Chris Dawson denies having a “possessive infatuation” with a young schoolgirl when he asked her to call him daily before his wife disappeared, a court heard.
Almost two years since he was jailed for the murder of his wife Lynette, Chris Dawson returned to a Sydney courtroom on Monday morning as he fights to be released from prison.
Dawson has been in a cell since August 2022, when he was convicted of murdering his wife Lynette, who suddenly disappeared from their Bayview home in January 1982.
Wearing a green prison-issued T-shirt, Dawson, 75, listened attentively via video link from jail as his lawyer, senior public defender Belinda Rigg SC, told the Court of Criminal Appeal that his sentence should be annulled.
The former Newtown Jets rugby league player and Northern Beaches secondary school teacher was sentenced to 24 years in prison, with an 18-year non-parole period, after Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison found him guilty of murder.
Judge Harrison found he killed his wife to be with a young student, JC, who moved into Dawson’s home in Gilwinga Drive in the following days.
Lynette Simms’ body has never been found and she has never contacted her friends or family, including her two children.
Dawson, 75, has maintained his innocence and has appealed against his conviction, arguing that it cannot be proven that Lynette Simms was not alive after Friday, January 8, 1982.
Chris Dawson denies showing a “possessive infatuation” with a young schoolgirl when he asked her to call him daily before his wife disappeared, a court heard.
![Convicted killer Chris Dawson 'infatuated' with a schoolgirl in the weeks before his wife Lynette suddenly vanished 7 Undated copy of Chris Dawson with his future wife/girlfriend Lynnette (Lynette) Joy (nee Simms??) - Lynnette disappeared in 1982 when she was 34 - an investigation pointed to Chris as a murder suspect. qld crime profile](https://whatsnew2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Convicted-killer-Chris-Dawson-infatuated-with-a-schoolgirl-in-the.jpg)
Judge Harrison found Dawson killed his wife Lynette (pictured) to be with a young student, JC, who moved into Dawson’s Gilwinga Drive home in the following days.
During a police interview in 1991, Dawson told detectives that he dropped his wife off at a Mona Vale bus stop and that she was supposed to meet him that afternoon at Northbridge Baths, where he worked as a part-time lifeguard.
Dawson told police that while he was at work he received a long-distance phone call from his wife telling him he needed some time off.
Judge Harrison found Dawson harbored a “possessive infatuation” with his young student, JC, and just weeks before Lynette’s disappearance had tried unsuccessfully to elope with the teenage nanny to start a new life in Queensland.
In the days before Christmas 1981, JC and Dawson packed up their car and headed to Queensland in an attempt to start a new life.
However, halfway through the trip he fell ill, said he missed his family and asked them to return to Sydney.
In the summer of 1981-82, JC traveled to South West Rocks, on the New South Wales mid-north coast, with his sisters and friends and the court heard Dawson asked him to call him every day.
Mrs Rigg told the court on Monday morning that Dawson’s request to speak daily was not evidence of his “possessiveness” or “jealousy”.
Mrs Rigg argued that they had recently had a sexual relationship and that it was “simply a request to call him daily”.
He said there was evidence that in the six months before her disappearance Lynette Simms had shown a “high level of despair” and a “loss of hope and self-esteem”.
During the trial, the court heard she had confronted JC and accused her of “taking liberties with my husband”.
The Crown prosecution, during the trial, described Mrs Simms as a devoted mother who would not have abandoned her young family.
But Rigg pointed to testimony from Dawson’s brother, Paul Dawson, at trial that Dawson changed diapers frequently and cared for his young children while socializing.
Rigg also said that in the days before her disappearance, Simms and Dawson had arranged to leave their children with the family and go on a five-day beach vacation.
“There was evidence that Mrs Dawson knew Dawson well as being very capable of caring for children,” Mrs Rigg said.
“And in our opinion, it refers to your willingness to be away from your children for a period of time.”
![Convicted killer Chris Dawson 'infatuated' with a schoolgirl in the weeks before his wife Lynette suddenly vanished 9 JC on the day she and Dawson packed up their car to start a new life in Queensland. Image: supplied.](https://whatsnew2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1715572965_793_Convicted-killer-Chris-Dawson-infatuated-with-a-schoolgirl-in-the.jpg)
Student JC pictured on the day she and Dawson packed up their car to start a new life in Queensland.
![Convicted killer Chris Dawson 'infatuated' with a schoolgirl in the weeks before his wife Lynette suddenly vanished 11 Dawson claims he suffered a](https://whatsnew2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1715572965_420_Convicted-killer-Chris-Dawson-infatuated-with-a-schoolgirl-in-the.jpg)
Dawson claims he suffered a “significant forensic disadvantage” due to the almost 40 years that elapsed between his wife’s disappearance and the matter coming to trial.
A central element of Dawson’s appeal, which will be heard over three days at the Court of Criminal Appeal, is his claim that he suffered a “significant forensic disadvantage” due to the nearly 40 years that elapsed between his wife’s disappearance. and the matter that came to trial.
During that time evidence was lost and several key witnesses died, including Phillip Day.
Mr Day was present at Northbridge Baths on the afternoon Mrs Simms did not arrive to meet her family.
He gave a statement to police in February 2001 in which he said he saw Dawson being summoned to the pool office and when he returned he said he had received a call from Lynette.
In a ground of appeal, Dawson’s attorneys argue that he suffered a “miscarriage of justice” because Judge Harrison determined beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not receive a phone call from his wife.
His lawyers also argue that Judge Harrison was wrong to conclude that Dawson told several lies that evidenced his “consciousness of guilt.”
Judge Harrison, in his judgment, said that Dawson had lied about his relationship with the young woman, about wanting to resume his relationship with his wife and about receiving phone calls from her after her disappearance.
![Convicted killer Chris Dawson 'infatuated' with a schoolgirl in the weeks before his wife Lynette suddenly vanished 13 Undated copy of the wedding of Chris Dawson and Lynnette (Lynette) Joy (née Simms?) - Lynnette disappeared in 1982 when she was 34 - an investigation pointed to Chris as a murder suspect. crime qld weddings headshot](https://whatsnew2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1715572965_847_Convicted-killer-Chris-Dawson-infatuated-with-a-schoolgirl-in-the.jpg)
During a police interview in 1991, Dawson told detectives he dropped off his wife Lynette (pictured on their wedding day) at a Mona Vale bus stop.
![Convicted killer Chris Dawson 'infatuated' with a schoolgirl in the weeks before his wife Lynette suddenly vanished 15 CHRIS DAWSON](https://whatsnew2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1715572966_816_Convicted-killer-Chris-Dawson-infatuated-with-a-schoolgirl-in-the.jpg)
Dawson’s lawyers argue he suffered a “miscarriage of justice” because Judge Harrison found beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not receive a phone call from his wife.
Her legal team also argues that there was “inadequate” evidence to prove that Mrs Dawson was not alive after January 9, 1982.
During his sentencing, Judge Harrison said the case against Dawson was circumstantial, but noted that a guilty verdict was the only “rational inference” he could draw.
Last year, Dawson was also found guilty of a charge of carnal knowledge after a judge found he engaged in sexual activity with one of his students at a Sydney secondary school in 1980.
Judge Sarah Huggett sentenced him to three years in prison with one year added to his non-parole period.
His non-parole period will expire in August 2041, at which time he will be 93 years old.
New “no body, no parole” laws passed by the New South Wales Parliament, dubbed “Lyn’s Law”, mean Dawson will not be granted parole until he reveals where Lynette is buried.
Judge Harrison, in his sentencing comments, noted that Dawson “would probably die in prison” before his non-parole period expired.
The hearing continues before judges Julie Ward, Anthony Payne and Christine Adamson.