40 years ago, the Australian Lynette Dawson disappeared without a trace or any more signs of life. His case was consigned to oblivion until, a few years ago, it was rescued by a tenacious reporter whose revelations were released in the form of a podcast in 2018. That serial broadcast garnered tremendous popularity and served to renew interest – and investigation – for the fate of the vanished woman. In a latest movie twist, her then-husband, Christopher Dawson, was found guilty this week of her murder.
In the eyes of investigative journalist Hedley Thomas, Lynette's case was always suspicious. According to her closest interviews, she was a woman devoted to her husband and their two daughters in common, with whom she lived in Sydney. She was a housewife. He, a 33-year-old former professional rugby player who taught physical education at a high school.
At that time, the man also had a sexual relationship behind his back with one of his students (JC, 16), whom the couple ended up hiring as a nanny. Lynette disappeared on January 8, 1982 with no belongings, car or money. Her husband always maintained that she left them voluntarily and that he contacted her days later to say that she needed time alone. Meanwhile, the minor settled in her house with Chris, who a year later obtained a divorce from her and married her until they separated in the early 1990s.
“A young mother devoted to her daughters who suddenly forgets about them and just runs away, while her husband has this unusual relationship with a schoolgirl half his wife's age. It's ridiculous," the informant told the Australian ABC agency.
Thomas learned of the case in 2001, but did not jump into his investigation until 15 years later. By then, two forensic reports had given the woman up for dead and already pointed to her husband as the possible cause of her disappearance, but the Prosecutor's Office refused to proceed, alleging lack of evidence.
The reporter spoke with friends, relatives and neighbors of the missing woman, as well as with the young lover turned wife and some investigators in charge of the investigation. The resulting podcast series, titled The Teacher's Pet, dealt extensively with the case, with allegations of physical abuse of her wife by her husband and an alleged attempt to hire a hit man to kill her. In those audios, he also pointed out the inconsistencies in the statements of Christopher, whom he paints as a murderer, the initial police failures and included various speculations about how he could have disposed of the body.
The series, published in May 2018, was an overwhelming success, with more than 60 million downloads – it was number one in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom – and was recognized with the Walkley Award, the most prestigious award of Australian journalism. His popularity accelerated the investigation and the agents thoroughly excavated the old family residence. Despite finding no new evidence, Chris was arrested in December of that year on charges of murder.
Since then, his defense has clung to the lack of concrete evidence and the body is still missing. He also demanded the annulment of the popular jury trial because the enormous diffusion of the podcast could "predispose its members against their client". The Justice partially endorsed that thesis and determined that the case be instructed by a single judge.
The task fell to Magistrate Ian Harrison, who on Wednesday found Dawson, 74, guilty. In his intervention, he described the arguments of the defense as "extravagant" and "absurd" and reasoned that the accusation is "convincing and solid". The court established that her husband's motive was to “replace” Lynette with her JC and that, given her inability to break up her marriage, he decided to murder her. On the podcast, he criticized its "unbalanced view" of the case and ruled that it had affected the testimony of some witnesses.
The sentence was well received by Lynette's family, who always rejected her leaving voluntarily. Before the press, her sister, Greg Sims, begged Chris to "finally do the right thing" and reveal the location of her body to take her home so she can rest in peace. However, the defendant continues to maintain his innocence and has already announced that he will appeal the verdict.
