An Australian man has been discovered responsible of murdering his spouse 40 years in the past after a preferred podcast triggered a brand new police investigation.
Chris Dawson, 74, was accused of killing Lynette Dawson in January 1982, however her physique was by no means discovered and Dawson has maintained that he was not concerned in her disappearance.
The case gained public consideration in 2018, after it was featured in The Teacher’s Pet, a true-crime podcast, and strain grew to reopen the investigation.
The podcast set out a circumstantial case that the ex-rugby league participant had murdered his spouse.
On Tuesday, New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison discovered the previous highschool trainer responsible of intentionally killing his spouse to pursue a relationship with a teenage former pupil, who had babysat his two daughters at his house in Sydney.
In 2018, media stories, citing police sources, instructed the investigation was reopened after the publicity generated by the podcast, which has been downloaded 30 million occasions.
However, police stated on the time that it reopened the investigation after new witnesses got here ahead.
Dawson opted for a trial by decide as an alternative of a jury, along with his defence crew saying the podcast, which 60 million individuals have listened to, denied him a good trial due to how he was depicted.
The decide agreed the podcast had painted Dawson in a adverse mild, however stated he didn’t issue that into his verdict.
In 2003, an inquest had advisable charging Dawson with homicide, however prosecutors declined, citing a scarcity of proof.
Dawson, who remodeled 50 appearances for Newtown Jets within the 70s, maintained his spouse left him and advised him over the cellphone that she wanted area, however the decide referred to as his defence fanciful and riddled with lies.
Judge Harrison stated that there isn’t a file of Mrs Dawson contacting household or buddies since her disappearance.
Greg Walsh, who’s Dawson’s lawyer, stated after the decision that his consumer would enchantment towards the choice.
Police charged Dawson in 2018, 4 months after the ultimate episode of the podcast, which was essential of their response to Mrs Dawson’s disappearance.
The decide famous that the case had been circumstantial since Mrs Dawson’s physique was by no means discovered and there was no recognized trigger, location or time of loss of life.
But he stated {that a} mixture of small items of proof, together with inconsistencies in Dawson’s defence, was persuasive.
“I am left in no doubt, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, that the only inference is that Lynette Dawson died… as a result of a conscious and voluntary act by Mr Dawson with the effect of causing her death,” he stated.
Dawson, who was on bail, was taken into custody.
Source: information.sky.com”