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Former rugby league player Chris Dawson jailed after killing his wife, faces life sentence

A former rugby league player has been jailed for killing his wife.

Christopher Dawson, 74, faces a possible life sentence, following his conviction after being found guilty of murdering his wife 40 years ago.

Sydneysider Dawson played for the Newtown Jets between 1972 and 1977, registering over 50 appearances and playing alongside his brother Paul.

The Dawson brothers were part of the 1973 New South Wales Rugby League Club Championship winning team.

Dawson gained notoriety from The Teacher’s Pet podcast which has since been listened to by over 60 million people in which the podcast set out a circumstantial case for Dawson to be the one that actually killed his wife after he claimed she had ran away to join a commune.

A judge – after the 74-year-old called for trial by judge rather than jury – ruled Dawson killed his wife so he could continue his relationship with his teenage lover and babysitter, who was known in court by the initials JC.

Outside court, Ms Dawson’s brother, Greg Simms, appealed to his brother-in-law to reveal the location of her body.

Mr Simms said: “The journey is not complete. She is still missing. We still need to bring her home. We would ask Chris Dawson to find it in himself to finally do the decent thing and allow us to bring Lyn home to a peaceful rest.”

The judge concluded that Lynette Dawson did not run away and was instead the victim of a horrific crime.

“The whole of the circumstantial evidence satisfies me that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she died on or about January 8, 1982 and that she did not voluntarily abandon her home,” the judge said.

JC and Dawson eventually married and had a child, but divorced several years later. At the trial, she said Dawson had “groomed” her and treated her like a “slave” after the disappearance of his wife.

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