“I made a very, very, very big mistake in not stopping the car in the first place and not talking to Lyn,” he told the Local Court in 2020.
He did not tell Chris Dawson at the time, saying he did not realize the implications of the alleged sighting, and only reported another brother-in-law Peter Dawson by email in 2018.
Hutcheon’s wife and Dawson’s older sister, Lynette Hutcheon, said she was sure her husband had reported the Gladesville incident to police in 1999.
He did not think the observation was important enough to tell his family immediately because of the feeling that Lynette Dawson was alive, but she only needed time, the court heard.
“I thought he was still in the area and, you know, he’d fix things and come back.”
Although police notes suggest that Lynette Hutcheon did not provide Dawson’s contact number when asked in 1999, a phone call was intercepted between the two brothers on the same day of the interview.
Lynette Hutcheon criticized police officers for being too relaxed and for not recording all the important information that was disclosed to them.
In the recorded phone call, Hutcheon is heard telling his brother that police are investigating the disappearance of Lynette Dawson. He assumed that his second wife, known only as JC, was being “smart” and creating difficulties due to a heated battle for custody.
“We don’t need its two-cent value as a hole in the head,” Hutcheon said.
In court, she was sure she gave her brother’s details to police in 1999, looking confused as to why only her address was provided and not her phone number.
Chris Dawson, 73, is accused of murdering his wife and disposing of her body in January 1982 so that he could maintain an unrestricted relationship with JC, who was his nanny and former student. The Newtown Jets rugby league high school teacher and player has pleaded not guilty.
Lynette Hutcheon told Judge Ian Harrison that she knew Lynette Dawson had been seen after her disappearance in a coastal hippie commune north of Sydney.
He also said his aunt claimed to have seen Dawson selling handicrafts at a Sunday morning market in a school car park in Beacon Hill sometime after his disappearance.
In 2018, Thomas produced the podcast The Teacher’s Pet detailing Mrs. Dawson’s disappearance and the surrounding events.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
AAP
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