Unanswered questions linger as court to decide husband’s fate

LYNETTE Dawson’s disappearance will remain shrouded in mystery but it can’t be proven that her husband killed his wife and dumped her body, his lawyers have told a court.

Chris Dawson’s long-running murder trial finally came to an end on Monday when his barrister Pauline David concluded her closing submissions.

After nine weeks and one day of evidence, Justice Ian Harrison on Monday reserved his decision for a later date.

Mr Dawson (pictured) pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife who went missing from their Sydney northern beaches home 40 years ago, never to be seen again.

Her body has never been found. While several witnesses – including family friends and extended family members – gave evidence during the trial that they had seen Ms Dawson after January 1982, the defence has described them as cases of mistaken identity.

Ms David argued that the Crown prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and it could not be excluded that Ms Dawson had lived after she last spoke to her mother on the evening of January 8, 1982.

“While sadly there are many questions without answer in this case ... the defence submits the evidence just does not support that the answer is Christopher Dawson killed her,” Ms David said.

“The only verdict open is a not-guilty verdict.”

Mr Dawson has argued that he was an abandoned husband and that Ms Dawson ran off after he cheated on her with a teenage student and babysitter, JC.

The Crown prosecution has argued that it was implausible that she would have run off, and Mr Dawson killed her so he could have “unfettered access” to JC.

But the defence argued that killing Ms Dawson would have been counter-productive to Mr Dawson’s wishes of pursuing a relationship with JC.

The court was told that before Christmas 1981, Mr Dawson ran off with JC to start a new life in Queensland; however, they turned around before reaching the border.

Ms David argued that Ms Dawson was motivated to run off after that incident. Justice Harrison will hand down his judgment at a later date.