Christopher Dawson has been convicted in the Supreme Court of New South Wales of murdering his former wife, Lynette Dawson, in January 1982.
This high-profile murder case has drawn the attention of people around the world since the story was covered by popular podcast “The Teacher’s Pet” in 2018.
The verdict was delivered by Justice Ian Harrison SC, following a lengthy judge-only trial. His Honour’s verdict was detailed in a five-hour judgement livestreamed from the Court and broadcast to the public.
While the case involved an extensive amount of testimony and evidence, one of the key aspects of Justice Harrison’s decision was his finding that Mr Dawson had told a series of lies to the police. For example, His Honour found that Mr Dawson’s assertions that he’d spoken to his wife several times after 9 January 1982 were lies, and noted that the descriptions of the calls were “bereft of details”.
Given the circumstantial nature of the evidence, the Court’s findings that these statements by the Defendant were lies were especially important to the Prosecution’s case.
Some of these statements were made to police during an interview which occurred in 1991 and Mr Dawson participated in voluntarily. Any person accused of or being investigated for a criminal offence has the right to maintain their silence and refuse an interview.
This case reinforces the importance of obtaining legal advice prior to interviewing with police, especially if you are being investigated for a criminal offence. Being proactive about obtaining advice at the early stages of an investigation could make a vital difference to the ultimate outcome of a case.
- Photo credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova
