Chris Dawson arrested, to be charged with murder of wife Lynette

Chris Dawson has been arrested and will be charged with the murder of his wife Lynette, The Australian reports. 

It comes almost 37 years after the mother-of-two was declared missing from her Sydney home on January 9, 1982.

Queensland Police confirmed to Starts at 60 that a 70-year-old man had been arrested on Wednesday morning in relation to the investigation into Lyn’s disappearance.

That man is reportedly her husband, Chris, who has been living in Queensland for many years. 

“A 70-year-old man has been arrested this morning shortly before 8 o’clock in relation to the murder of Lyn Dawson,” the publication reported Detective Chief Inspector Chris Olen said.

“He’s been taken to Southport where he will be charged NSW police will seek an extradition.”

The arrest comes after popular podcast The Teacher’s Pet, produced by The Australian, revisited the cold case in detail and recalled how Chris claimed at the time that his wife needed time away when she left.

Just a few days later, he moved his schoolgirl lover into the family home. He then waited six weeks to report his wife missing. 

Despite two coronial inquests recommending Chris be prosecuted for murder, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) stated at the time there was insufficient evidence to lay charges, ABC reports. 

Nicholas Cowdery QC, who was in charge of the NSW’s DPP at the time of the initial case, appeared on the ABC’s Australian Story a few months ago to explain why charges weren’t laid.

“Without a body, without knowing first of all whether in fact she is dead, without knowing secondly if she is dead, how she died, it’s very hard to mount a case of a reasonable prospect of conviction just on motive and the undefined existence of means and opportunity. That makes it very weak,” he told the show.

Chris managed to largely avoid media attention until The Teacher’s Pet was launched this year with millions of people across the world tuning in to hear the details of the case, which had a specific focus on Lyn and Chris’ marriage and his affair with his student. 

In April this year police sent a new brief of evidence to the DPP in the hopes of finally achieving a criminal prosecution. However, Chris continued to deny any involvement in his wife’s disappearance. 

Police conducted a forensic search at the Dawsons’ former Bayview home in September, but didn’t uncover any new evidence at the time. 

Have you been following this story? Do you remember this case?