Former Sydney professor Chris Dawson is now awaiting a verdict following the conclusion of his lengthy murder trial, and the judge says he hopes to make a “relatively quick” decision.
Key points:
- Chris Dawson is accused of murdering his wife Lynette and disposing of her body
- The Crown argued that she wanted to have a “free relationship” with the family’s nanny
- The defense team said Ms Dawson may have abandoned her husband because of her infidelity
Dawson, 73, pleaded not guilty to the murder of his first wife, Lynette Dawson, who disappeared from the northern beaches of the city in January 1982.
The Crown alleged that Mr. Dawson’s motivation was to have a “free relationship” with the family’s teenage nanny, known in court as JC, who was also a high school student where she taught.
The NSW Supreme Court learned that the former rugby league player was “delighted” with the teenager, whom he later married, and came to see his wife as an “impediment” to being with JC.
Mr. Dawson’s defense team argued that it was possible that Ms. Dawson made the decision to leave her family, after seeing “writing on the wall” that their relationship would not recover from a breakup. of trust.
On her fifth and final day of a closing speech, her attorney Pauline David told the court that Ms. Dawson would have been “understandably, deeply hurt” by her husband’s behavior with JC.
He argued that it contributed to Mrs. Dawson’s decision to leave the house.
“We say that despite his relationship, however inappropriate, the position of the defense is that it does not make him a murderer,” Ms. David said.
Lynette Dawson has not been seen since she disappeared in 1982. (Supplied).
Dawson has stated that he left his wife at a bus stop in Mona Vale on January 9, 1982 and that he planned to meet her later at a pool with his children.
Although he did not testify during the trial, he has told police that Mrs Dawson called him at the pool and told him he needed time to think things through.
In addition, he claimed to have received similar phone calls in later weeks.
Mr. Dawson’s defense team relied on these calls, a suggestion that Mrs. Dawson’s bank card was used shortly after her disappearance, and the alleged sightings of her by five people between 1982 and 1984. , to suggest that she may have been alive after January 1982.
Mrs. David told the judge that it was a reasonable hypothesis that she had not been ruled out by the Crown.
“I hope to be able to give my judgment relatively quickly,” Judge Ian Harrison said at the end of the communications.
“That doesn’t mean tomorrow, I can assure you.”
The Crown did not oppose the continuation of Mr. Dawson’s conditional bail.