Chris Dawson sentenced to 24 years for wife Lynette's murder in babysitter case
The convicted wife killer will "probably die in prison" for killing Lynette, who he saw as "merely ... an inconvenient impediment".
Convicted wife killer Chris Dawson will "probably die in prison" for killing Lynette, who he saw as "merely ... an inconvenient impediment". SUBSCRIBE for The Australian's full investigation and award-winning podcast series.
Convicted killer Chris Dawson has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for the "selfish and cynical" murder of his wife 40 years ago who he saw as "merely ... an inconvenient impediment".
"Mr Dawson will probably die in jail," highly experienced judge Ian Harrison SC said, before stating he would first be eligible for parole over the 1982 death of Lynette Dawson (now to be known as Lynette Simms) in 18 years' time. The year will be 2040 and Dawson will be 92 years old.
The 74-year-old former high school teacher and Newtown Jets footballer was sentenced on Friday in Sydney at the NSW Supreme Court where family and friends of Lynette packed in to finally bear witness. Dawson's brother Peter was also present in the courtroom, sitting just metres from Chris at the bar table, with defence lawyer Greg Walsh. Dawson was seated in the dock wearing prison greens. Lynette's younger brother would later say Dawson showed "no emotion whatsoever".
In the moments before he handed down the sentence, Justice Harrison summed up in this way: "The reality is that he will not live to reach the end of his non-parole period or will alternatively, by reason of his deteriorating cognitive condition and physical capacity, become seriously disabled well before then even if he does.
"I am nevertheless required to impose a sentence that satisfies the community’s expectations of punishment, retribution, and denunciation. A just and appropriate sentence must accord due recognition to the human dignity of the victim of domestic violence and the legitimate interest of the general community in the denunciation and punishment of someone who kills his spouse.
"Even though such expectations must be tempered by the need to extend mercy where appropriate, I recognise that the unavoidable prospect is that Mr Dawson will probably die in jail."
On his reasons for sentencing, Justice Harrison took into account that Dawson coldly executed a plan to kill his wife so that he could continue an exclusive relationship with his former Cromer High School student and babysitter JC, deprived his two young daughters of their loving and devoted mother, has shown no remorse, and is refusing to reveal the location of Lyn’s remains.
"The fact that Lynette Dawson's body has never been located or recorded is an aggravating circumstance of the murder," Justice Harrison said.
"Lynette Dawson’s murder was also committed for the selfish and cynical purpose of eliminating the inconvenient obstruction she presented to the creation of the new life with JC that Mr Dawson was unable to resist. Lynette Dawson was faultless and undeserving of her fate. Despite the deteriorating state of her marriage to Mr Dawson, she was undoubtedly also completely unsuspecting," he added.
"Tragically, her death deprived her young daughters of their mother so the significant part of the harm caused to others ... is the sad fact that Lynette Dawson was treated by her husband, the father of the very same girls, as completely dispensable."
Dawson had 'Uncontrollable desire to be with JC'
Despite his planning to kill his wife, Justice Harrison acknowledged Dawson was "highly unlikely to re-offend".
He said Dawson's crime was "inspired by an uncontrollable desire to be with JC". "It was neither spontaneous nor unavoidable.
"It was a crime that should never be permitted to offer the slightest encouragement to any person similarly placed or similarly minded.
"Mr Dawson's sentence should reflect the disapprobation with which his self-indulgent brutality must be viewed by the Australian society. In plain terms, it is not acceptable to take someone's life, merely because they represent an inconvenient impediment to a particular result," Justice Harrison said.
His legal team has argued his poor health and the publicity associated with The Australian’s investigative podcast series The Teacher’s Pet mean he will do it tougher in jail and warrant a reduced sentence.
But on Friday, Justice Harrison acknowledged the although the publicity "has undoubtedly been intense” Dawson "has now been convicted of the crime which attracted the publicity in question".
"That Mr Dawson should now be granted some concession on sentence for the avalanche of publicity that he has received and likely continue to receive will not in my view, be consistent with the later intervention of this conviction."
He made note of Dawson's depressive illness and mild cognitive impairment, which a psychiatrist has diagnosed.
Outside court, Dawson's lawyer Greg Walsh said "there are no winners in a tragic case like this".
“Lynette’s family have lost their daughter, their sister, their mother … So far as Mr Dawson is concerned he now, of course, will spend, in all probability, the rest of his life in jail and will not have the relationship he would have otherwise had with his own children," he said.
Walsh was asked whether he spoke to Dawson about the body, and he responded that Dawson maintained his innocence. "He said that I’m innocent, I don’t know where she is because I’m innocent."
"I have no means to persuade him ... I can't do any more than I've done."
“He knows that he will spend the rest of his days in jail unless he is successful in an appeal."
Walsh said he would struggle with the violence of prison as people with notoriety often did.
"Prisons are dangerous places … (Violence in jail) still is a very serious problem … He would find it very difficult to defend himself. Prisoners with notoriety like him are often stood over," he said.
Lynette Dawson’s younger brother Greg Simms read a statement outside court, saying "we hope Chris Dawson lives a long life in order to serve that sentence".
"Chris Dawson discarded her, the Dawson’s disregarded her."
"From today on, we want her to be known and remembered as Lynette Joy Simms."
"What we need now is to find Lyn and put her to rest. It’s our time to begin living our lives without having this hanging over our heads. Chris Dawson has had 40 years of freedom. Now, it’s our turn," Simms said.
Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said outside court despite the sentence, there was unfinished business.
“We will keep this case open … in the hope we do get information to provide some dignity to Lyn and let the family lay her to rest.”
'You are not God': Shanelle
At his sentencing hearing in November, Dawson and Lyn's daughter Shanelle gave a powerful denunciation of her father's behaviour.
"You are not God," Shanelle Dawson told her father.
“There are not enough words in the English language to describe the impact of 41 years of deceit, trauma, silence, and gaslighting; the fact the father I loved and trusted is capable of such a heart-wrenching selfish, brutal, and misogynistic act.”
Laws introduced in NSW this year that generally require offenders convicted of historical crimes to be sentenced according to current practices won’t apply because Dawson was charged beforehand, his sentencing hearing was told last month. As a result, Dawson was has been given a jail term in line with sentencing practices of 40 years ago.
Read more Chris Dawson coverage:
- The complete timeline of the Chris Dawson murder trial
- How Chris Dawson groomed JC
- What Lyn Dawson's family really think of her murderer
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