Christopher Michael Dawson[4] (born 26 July 1948) is an Australian convicted murderer and sex offender, and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s.
[7][8] After many years of stalled and failed investigations,[9] Dawson was arrested and charged with murder in December 2018, then 2 weeks later he was granted bail after he paid the court A$1.5 million, he was forced to surrender his passport to Queensland police and to live with his current wife.
[18][19] After their rugby careers finished, both Chris and Paul Dawson became physical education teachers at public high schools on the Northern Beaches and North Shore of Sydney.
[16] In 2003 Dawson was working at St Ursula's College in Yeppoon, Queensland before being fired from his job during the 2003 coronial inquest on Lynette's death.
He reported his wife missing on 18 February 1982, six weeks after her disappearance,[2] claiming she had left after marital problems and had joined a commune.
Thomas investigated allegations about the disappearance of Lynette and brought Dawson into renewed public and media focus through the podcast's broadcast in 2018.
[30] On 30 August 2022, Dawson was found guilty of murdering Lynette in 1982, after a judge only trial in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
[35] In May 2023, Dawson faced charges related to carnal knowledge (a historical offence replaced in 1986) of a student in his class, known for the purposes of the trial as "AB".
[38] In September 2023, Dawson's victim, launched a civil case in the NSW Supreme Court against the NSW Department of Education for negligence, claiming it breached its duty of care to her, failed to investigate Dawson, and allowed him to remain a teacher at the school “notwithstanding the common knowledge that he was sexually abusing a pupil”.