May 13, 2024 • 18 mins
Christopher Michael Dawson has launched an appeal, arguing Justice Ian Harrison got it wrong — and claiming he’s not guilty of Lyn’s murder.
The Front is covering the NSW Supreme Court proceedings every day. Find out more about it here, or keep up to date on The Australian's website and app.
This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Lia Tsamoglou. The multimedia editor is Lia Tsamoglou and original music is composed by Jasper Leak.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey,
the kids, the house and the teenage babysitter. That's what
Chris Dawson wanted, says a judge hearing the former rugby
league stars appeal on his murder conviction. Dawson is attempting
(00:24):
to demonstrate his wife, Lynn, who hasn't been seen by
her family since nineteen eighty two, may have just walked
out on him and their little girls. That's today's episode.
(00:45):
Sydney in January is hot and sticky. New Year's bring
temperatures over forty degrees on some days and violent afternoon
storms in the earliest days of nineteen eighty two. That
was very much the case. On January ninth, nineteen eighty two,
a young father from Sydney's Northern Beaches arranged to take
(01:07):
his two daughters, then aged just four and two years old,
to a local title pool to escape the heat. There
they paddled in the shadows, supported by their dad, a
tanned athletic Chris Dawson. Their maternal grandma, Helena Simms, was there,
so was one of Dawson's friends, Philip Day. It was
(01:28):
during this outing that Dawson claims he received a phone
call from his wife, Lynnette. He says she told him
she wanted to get away for a few days clear
her head. Lynn's family never saw her again. In twenty
twenty two, more than forty years after that summer day
at Northbridge Baths, Justice he and Harrison in the New
(01:49):
Southwald Supreme Court found Christopher Michael Dawson guilty of Lynnette's murder.
The judge said that on that day at the baths,
Chris had already murdered Lynn and left her body in
their home, planning to return later than dispose of her remains.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Christopher Michael Dawson on the charge. Then, about eight January
nineteen eighty two, at Dayview or elsewhere in the state
of New South Wales, you did murder Lynette Dawson. I
find you guilty.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
On Monday, almost two years after Justice Harrison sentenced Dawson
to twenty four years in prison, Dawson's appeal got underway
in the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal. His
public defender, Belinda Rigg SC says the evidence doesn't stack up.
We've used a voice actor or to bring you the
words spoken in court.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The evidence is not sufficient in its nature and quality
for the inferences to be drawn beyond reasonable doubt.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
That trip to the North Bridge barths is central to
Dawson's application. In the trial, Prosecutor Craig Everson SC told
the court Dawson had invited Lynn's mum, Helena Simms, and
friend Philip Day to the baths on that day so
they could see him be called into the pool office
to take a long distance phone call. That's the call
Dawson claims was from Lynn. The Crown also alleged, and
(03:15):
Justice Ian Harrison agreed it was all part of Dawson's
plan to get his little girls out of the way
for the night. He told Philip Day that Lynn wanted
the girls to spend the night with their grandma on
the other side of Sydney. Justice An Harrison found that
was so Dawson could go home alone and deal with
Lynn's remains, but Dawson's public defender Belinda Rigg SC said
(03:38):
that's probably reading too much into it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
The Crown at trial suggests that there was some sinister
or underhand aspect to this relationship, to this arrangement with
mister Day.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Justice Christine Adamson one of the three Supreme Court justices
hearing the appeal, asked rig if she meant to argue
that Dawson could have murdered Lynn at a later day.
That is, the judge wanted to know. Are you saying
Dawson could have murdered Lynne, but he just didn't murder
her at the time the Crown has alleged, No.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Your honor, it's submitted that it is a reasonable hypothesis,
consistent with innocence, that she was alive at that time.
The Crown has undertaken a trial to disprove that as
an indispensable intermediate fact, And it's not an issue in
these proceedings that he might have murdered her but at
a different point in time after that afternoon. No, it's
(04:29):
a crucial issue whether there's a reasonable possibility that Lynett
Dawson called the north Bridge Barths on the afternoon of
the ninth of January, which would result in the acquittal
of the applicant.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
One of the grounds of Dawson's appeal is that the
evidence didn't establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Lynn was
dead on January nine. One of Harrison's reasons for his
finding was that Lynn didn't communicate with any family members
after that date, but rig argued, these long breaks in
communication won't I common. Just a note on this, Belinda
(05:02):
Rigg and the judges call Lynn miss Dawson. Her legal
name was Lynette Dawson, but her family has asked us
to call her by her maiden name, Lynette Simms.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Miss Dawson's sister, Pat Jenkins didn't have a phone at
her home at Stuart's Point on the Mid North Coast.
She was at that time speaking quickly and breathing heavily,
and she offered for her to come and stay with her.
At that time, Miss Dawson had a very close relationship
with her mother, But there's nothing in Helena sims diary
entries for October nineteen eighty one to January nineteen eighty
(05:36):
two or otherwise, or other evidence in the trial suggesting
that they had daily contact or anything close to that
with one another.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Belinda Rigg said lynd Dawson's mindsetting the lead up to
her disappearance indicated it was possible that Dawson didn't kill
her at all, that she left the family home at
Bayview and her small children of her own volition. Rigg
said the young mum wasn't coping because Dawson was angry,
incommunicative and reluctant to be intimate with his wife. Plus
(06:06):
she was distraught at the arrival in her home of
a teenage babysitter. This girl is known by the acronym
JC because she was a child during significant parts of
this story. J C was sixteen years old when, according
to the finding of another court, Dawson, her school teacher,
illegally had sex with her. He's been convicted of unlawful
(06:29):
carnal knowledge and is serving a three year sentence for that.
J C was the family babysitter, but Dawson was infatuated
with her and had moved her into their home for
long periods of time. Lynn knew she and Chris were
having sex, and she was distraught.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
She had found him in bed in their home with JC.
She had found her topless and naked in their family pool,
and her loss of self esteem and devastation at those
circumstances were discussed with friends and work colleagues.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So this is Chris Dawson's public defender arguing that because
Dawson was being unfaithful with a schoolgirl, Lynn was in
such despair that she might well have left her beloved
children and her home. It's a tough case for a
barrister to argue, even one as learned as Belinda Wigg.
So what about the fact that witnesses said Lynn would
(07:22):
never voluntarily leave her kids. Belinda Rigg said Lynn knew
the girls would be well cared for by their father.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
There was a considerable body of evidence that mister Dawson
was and was well known to Miss Dawson to be
highly capable of looking after the children. Miss Dawson would
sit and chat with the other women at the picnics,
and it would always be mister Dawson who was playing
with the children, changing nappies, looking after the children's needs.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
That a woman would voluntarily abandon her children wasn't an
entirely novel concept for Christie. We heard in the murder
trial that there was a family story about a woman
who'd done just that. This was the mother of Chris's brother,
Peter Dawson's ex wife, Lynnell. Lennelle's mother had left the
family when Lynnell was just a child. Belinda Rigg argued
(08:16):
this could go some way to explaining Chris Dawson's actions
in the crucial days and weeks after Lynn disappeared.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
That situation, having so starkly occurred in the Dawson family
and well known to them, may well have contributed, amongst
other things, to Chris Dawson not doing everything within his
power to go and find his wife, just.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
As Adamson was curious about this.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
So in those circumstances where somebody who's really desperate to
be a mother only becomes a mother seven years after
she's been married, absolutely adores her children, it's difficult to
see how the applicant's former sister in law's mother can
really have a bearing on that normalization, given the focus
of miss Dawson on getting pregnant and her joy at
having the two children.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Rigg responded, his conduct on his own account of what
happened is uncaring and perhaps callous in terms of just
continuing things with j C in the house and not
making a greater effort than he did to find his wife.
But it is of some importance that there was this
big feature in their family of a woman who had
(09:23):
left and set up her own life, that he might
not necessarily presume something bad had happened to his wife.
He might think it more plausible than another person might
that his wife had simply decided to move on and
set up a new life for herself.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Justice and Harrison found it was Chris Dawson's infatuation with
j C, his student and the teenage babysitter who he
later married, and his fear of losing her that ultimately
motivated him to kill Lynn. Glinda Rigg said, for the
most part, the judge in the original trial was right
to believe jac's evidence.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That evidence demonstrates a passion love for j C on
Dawson's part, which is relevant to the motive the Crown
relies upon in this case. The evidence indicates that both
JC and the applicant went away towards Queensland a day
or two before Christmas nineteen eighty one with the intention
of not returning to Sydney to start a new life.
(10:18):
That's jc's evidence. By boxing day, jc's evidence was that
she did not want the relationship to continue.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So this was a trip When Chris Dawson was in
his early thirties and j C was eighteen. Dawson was
married to Lynn and lived with her and their two
little girls. He and j C ran away to Queensland together,
leaving Lynn and the little girls alone for Christmas. But
in the murder trial, jac said she was no longer
wanting the relationship with Dawson by then. She gave evidence
(10:49):
she was so anxious on that trip she became nauseous
and broke out in hives. They turned around and headed
back to Sydney. Back at the murder trial, the Crown
argued j c's reluctance made Dawson panic, that he decided
to get rid of Linn because he was terrified of
losing JC. In court on Monday, Belinda Riggs said that
(11:10):
wasn't right.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
There was ongoing contact between the applicant and JC between
Boxing Day and the time she went to Southwest Rocks
on a holiday with friends.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Rick argued Dawson's insistence that JC call him on a
daily basis while she was on a trip with her
friends to a beach town called Southwest Rocks that was
an evidence he was jealous or possessive of her, especially
given he didn't try to stop her from going on
the trip.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
That's not necessarily reflective of a possessiveness or a jealousy
as distinct from a more usual type of way people
who are romantically involved with one another or have been
romantically involved with one another might speak with one another.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Justice Adamson probed Dawson's obsession with JC further. She suggested
Dawson wanted to have it all.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
The applicant, from his point of view, wanted to keep
the children, wanted to keep the house, and wanted to
keep JC, and one way of doing that would be
to murder his wife.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
But rig said the fact that Dawson had planned to
leave his home and the children for a new life
in Queensland a fortnight earlier was evidence he wasn't particularly
concerned about the financial implications of his actions. Justice Adamson
wasn't satisfied.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
His brother, who was a solicitor, said, look, if you
leave that house, you might jeopardize your financial interest in
that house, and he described the pre Christmas departure as
impulsive because he was so desperate to be with JC.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
And Rigg responded, there was obviously a financial impact upon
the applicant, potentially in leaving the house and in leaving
his wife in the circumstances that he had, but it
wasn't something he'd shown himself to be overly troubled by
in the circumstances.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Rig also revisited an assertion made in the murder trial
by Dawson's former barrister, Pauline David, that Dawson loved both women,
Lynn and j C. Simultaneously. She said Jace's withdraw will
actually brought him closer to Lynn. They attended marriage counseling
and manly and were seen holding hands shortly thereafter.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
The evidence in our submission indicated that when j C
withdrew from him in January nineteen eighty two, he made
more effort in the relationship with his wife. Lynn was
observed to be positive and happy after the counseling, and
she and Dawson were seen holding hands. They were both
in particularly good spirits, were holding hands and once again
felt close.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
But j C moved into the family home at Bayview
just days after Lynd disappeared. J C testified at trial
that during that time she slept in the marital bed
with Dawson and wore Lynn's clothes at his encouragement. Belinda
Rigg said that doesn't necessarily mean Dawson killed Lynn. It
was here that just as Julie Ward, the President of
(13:58):
the Court of Appeal took up the questioning. Ward said
it would be odd for someone to give his wife's
clothing to his lover if he expected she'd return home
at some point.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Rigg responded, if all his attention was for his wife,
and it was being contented that his only love was
for his wife, and the only thing he wanted was
for his relationship with his wife to be fixed, it
would then be incongruous for him to allow JC to
stay in the house and to allow her to wear
clothes of his wife. But if his greater focus was
(14:29):
on JC at the time that she was there with him,
it doesn't necessarily indicate a knowledge that his wife had
died or responsibility for that. It's in circumstances where the
Crown has emphasized the passion that he had for JC,
it might then be said he's not going to necessarily
be clear headed and completely logical and aversive of risk.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
The third judge on the bench, just as Anthony Payne,
chimed in at this point. He asked if an innocent
person would move a teenager into the marital bed after
his wife's dizzib appearance. Belinda Rigg was frank in her response.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It's not admirable, it's not wise. The nature of his
interest in JC is in our submission, related to the
very reason why his wife left to take some time
to herself. They're not strangely coincidental occurrences. These occurrences are,
in our submission, intertwined with one another.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
She said. Dawson was aware he'd have to deal with
the consequences Eve and when Lynn returned to Bayview, just
as Adamson asked.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Because you might say, well, she's already forgiven him for
going off with JC to Queensland. She's been prepared to
undertake marriage counseling. Miss Dawson obviously adored the children and
he could, as it were, count on her good will
in future if need be.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Rigg responded, partly, your honor, But the situation on Dawson's
account is that his view was that Miss Dawson had
left him without his agreement. On nine January nineteen eighty two.
Part of the request made to j C was for
her to look after the chew dren, and she did
have a history of having looked after the children, so
that's part of the context in which her presence in
(16:06):
the house could be explicable. But additionally, if JC being
back in the house then reignited his relationship with JC,
his focus then may very well have been on JC,
despite the fact that he would have been required to
resolve in some way his circumstances with his wife once
she came back, whether that's by an amicable separation or
(16:28):
the sale of the house.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Coming up why Chris Dawson says it's the police's vault.
Lynn's killer wasn't caught earlier. Subscribers to The Australian get
to read all are exclusive analysis plus the take from
the Teacher's Pet creator Hedley Thomas at the Australian dot
com dot u and we'll be back after this break.
(17:01):
The phone call Chris Dawson says he got during that
trip to the North Bridge baths goes to one of
the other grounds for his appeal. He says it was
unfair for Justice and Harrison to conclude the call happened
because he's at a significant forensic disadvantage due to the
long delay by police in bringing charges. Dawson's wife, Lynn Simms,
(17:21):
disappeared in early January nineteen eighty two. Dawson wasn't charged
with her murder until twenty eighteen, following the release of
The Australian's investigative podcast The Teacher's Pet, made by our
colleague Headley Thomas. So Dawson can't prove if the call happened,
or if it did who made it. On Monday, the
(17:42):
public defender for Chris Dawson, Belinda riggerc so the forty
year old phone records were no longer able to be
scrutinized and that put the former school teacher in a
tough spot. But just as Christine Adamson said, it goes
both ways.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Right, and the Crown has lost capacity to show that
it came from someone else else, like, for example, JC
or some member of the family. So in terms of
forensic disadvantage, both parties have potentially suffered forensic disadvantage and
there's no particular way of knowing what that forensic disadvantage is.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Is that not right?
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Belinda Rigg said the law wasn't designed to protect the crown,
it was designed to ensure accused people got a fair trial.
Come back to the front tomorrow for all the evidence
from day two of Chris Dawson's appeal, and keep up
with the federal budget and all are reporting at the
(18:37):
Australian dot com dot au
From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey,
the kids, the house and the teenage babysitter. That's what
Chris Dawson wanted, says a judge hearing the former rugby
league stars appeal on his murder conviction. Dawson is attempting
(00:24):
to demonstrate his wife, Lynn, who hasn't been seen by
her family since nineteen eighty two, may have just walked
out on him and their little girls. That's today's episode.
(00:45):
Sydney in January is hot and sticky. New Year's bring
temperatures over forty degrees on some days and violent afternoon
storms in the earliest days of nineteen eighty two. That
was very much the case. On January ninth, nineteen eighty two,
a young father from Sydney's Northern Beaches arranged to take
(01:07):
his two daughters, then aged just four and two years old,
to a local title pool to escape the heat. There
they paddled in the shadows, supported by their dad, a
tanned athletic Chris Dawson. Their maternal grandma, Helena Simms, was there,
so was one of Dawson's friends, Philip Day. It was
(01:28):
during this outing that Dawson claims he received a phone
call from his wife, Lynnette. He says she told him
she wanted to get away for a few days clear
her head. Lynn's family never saw her again. In twenty
twenty two, more than forty years after that summer day
at Northbridge Baths, Justice he and Harrison in the New
(01:49):
Southwald Supreme Court found Christopher Michael Dawson guilty of Lynnette's murder.
The judge said that on that day at the baths,
Chris had already murdered Lynn and left her body in
their home, planning to return later than dispose of her remains.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Christopher Michael Dawson on the charge. Then, about eight January
nineteen eighty two, at Dayview or elsewhere in the state
of New South Wales, you did murder Lynette Dawson. I
find you guilty.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
On Monday, almost two years after Justice Harrison sentenced Dawson
to twenty four years in prison, Dawson's appeal got underway
in the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal. His
public defender, Belinda Rigg SC says the evidence doesn't stack up.
We've used a voice actor or to bring you the
words spoken in court.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The evidence is not sufficient in its nature and quality
for the inferences to be drawn beyond reasonable doubt.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
That trip to the North Bridge barths is central to
Dawson's application. In the trial, Prosecutor Craig Everson SC told
the court Dawson had invited Lynn's mum, Helena Simms, and
friend Philip Day to the baths on that day so
they could see him be called into the pool office
to take a long distance phone call. That's the call
Dawson claims was from Lynn. The Crown also alleged, and
(03:15):
Justice Ian Harrison agreed it was all part of Dawson's
plan to get his little girls out of the way
for the night. He told Philip Day that Lynn wanted
the girls to spend the night with their grandma on
the other side of Sydney. Justice An Harrison found that
was so Dawson could go home alone and deal with
Lynn's remains, but Dawson's public defender Belinda Rigg SC said
(03:38):
that's probably reading too much into it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
The Crown at trial suggests that there was some sinister
or underhand aspect to this relationship, to this arrangement with
mister Day.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Justice Christine Adamson one of the three Supreme Court justices
hearing the appeal, asked rig if she meant to argue
that Dawson could have murdered Lynn at a later day.
That is, the judge wanted to know. Are you saying
Dawson could have murdered Lynne, but he just didn't murder
her at the time the Crown has alleged, No.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Your honor, it's submitted that it is a reasonable hypothesis,
consistent with innocence, that she was alive at that time.
The Crown has undertaken a trial to disprove that as
an indispensable intermediate fact, And it's not an issue in
these proceedings that he might have murdered her but at
a different point in time after that afternoon. No, it's
(04:29):
a crucial issue whether there's a reasonable possibility that Lynett
Dawson called the north Bridge Barths on the afternoon of
the ninth of January, which would result in the acquittal
of the applicant.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
One of the grounds of Dawson's appeal is that the
evidence didn't establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Lynn was
dead on January nine. One of Harrison's reasons for his
finding was that Lynn didn't communicate with any family members
after that date, but rig argued, these long breaks in
communication won't I common. Just a note on this, Belinda
(05:02):
Rigg and the judges call Lynn miss Dawson. Her legal
name was Lynette Dawson, but her family has asked us
to call her by her maiden name, Lynette Simms.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Miss Dawson's sister, Pat Jenkins didn't have a phone at
her home at Stuart's Point on the Mid North Coast.
She was at that time speaking quickly and breathing heavily,
and she offered for her to come and stay with her.
At that time, Miss Dawson had a very close relationship
with her mother, But there's nothing in Helena sims diary
entries for October nineteen eighty one to January nineteen eighty
(05:36):
two or otherwise, or other evidence in the trial suggesting
that they had daily contact or anything close to that
with one another.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Belinda Rigg said lynd Dawson's mindsetting the lead up to
her disappearance indicated it was possible that Dawson didn't kill
her at all, that she left the family home at
Bayview and her small children of her own volition. Rigg
said the young mum wasn't coping because Dawson was angry,
incommunicative and reluctant to be intimate with his wife. Plus
(06:06):
she was distraught at the arrival in her home of
a teenage babysitter. This girl is known by the acronym
JC because she was a child during significant parts of
this story. J C was sixteen years old when, according
to the finding of another court, Dawson, her school teacher,
illegally had sex with her. He's been convicted of unlawful
(06:29):
carnal knowledge and is serving a three year sentence for that.
J C was the family babysitter, but Dawson was infatuated
with her and had moved her into their home for
long periods of time. Lynn knew she and Chris were
having sex, and she was distraught.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
She had found him in bed in their home with JC.
She had found her topless and naked in their family pool,
and her loss of self esteem and devastation at those
circumstances were discussed with friends and work colleagues.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So this is Chris Dawson's public defender arguing that because
Dawson was being unfaithful with a schoolgirl, Lynn was in
such despair that she might well have left her beloved
children and her home. It's a tough case for a
barrister to argue, even one as learned as Belinda Wigg.
So what about the fact that witnesses said Lynn would
(07:22):
never voluntarily leave her kids. Belinda Rigg said Lynn knew
the girls would be well cared for by their father.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
There was a considerable body of evidence that mister Dawson
was and was well known to Miss Dawson to be
highly capable of looking after the children. Miss Dawson would
sit and chat with the other women at the picnics,
and it would always be mister Dawson who was playing
with the children, changing nappies, looking after the children's needs.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
That a woman would voluntarily abandon her children wasn't an
entirely novel concept for Christie. We heard in the murder
trial that there was a family story about a woman
who'd done just that. This was the mother of Chris's brother,
Peter Dawson's ex wife, Lynnell. Lennelle's mother had left the
family when Lynnell was just a child. Belinda Rigg argued
(08:16):
this could go some way to explaining Chris Dawson's actions
in the crucial days and weeks after Lynn disappeared.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
That situation, having so starkly occurred in the Dawson family
and well known to them, may well have contributed, amongst
other things, to Chris Dawson not doing everything within his
power to go and find his wife, just.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
As Adamson was curious about this.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
So in those circumstances where somebody who's really desperate to
be a mother only becomes a mother seven years after
she's been married, absolutely adores her children, it's difficult to
see how the applicant's former sister in law's mother can
really have a bearing on that normalization, given the focus
of miss Dawson on getting pregnant and her joy at
having the two children.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Rigg responded, his conduct on his own account of what
happened is uncaring and perhaps callous in terms of just
continuing things with j C in the house and not
making a greater effort than he did to find his wife.
But it is of some importance that there was this
big feature in their family of a woman who had
(09:23):
left and set up her own life, that he might
not necessarily presume something bad had happened to his wife.
He might think it more plausible than another person might
that his wife had simply decided to move on and
set up a new life for herself.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Justice and Harrison found it was Chris Dawson's infatuation with
j C, his student and the teenage babysitter who he
later married, and his fear of losing her that ultimately
motivated him to kill Lynn. Glinda Rigg said, for the
most part, the judge in the original trial was right
to believe jac's evidence.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
That evidence demonstrates a passion love for j C on
Dawson's part, which is relevant to the motive the Crown
relies upon in this case. The evidence indicates that both
JC and the applicant went away towards Queensland a day
or two before Christmas nineteen eighty one with the intention
of not returning to Sydney to start a new life.
(10:18):
That's jc's evidence. By boxing day, jc's evidence was that
she did not want the relationship to continue.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So this was a trip When Chris Dawson was in
his early thirties and j C was eighteen. Dawson was
married to Lynn and lived with her and their two
little girls. He and j C ran away to Queensland together,
leaving Lynn and the little girls alone for Christmas. But
in the murder trial, jac said she was no longer
wanting the relationship with Dawson by then. She gave evidence
(10:49):
she was so anxious on that trip she became nauseous
and broke out in hives. They turned around and headed
back to Sydney. Back at the murder trial, the Crown
argued j c's reluctance made Dawson panic, that he decided
to get rid of Linn because he was terrified of
losing JC. In court on Monday, Belinda Riggs said that
(11:10):
wasn't right.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
There was ongoing contact between the applicant and JC between
Boxing Day and the time she went to Southwest Rocks
on a holiday with friends.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Rick argued Dawson's insistence that JC call him on a
daily basis while she was on a trip with her
friends to a beach town called Southwest Rocks that was
an evidence he was jealous or possessive of her, especially
given he didn't try to stop her from going on
the trip.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
That's not necessarily reflective of a possessiveness or a jealousy
as distinct from a more usual type of way people
who are romantically involved with one another or have been
romantically involved with one another might speak with one another.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Justice Adamson probed Dawson's obsession with JC further. She suggested
Dawson wanted to have it all.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
The applicant, from his point of view, wanted to keep
the children, wanted to keep the house, and wanted to
keep JC, and one way of doing that would be
to murder his wife.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
But rig said the fact that Dawson had planned to
leave his home and the children for a new life
in Queensland a fortnight earlier was evidence he wasn't particularly
concerned about the financial implications of his actions. Justice Adamson
wasn't satisfied.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
His brother, who was a solicitor, said, look, if you
leave that house, you might jeopardize your financial interest in
that house, and he described the pre Christmas departure as
impulsive because he was so desperate to be with JC.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
And Rigg responded, there was obviously a financial impact upon
the applicant, potentially in leaving the house and in leaving
his wife in the circumstances that he had, but it
wasn't something he'd shown himself to be overly troubled by
in the circumstances.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Rig also revisited an assertion made in the murder trial
by Dawson's former barrister, Pauline David, that Dawson loved both women,
Lynn and j C. Simultaneously. She said Jace's withdraw will
actually brought him closer to Lynn. They attended marriage counseling
and manly and were seen holding hands shortly thereafter.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
The evidence in our submission indicated that when j C
withdrew from him in January nineteen eighty two, he made
more effort in the relationship with his wife. Lynn was
observed to be positive and happy after the counseling, and
she and Dawson were seen holding hands. They were both
in particularly good spirits, were holding hands and once again
felt close.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
But j C moved into the family home at Bayview
just days after Lynd disappeared. J C testified at trial
that during that time she slept in the marital bed
with Dawson and wore Lynn's clothes at his encouragement. Belinda
Rigg said that doesn't necessarily mean Dawson killed Lynn. It
was here that just as Julie Ward, the President of
(13:58):
the Court of Appeal took up the questioning. Ward said
it would be odd for someone to give his wife's
clothing to his lover if he expected she'd return home
at some point.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Rigg responded, if all his attention was for his wife,
and it was being contented that his only love was
for his wife, and the only thing he wanted was
for his relationship with his wife to be fixed, it
would then be incongruous for him to allow JC to
stay in the house and to allow her to wear
clothes of his wife. But if his greater focus was
(14:29):
on JC at the time that she was there with him,
it doesn't necessarily indicate a knowledge that his wife had
died or responsibility for that. It's in circumstances where the
Crown has emphasized the passion that he had for JC,
it might then be said he's not going to necessarily
be clear headed and completely logical and aversive of risk.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
The third judge on the bench, just as Anthony Payne,
chimed in at this point. He asked if an innocent
person would move a teenager into the marital bed after
his wife's dizzib appearance. Belinda Rigg was frank in her response.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It's not admirable, it's not wise. The nature of his
interest in JC is in our submission, related to the
very reason why his wife left to take some time
to herself. They're not strangely coincidental occurrences. These occurrences are,
in our submission, intertwined with one another.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
She said. Dawson was aware he'd have to deal with
the consequences Eve and when Lynn returned to Bayview, just
as Adamson asked.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Because you might say, well, she's already forgiven him for
going off with JC to Queensland. She's been prepared to
undertake marriage counseling. Miss Dawson obviously adored the children and
he could, as it were, count on her good will
in future if need be.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Rigg responded, partly, your honor, But the situation on Dawson's
account is that his view was that Miss Dawson had
left him without his agreement. On nine January nineteen eighty two.
Part of the request made to j C was for
her to look after the chew dren, and she did
have a history of having looked after the children, so
that's part of the context in which her presence in
(16:06):
the house could be explicable. But additionally, if JC being
back in the house then reignited his relationship with JC,
his focus then may very well have been on JC,
despite the fact that he would have been required to
resolve in some way his circumstances with his wife once
she came back, whether that's by an amicable separation or
(16:28):
the sale of the house.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Coming up why Chris Dawson says it's the police's vault.
Lynn's killer wasn't caught earlier. Subscribers to The Australian get
to read all are exclusive analysis plus the take from
the Teacher's Pet creator Hedley Thomas at the Australian dot
com dot u and we'll be back after this break.
(17:01):
The phone call Chris Dawson says he got during that
trip to the North Bridge baths goes to one of
the other grounds for his appeal. He says it was
unfair for Justice and Harrison to conclude the call happened
because he's at a significant forensic disadvantage due to the
long delay by police in bringing charges. Dawson's wife, Lynn Simms,
(17:21):
disappeared in early January nineteen eighty two. Dawson wasn't charged
with her murder until twenty eighteen, following the release of
The Australian's investigative podcast The Teacher's Pet, made by our
colleague Headley Thomas. So Dawson can't prove if the call happened,
or if it did who made it. On Monday, the
(17:42):
public defender for Chris Dawson, Belinda riggerc so the forty
year old phone records were no longer able to be
scrutinized and that put the former school teacher in a
tough spot. But just as Christine Adamson said, it goes
both ways.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Right, and the Crown has lost capacity to show that
it came from someone else else, like, for example, JC
or some member of the family. So in terms of
forensic disadvantage, both parties have potentially suffered forensic disadvantage and
there's no particular way of knowing what that forensic disadvantage is.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Is that not right?
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Belinda Rigg said the law wasn't designed to protect the crown,
it was designed to ensure accused people got a fair trial.
Come back to the front tomorrow for all the evidence
from day two of Chris Dawson's appeal, and keep up
with the federal budget and all are reporting at the
(18:37):
Australian dot com dot au
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