Chris Dawson

Christopher Michael Dawson (born 26 July 1948) is an Australian convicted murderer and sex offender, and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s.

Following the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Lynette, and two separate coronial inquests, the New South Wales State Coroner determined that Lynette was dead and that Chris Dawson was her most likely murderer. After many years of stalled and failed investigations, Dawson was arrested and charged with murder in December 2018. He was granted bail after he paid the court A$1.5 million. The bail conditions required him to surrender his passport to Queensland police and to live with his current wife. His trial started on 9 May 2022 in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

In 2022, Dawson was found guilty of murdering Lynette, and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Early life Dawson was born in Sydney, New South Wales. He is the second born of twins; his twin brother is Paul who was also a professional rugby league player and he has an older brother, Peter. Dawson attended Sydney Boys High School where he was a prefect. He graduated in 1966.

Dawson met Lynette Simms at a high school function in 1965, when they were both aged sixteen. They married in 1970 at St Jude's Church, Randwick, and later had two daughters.

Rugby career Both Chris and Paul played rugby union for Eastern Suburbs.

The Dawson brothers switched codes to play rugby league for the Newtown Jets in 1972.

Subsequent career After their rugby careers finished, both Chris and Paul Dawson became physical education teachers at public high schools on the Northern Beaches and North Shore of Sydney.

The Dawson brothers and families moved to Queensland in 1985. Chris Dawson worked at Keebra Park State High School first then later moved to Coombabah State High School to work with his brother Paul.

Criminal convictions

Wife's murder

Dawson's wife Lynette went missing in January 1982. Two days after Lynette's disappearance, Dawson invited Joanne Curtis to move into the family house. He reported his wife missing on 18 February 1982, six weeks after her disappearance,

Dawson was the main subject of an investigative podcast series, The Teacher's Pet, by journalist Hedley Thomas. Thomas investigated allegations about the disappearance of Lynette and brought Dawson into renewed public and media focus through the podcast's broadcast in 2018. The series was temporarily removed from download in Australia in April 2019, "to help ensure that Chris Dawson gets a fair trial".

On 5 December 2018, Dawson was arrested by detectives from Queensland Police for the murder of Lynette Dawson. On 17 December 2018, Dawson was granted bail and his family paid A$1.5 million bail for him to be released. Appearing in the Local Court of New South Wales in June 2019, Dawson pleaded not guilty to the murder of Lynette Dawson. In February 2020, Dawson was committed to stand trial for the murder of Lynette. His arraignment was set for April, with a potential trial date later in 2020.

On 30 August 2022, Dawson was found guilty of murdering Lynette in 1982, after a judge only trial in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

In May 2024, Dawson's appeal against his conviction commenced. His appeal was dismissed on 13 June 2024.

Carnal knowledge of a student In May 2023, Dawson faced charges related to carnal knowledge (a historical offence replaced in 1986) of a student in his class, known for the purposes of the trial as "AB". In a judge-only trial, he was found guilty by judge Sarah Huggett on 28 June 2023. On 15 September 2023, he was sentenced to imprisonment for three years, with a non-parole period of two years, with the sentence to begin in August 2039 after the completion of his murder sentence.

In September 2023, Dawson's victim, launched a civil case in the NSW Supreme Court against the NSW Department of Education for negligence, claiming it breached its duty of care to her, failed to investigate Dawson, and allowed him to remain a teacher at the school "notwithstanding the common knowledge that he was sexually abusing a pupil". The matter was settled in December 2023.