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Convicted murderer: Chris Dawson leaves Sydney court in May 2022
Photo: Bianca de Marchi / AAP / IMAGO
In Australia, a murder case from the 1980s has come to a spectacular end: Chris Dawson, 74, has been convicted of murdering his wife.
The former teacher has been sentenced to 24 years in prison, according to The Australian.
The case had long been forgotten until Australian journalist Hedley Thomas' podcast "The Teachers Pet" revisited it: In January 1982, Dawson's wife Lynette had disappeared without a trace.
Chris Dawson claimed she left him and their two children together.
But this statement seemed very implausible to many, especially since Lynette would never have left her two little daughters, as family members and friends testified several times.
In addition, Chris Dawson had long since started an affair with his former student Joane Curtis.
Curtis moved in with the Dawsons after Lynette's disappearance and later married Chris Dawson.
The police quickly closed the murder case.
Lynette's body was never found.
New insights
"The Teachers Pet" aired in 2018 and the podcast quickly became a hit.
The police resumed the investigation and came to new conclusions.
Dawson was arrested a few months after the first episodes aired.
He protested his innocence at the trial.
But the court now considered it proven that the accused killed his wife.
The affair with his ex-student was the motive for the murder, said judge Ian Harrison.
Dawson lived comfortably in society for 36 years after the murder until his arrest four years ago, Harrison said.
Dawson's attorney, Greg Walsh, said he would appeal the verdict.
"Our legal system and our democracy are based on the presumption of innocence," Walsh said.
He also argued that the podcast denied Dawson a fair trial.
kha/AFP/Reuters