Chris and Lynette Dawson on their wedding day - with twin brother Paul next to Chris
(Picture: Handout)A man has been found guilty of the historic murder of his wife 40 years ago after a podcast investigated her sudden disappearance.
A judge ruled that Chris Dawson killed his wife Lynette in January 1982 and hid her body.
A podcast about her disappearance called The Teacher’s Pet, by veteran Australian investigative journalist Hedley Thomas, was launched in 2018 and became one of the most popular in Australian history.
It was called The Teacher’s Pet because Dawson, at the time a PE teacher on Sydney’s northern beaches, was having an affair with one of his teenage students and moved her into his home just days after Lynette vanished.
The girl even wore Lynette’s clothes and her wedding rings. They later married, had children of their own, and divorced.
Mr Thomas spoke to numerous witnesses, friends and family regarding the circumstances of Lynette’s disappearance.
Just as the podcast was drawing to a close police arrested Dawson, 73, and had him extradited to New South Wales where he was charged with murder.
He always denied wrongdoing and claimed that Lynette, a mum-of-two, disappeared of her own free will after the couple suffered marital issues.
His central argument during the trial was that he was guilty of being a bad husband but not a killer.
There has not been a confirmed sighting of her since January 8 1982.
Through his legal team Dawson argued the huge success of The Teacher’s Pet, it was downloaded more than 28m times, made it impossible for him to have a fair trial.
The case went all the way to the Australian Supreme Court where it was ruled Dawson would have a judge-led trial which finally began earlier this summer.
On Tuesday New South Wales supreme court Justice Ian Harrison found Dawson guilty at the climax of an almost five-hour hearing where he summed up which evidence he accepted and rejected from the trial.
Justice Harrison rejected Dawson’s argument that Lynette left of her own free will and said he was satisfied she had died on or around January 8 1982.
He faces the prospect of dying behind bars and also a new trial regarding his sexual activity with students while a teacher in the early 80s.
Dawson will be sentenced at a later date. Lynette Dawson’s body has never been found.
