Former rugby league player, who intends to plead not guilty, faces bail hearing

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Chris Dawson allegedly approached a man with criminal connections to ask how he might go about getting rid of his wife Lynette Dawson, a Sydney court has heard.

The former rugby league player, who intends to plead not guilty to murdering his wife almost 40 years ago, faced court via video link for a bail application on Friday.

He will remain behind bars at the weekend, with the magistrate, Robert Williams, set to make his bail decision in central local court on Monday.

Lynette Dawson was 33 when she disappeared from Sydney’s northern beaches in 1982. Her body has never been found.

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The crown prosecutor Craig Everson said the case against Dawson “was based upon a number of strong circumstances” and the conclusion that his wife died in January 1982 was “irresistible”, based on the evidence.

“She didn’t collect her last pay cheque,” he said. “She left her contact lenses at home … her clothes were left behind. She didn’t drive. She didn’t have a licence. She never left an Australian point of international departure, never went to a doctor.”

Everson said Dawson, now 70, had allegedly asked a man about how he might get rid of his wife, and that he had told her at a counselling session: “If this doesn’t work, I’m getting rid of you.”

Dawson, dressed in a green prison jumper, said “you’re kidding” when Everson suggested he was an “unacceptable flight risk”.

The prosecutor had noted that Dawson could easily pass as his identical twin brother.

Dawson’s defence lawyer, Greg Walsh, told the court there had “quite clearly” been “an orchestrated campaign to portray this man as being guilty”.

He said the crown’s “entirely circumstantial” case was far from strong and there was evidence Dawson had been seen alive after her alleged murder.

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The lawyer suggested people’s memories and beliefs could have been shaped by Lynette Dawson’s disappearance.

There was also the “the added feature of what has happened in recent times as to the publicity of the podcast”, Walsh said, referring to the Australian’s popular podcast on the case, The Teacher’s Pet.

The lawyer said his client could offer total security worth $1.5m and would live in Queensland if granted bail.

Dawson’s brother Peter yelled out as he was leaving court. “Anybody else who gets in my space will be charged with assault, you got that? Thank you,” he said.