Tense scenes as Chris Dawson’s murder trial verdict looms

A stony-faced Chris Dawson has arrived at the NSW Supreme Court for his murder trial verdict, with the accused’s brother pushing a cameraman away as they were mobbed by media. 

After waiting for 40 years to find out what happened to 33-year-old Lynette Joy Dawson who vanished with out a trace, Justice Ian Harrison SC will hand down his verdict on ‘The Teacher’s Pet’ case on Tuesday morning. 

There were tense scenes about 9am when Dawson and his brother Peter arrived at court – Peter shoving a TV cameraman and saying ‘get out of the way’ as reporters crowded their path. 

Chris Dawson kept silent as he was bombarded with questions about his feelings and whether he was prepared for the possibility of jail time. 

At 10am, Justice Harrison will enter court 13A at Queens Square in Sydney amid tense anticipation from both the accused’s supporters and Lyn Dawson’s siblings as to whether he would convict or acquit the 74-year-old of murdering Lyn and disposing of her body. 

Chris Dawson had left his Sunshine Coast home in Queensland to fly to Sydney for the verdict, after spending the last seven weeks on bail while Justice Harrison deliberated on his decision. 

On Sunday, as his old team Easts Rugby Union played in grand finals at Coogee Oval, Dawson had sported a club shirt and enjoyed a visit from his daughter Shanelle at his home. 

Both Dawson and his identical twin brother Paul played for Easts before switching to the Newtown Jets rugby league side in 1972.

Justice Harrison conducted a judge-alone trial and is due to give a lengthy summary of the reasons for his decision. 

Mr Dawson, according to his defence, suffers from a fractured hip and and a possible brain injury sustained from his years playing rugby.

The verdict is also momentous for the family of Lyn Dawson, who have invested so much time and effort in seeking justice for the 33-year-old mother of two young girls who vanished without trace on January 8 or 9, 1982.

Lyn’s sister, Pat Jenkins, her brother, Greg Simms, and the missing woman’s niece Renee Simms and nephew David Jenkins have had their lives on hold for the 10-week trial, the weeks since as Justice Harrison has deliberated and, indeed, the empty decades since Lyn vanished.

His Easts supporter polo shirt is several years old, and the weekend’s results were not a conclusive portent for what was to come.

Easts beat Sydney University in third grade, levelled with old rival Randwick in an 13-all draw in the same division, and won 21-17 against Randwick in the first grade Colts.

Daily Mail Australia understands Dawson is not a club member and hasn’t been to Easts clubhouse since 2009.

Mr Dawson’s eldest daughter Shanelle, who was four when her mother disappeared was pictured packing her car as she left his house on Sunday, after publicly revealing she still loves her dad.

Four years ago, Shanelle had broken down on national television, saying ‘It’s not looking good for my father, I will be honest to say’. 

Chris Dawson was arrested and charged with Lyn Dawson’s murder in late 2018, pleaded not guilty to the charge and has always maintained his innocence.

Lynette Dawson’s disappearance from her Bayview home on Sydney’s northern beaches was the subject of the hit podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, which was played during the lengthy trial.

During the trial, crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC claimed Mr Dawson’s motivation for murdering his first wife and disposing of her body was to have an ‘unfettered relationship’ with a school student, known in court as JC, who became their teenage babysitter.

The court heard that Mr Dawson, who was twice JC’s age, became utterly infatuated with her and conducted a sexual affair, eventually moving her into the family home after Lyn vanished. 

Lynette Dawson’s body has never been found and Mr Everson’s circumstantial case included that the accused had disposed of her during a ‘window of quiet seclusion’ sometime before or after meeting Lyn’s mother at the pool, and collecting JC from northern NSW.

The trial heard two separate allegations of Mr Dawson suggesting he hire a hitman to kill Lyn, one by a former Newtown Jets team-mate and one by JC, who became his second wife.

JC told the court repeatedly Mr Dawson had ‘groomed’ her, then ‘installed’ her in the house and the marital bed, where she became ‘a sex slave’, as well as housekeeper and mother to his two daughters.

In the house were all of Lyn’s belongings, including wedding and engagement rings, clothes, eyewear and her nursing badges. 

Friends, colleagues, neighbours and an employee of Lynette Dawson testified they had seen her with bruises, heard her claim her husband had assaulted her, or witnessed him doing so.

Mr Dawson’s barrister, Pauline David, argued that the young mother had simply up and left and had gone away of her own free will, and was still alive after not contacting her mother or other family since January 1982.

Ms David cited five alleged sightings, including in the Sydney suburb of at Gladesville, working at a  hospital, at a hotel near Lake Macquarie and crossing the road during Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ 1983 royal tour.

Ms David surmised Lyn Dawson could have ‘created a new life’, met with misadventure and since died, and even committed suicide. 

Lyn Dawson’s family flagged the fact that despite the conclusion of the trial with Justice Harrison’s verdict, they will not ever give up on finding her remains.

Nephew David Jenkins tweeted last weekend, ‘After 40 years, on Tuesday we’ll find out whether the evidence against Lyn ‘s (accused) murderer was strong enough.

‘Either way, this isn’t over until we have Lyn home.’