacher’s Pet … Hedley Thomas returns with our team of reporters for The Teacher’s Trial.

Thomas provides background and context while David Murray and Matthew Condon report live from the courtroom. Listen to the episodes below or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Episode 22: It’s Over

Christopher Michael Dawson will likely die in prison. That was the stark declaration of Justice Ian Harrison SC in the NSW Supreme Court, sentencing Dawson to 24 years imprisonment with no chance of parole until 2040.

We hear every word of Justice Ian Harrison’s sentencing remarks, plus reactions from Lyn and Chris’ family, and from the police and lawyers. And we revisit some of the voices you heard right at the beginning of this podcast investigation: the women who believed Lyn had been murdered, and who refused to be silent.

Plus, Hedley meets one very special member of our audience.

Episode 21: Shanelle

Lyn’s oldest daughter, Shanelle Dawson, walked into a Sydney courtroom and spoke from the heart about the killing of her mother, the selfishness of her father, and the ongoing damage to her life as a result of the murder. Shanelle’s extraordinary victim impact statement, delivered by her through tears, sorrow and anger, brought witnesses and even court staff to tears.

Lyn’s siblings, Greg Simms and Pat Jenkins, shared their pain too, as Justice Ian Harrison weighed the sentence he will impose on convicted killer Chris Dawson, 40 years after Lyn’s death.

Verdict episode 3: Lyn’s Legacy

In our third and final episode diving into Justice Ian Harrison’s meticulously detailed judgment, we look at the evidence of Lyn being bruised and her accounts of being subjected to acts of violence at the hands of her husband Chris.

Hedley, Claire, Matthew, and David also discuss the judge’s findings about the evidence given by members of the Simms and Dawson camps, as well as “the paper boy” and “the trolley boy”.

As this will be our final episode for some time, we consider Lyn Dawson’s legacy and hear from one listener about the profound impact a verdict 40 years in the making has had on her.

Verdict episode 2: He Said, She Said

“A brilliant piece of writing.” That’s the verdict of acclaimed author Matthew Condon on Justice Ian Harrison’s 238-page judgment. Our in-depth analysis of the decision begins with the lie that brought Chris Dawson’s defence undone: a call – supposedly made by his wife, Lyn – to the Northbridge Baths on January 9, 1982.

Hedley, Claire, David, and Matthew also take a closer look at the evidence of JC, turning up damning details of how Dawson would buy the teenage student chocolate before they had sex in his car. The convicted killer’s sex with JC continued in his school office, at his university, his twin brother’s home and in his own home when Lyn was in the shower or asleep.

We revisit comments by the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery QC, in 2018 that Lyn could still be alive, that shocked her family. And Hedley and Claire meet The Honourable Geoffrey Davies, a former judge of the Queensland Court of Appeal, who says it’s hard to understand how it took 40 years to prosecute.

Verdict episode 1: Before and After

Forty years after Lyn Dawson disappeared from Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Christopher Michael Dawson has been convicted of her murder. In this episode, we’ll take you to the moments leading up to and following that pivotal moment. Hedley Thomas, Claire Harvey, David Murray, and Matthew Condon share their experience of being in the courtroom when Justice Ian Harrison handed down his explosive verdict. Plus, we’ll hear what this finding means for Lyn’s family, who never stopped fighting for justice for their beloved daughter, sister, and aunt.

GUILTY

Christopher Michael Dawson has finally learned his fate after Justice Ian Harrison handed down his verdict in the NSW Supreme Court.

Dawson was charged with one count of murdering his wife, Lynette, in early 1982.

We hear from retired homicide detective, Gary Jubelin, what happens next, now that the marathon trial and deliberations have wrapped.

Episode 17: Anticipation

After 40 years, a verdict is just days away. As anticipation builds, we answer more of your questions: What happened to the dressmaker who Lyn talked to about her bruises and her “violent” husband Chris? Do inquest findings carry any weight in a criminal trial? What does reasonable doubt mean anyway?

We have a frank and honest discussion about how the language we use to talk about crime has evolved. And we hear from a woman who’s travelling hundreds of kilometres to hear the verdict in person out of respect for Lyn, a woman she has never met.

Episode 16: Save The Date

We finally get an answer to the question that’s been lingering for weeks: when will Justice Ian Harrison return a verdict? We’re also taking the opportunity to answer some of the fascinating and complex questions sent in by you, our listeners. And we meet a figure who’s loomed over the trial of Christopher Michael Dawson: Helena Simms, the mother of Lynette Dawson, who never stopped looking for her beloved, lost daughter.

Episode 15: Super Sleuths

Two coroners examined Lyn Dawson’s disappearance and recommended a ‘known person’ - her husband Chris - be charged with her murder. We delve into how the inquests unfolded, finding out what one of the coroners had to say when Chris, his twin brother Paul, and Paul’s wife Marilyn did not attend. And we explore the interaction between podcasting and the criminal justice system, talking to two women who turned to audio investigations after all else failed, with remarkable results.

Episode 14: Memory Lane

We revisit the volatile decade that was the 1970s, Chris and Paul Dawson’s heyday. They were at the peak of their celebrity as well known sporting figures and male models, exploiting the novelty of being identical twins in everything they did. Many years later as police close in over Lyn’s suspected murder, phone-taps capture more conversations between the brothers and within the Dawson clan. And we take a look at the role of the meticulous young Homicide Unit cold case detective who first became involved in 2015 and ultimately brought the murder case to court.

Episode 13: Twins unplugged

From bewildered to furious, Chris and Paul Dawson vent their true feelings in tapped phone calls over two decades, as the lingering mystery of Lyn’s disappearance draws the attention of police, journalists and the wider world. Retired detective inspector of homicide Gary Jubelin takes us inside the emotion and suspense of a murder trial, and defence lawyer Karen Espiner breaks down the tactical decisions and judicial process at play. Plus, an evocative exploration of Lyn’s family and their long wait for answers.

Episode 12: Sue

Sue Strath is that rare, loyal friend who never turns away, who never gives up. Her efforts to poke and prod police into action over the disappearance of Lyn Dawson makes Sue one of the few heroines of a tragic story. Sue kept agitating for 16 years, although she was sure that Lyn was dead. The facts and chronology of the case show that Sue’s persistence caused the police investigation in the late 1990s which led to much of the evidence presented in the murder trial. Sue was in the witness box at the murder trial for only a short time but her fascinating story battling bureaucrats and cops is unpacked here, along with all the developments in the case since Justice Harrison adjourned to consider a verdict and write his judgment.

And, as the Dawson twins turn 74, Chris faces another court -- this time on a charge of carnal knowledge of a student from his time at Cromer High.

Plus, we meet some more inspiring women: the dedicated court-watchers who’ve been in the public gallery each day.

Episode 11: The Defence Closes

Chris Dawson is a man of good character, badly let down by police and unfairly tainted over the disappearance of his wife: that’s the essence of the Defence’s closing address on behalf of the accused. Finally, the court got to hear Dawson’s side of the story. Through barrister Pauline David, he admitted having behaved ‘horribly’ towards Lyn by beginning a relationship with babysitter JC, leaving his wife in such despair she walked out and cut off all contact with her family.

We heard from a surprising defence witness, and got some clues about Justice Ian Harrison’s thinking, as he sought Ms David’s rebuttal of the Crown’s case. We hear the voices of Dawson family insiders, including Chris himself, in flashbacks to The Teacher’s Pet investigation.

This is our longest episode yet, as we explore the fine detail of Chris’ claims to be an innocent man, wrongly persecuted.

Episode 10: The Crown Closes

Obsessed with teenage babysitter JC, Christopher Dawson murdered his wife Lyn in terror of losing what he so deeply desired. That was the powerful thrust of a meticulous and forensic closing address, delivered over two days by Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC. Everson said Dawson made four separate plans to escape his marriage before ultimately killing Lyn, disposing of her body and racing to South West Rocks to collect JC and install her in the family home, wearing Lyn’s clothes and her rings. This is the first of two episodes focusing on the closing submissions by each side. Next episode: The Defence Closes.

Episode 9: She Took Off

Police taps on Chris Dawson’s phone in 2018 as episodes of The Teacher’s Pet were unfolding reveal him and his twin brother Paul raging over the former babysitter-cum-wife JC, as well as journalists, TV crews and homicide cop Damian Loone. In one intercept Chris discloses he was still hearing from Lyn some ‘six or eight weeks’ after she disappeared - although in 1982 he told police his contact with Lyn ceased after a week. He says of Lyn: ‘she took off’. The evidentiary value of bruises described by witnesses on Lyn’s arms, neck and leg is weighed by the judge as the trial reaches its pointy end.

Episode 8: The Reporter and The Cop

Hedley Thomas, the award-winning journalists behind The Teacher’s Pet podcast, enters the witness box in the trial’s eighth week. Thomas mounts a fiery defence of investigative journalism amid a fierce cross-examination by defence barrister Puline David. Detective Damian Loone also returns to the witness box for a grilling over his investigative methods and integrity. The former cop stands firm under the onslaught, defending his actions in seeking justice for Lyn and answers for her family.

Episode 7: Fruit Barn

A retired cop makes an explosive revelation that an unverified and fleeting purported sighting of Lyn Dawson at a fruit barn closed down the first homicide investigation in the early 1990s. The court hears investigative files were left to decay in a damp storage facility, never to be found again. An author and confidante of family babysitter `JC’ speaks of her motivations for writing a book about her friend’s saga with Chris and Lyn Dawson, and her transition from student to teenage bride and “sex slave”.

Episode 6: Gangland

The names and reputations of Sydney’s most notorious crime figures are connected to Chris Dawson’s murder trial, as the focus turns to the gangland milieu surrounding the Newtown Jets rugby league club. The crown’s criminally-connected witness Robert Silkman speaks of his friendship with heroin trafficker and Newtown teammate Paul Hayward, and his drinking buddy and brother-in-law, psychopathic contract killer Neddy Smith. Silkman’s claims that Dawson asked him to help “get rid” of Lyn after a Newtown players’ trip to the Gold Coast are ferociously attacked by the defence team.

Episode 5: Intercepted

The voices of Chris and Paul Dawson echo through the court once more as intercepted phone calls from the late ‘90s are played publicly for the first time. Members of the Dawson family, including twin brother Paul and sister-in-law Marilyn, recall the events leading up to and following Lynette Dawson’s disappearance decades earlier and mount a fierce defence of the accused. The Crown bolsters evidence from former Dawson family babysitter JC, calling on former school friends and fellow playgroup mums to testify about her life in Queensland and the deterioration of her marriage to Chris Dawson.

Episode 4: Sex, Lies and Videotape

The court hears Chris Dawson’s story in his own words as video of his first and only police interview on the topic of his wife’s disappearance is played in full. His brother, Peter Dawson, remembers the crucial weeks and months following Lynette Dawson’s disappearance and a teenage co-worker of JC recounts a frightening encounter with Chris Dawson, who allegedly warned him to stay away from JC. And this decades-old cold case hits a very modern road bump thanks to COVID-19.

Episode 3: Bruises

It’s an intense and emotional week in court as Lyn’s workmates and friends tell of a steady deterioration of her marriage to Chris Dawson. Witnesses are tested on allegations of bruising on Lyn and violence and aggression in the home. The evidence takes us from the school grounds of Cromer High to seaside village South West Rocks, to the backdrop of a chart-topping song.

Episode 2: Groomed

Chris Dawson’s former babysitter and schoolgirl lover “JC” gives evidence that he groomed her, then turned her into his “sex slave” and a substitute mother for his children after his wife Lyn’s sudden disappearance. Lyn’s friend and neighbour Julie Andrew and siblings Greg Simms and Pat Jenkins tell of the trauma of the past 40 years, as their nightmare is brought to life through diaries, letters and photographs.

Episode 1: Court

Four decades after former star footballer and high school teacher Chris Dawson allegedly murdered his wife Lyn, a murder trial her family feared would never happen has begun. The prosecution revealed that a new witness - a former Newtown Jets team-mate of the accused wife killer - will allege Dawson asked him in 1975 to help ‘get rid’ of Lyn. Dawson strenuously denies wrongdoing. And in the leadup to the trial for the most high profile cold case in Australia’s history, judges gave their verdicts on Dawson’s right to a fair trial in light of The Teacher’s Pet podcast series, the delays of 40 years since Lyn’s disappearance, and the conduct of earlier police investigations.

The Front

For daily updates, our morning news podcast The Front will bring exclusive analysis from the trial.

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The Teacher’s Trial podcast: Chris Dawson pleads not guilty to Lyn Dawson murder

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