The phone call at the centre of Chris Dawson’s bid for freedom as wife killer fights murder conviction from his jail cell

Former rugby league star Chris Dawson returns to a Sydney court on Monday, with an alleged phone call from his wife Lynette on the day of her disappearance to play a central role in his bid to be released from prison.

Dawson has been in a jail cell since August 2022 when he was found guilty of murdering his wife Lynette, who suddenly disappeared from their Bayview home in January 1982.

The former Newtown Jets rugby league player and northern beaches secondary school teacher was sentenced to 24 years in prison, with 18 years non-parole, after High Court Judge Ian Harrison found him guilty of murder.

Judge Harrison found he had killed his wife to be with a young student, who moved into Dawson’s Gilwinga Drive home in the following days.

Lynette Simms’ body was never found and she never contacted her friends or family, including her two children.

Dawson, 75, has maintained his innocence and has appealed his conviction, claiming it cannot be proven that Lynette Simms was not alive after Friday, January 8, 1982.

The former Newtown Jets rugby league player and northern beaches secondary school teacher was sentenced to 24 years in prison, with 18 years non-parole, after High Court Judge Ian Harrison found him guilty of murder

During a police interview in 1991, Dawson told detectives that he had dropped his wife off at a bus stop in Mona Vale and that she would meet him later that afternoon at the Northbridge Baths, where he worked as a part-time lifeguard.

Dawson told police that while at work he received an STD (interstate) call from his wife saying she needed time away.

At the heart of Dawson’s appeal – which will be heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal for three days from Monday morning – is his claim that he has suffered a ‘significant forensic disadvantage’ as a result of the almost forty years between his wife’s disappearance and the case that arises. process.

During that time, evidence was lost and several key witnesses, including Phillip Day, died.

Mr Day was present at the Northbridge Baths on the afternoon Mrs Simms did not arrive to meet her family.

He made a statement to police in February 2001 saying he saw Dawson being summoned to the pool office and when he returned he said he had received a phone call from Lynette.

In a grievance, Dawson’s attorneys argue that he suffered a “miscarriage of justice” because Judge Harrison determined beyond a reasonable doubt that he had not received a phone call from his wife.

His attorneys also argue that Judge Harrison erred in concluding that Dawson told several lies that demonstrated his “consciousness of guilt.”

Judge Harrison said in his judgment that Dawson had lied about his relationship with the young girl, about wanting to resume his relationship with his wife and about receiving phone calls from her after her disappearance.

Dawson has been in a jail cell since August 2022 when he was found guilty of murdering his wife Lynette, who suddenly disappeared from their Bayview home in January 1982.

CHRIS DAWSON During his sentencing, Judge Harrison said the case against Dawson was circumstantial, but noted a guilty verdict was the only “rational inference” he could draw.

His legal team also claims there was ‘insufficient’ evidence to prove Ms Dawson was no longer alive after January 9, 1982.

During his sentencing, Judge Harrison said the case against Dawson was circumstantial, but noted that a guilty verdict was the only “rational inference” he could draw.

Judge Harrison found Dawson harbored a “possessive crush” on his young student, having unsuccessfully tried to run away with the teenage babysitter to start a new life in Queensland just weeks before Lynette’s disappearance.

Last year, Dawson was also convicted of one charge of carnal knowledge after a judge found he engaged in sexual activity with one of his students at a Sydney high school in 1980.

He was sentenced by Judge Sarah Huggett to three years in prison and had an additional year added to his non-parole period.

His non-parole period expires in August 2041, by which time he will be 93 years old.

New ‘no body, no parole’ laws passed by the NSW Parliament – dubbed ‘Lyn’s law’ – mean Dawson will not be released on parole until he reveals where Lynette is buried.

Judge Harrison noted in his sentencing remarks that Dawson would “probably die in prison” before the expiry of his non-parole period.