1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:05,199 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language, along with references 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,400 Speaker 1: to sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 2: I think that the loved ones of people who got 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,119 Speaker 2: in mishity I really want to cling to hope. There's 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 2: this candle they want to keep a lot that she 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 2: might be coming back. 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,639 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas. I'm also the co host of the 9 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: podcast Buried Bones on Exactly Right, and throughout my career, 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: research for my many audio and book projects has taken 11 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: me around the world. On Wicked Words, I sit down 12 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: with the people I've met along the way, amazing writers, journalists, 13 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: filmmakers and podcasters who have investigated and reported on notorious 14 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: true crime cases. This is about the choices writers made, 15 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: both good and bad, and it's a deep dive into 16 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: the unpublished details behind their stories. This next story needs 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: a trigger warning. It's about the grooming and the sexual 18 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: assault of children. But it was an important case in 19 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: Australia and author Hedley Thomas tells it well. He details 20 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: the murder case of Chris Dawson in his book The 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: Teacher's Pet. It was based on his record breaking podcast 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: that eventually attracted the attention of the Australian government. One note, 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: we recorded this when Headley was on the road, so 24 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: it can be a little bit noisy at times. Let's 25 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: start from the beginning. Where does it make sense for 26 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:43,279 Speaker 1: us to meet Lynn. 27 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 2: Lynn and Chris were high school sweethearts. They had met 28 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 2: through their neighboring high schools in Sydney. Both were very 29 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 2: well known, very popular, high achieving students, and they were 30 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 2: both genetically blessed, very attractive couple. And we're going back 31 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 2: now to the sixties and seventies. That's when they first 32 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 2: got together. They married, they moved to the Northern Beaches 33 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: of Sydney, which was some distance away from their childhood homes, 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 2: but another beautiful area of Sydney with close access to 35 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 2: the beaches, beautiful views over pit border, and the kind 36 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 2: of place that people said when things went on there, 37 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 2: the secrets were well kept. It's a peninsula and they 38 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 2: called it the Insular Peninsula, and people knew each other's business. 39 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 2: But once you crossed the Spit Bridge to get to 40 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 2: the peninsula, it's like you were in another place, another time. 41 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 2: And that became important in terms of understanding the culture 42 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 2: that was unfolding at the time that Chris and Limn 43 00:02:55,480 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 2: were married, and another person ended up becoming part of 44 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 2: their family. 45 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: What is your impression of the dynamic between Chris and 46 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: Lynn in the good times? They had a good marriage 47 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: as far as most people knew from the beginning, I 48 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: mean high school sweethearts. 49 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 2: Look, they must have had a very affectionate relationship for 50 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 2: some years. People say that they look very happy together. 51 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 2: They didn't project, at least in the early years, signs 52 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,519 Speaker 2: of trouble and distress. Having said that, Chris was quite 53 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 2: different in a number of ways. He was very controlling. 54 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 2: He had some coercive behaviors that were identifiable early on. 55 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 2: He was incredibly mean with money and would be careful 56 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 2: to ensure that the household budget was scrupulously kept. But 57 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 2: more than all of that, he had a highly unusual 58 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 2: relationship with his twin brother, Paul. They were twins whose 59 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 2: closeness was remarked upon by everybody I spoke to because 60 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 2: it was unlike anything people had seen before. They did 61 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 2: everything together. They as adults even dressed the same a 62 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 2: lot of the time. When they would go out. They 63 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 2: socialized together, They built their homes within a couple of 64 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 2: one hundred meters of each other in the same street. 65 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 2: They shared every secret, they shared holidays. They both became 66 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 2: first grade rugby league players after playing in the same 67 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 2: club as rugby union players. They insisted on playing together 68 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 2: in the Newtown Jets rugby league club, which in the 69 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 2: seventies was renowned for its links to underworld crime figures. 70 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 2: And they both wanted to be fathers. Paul had two 71 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 2: children and then a third. Chris was having trouble with 72 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 2: his ambitions to be a father. There were some difficulties 73 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 2: because Lynn was having trouble conceiving until she had a 74 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 2: procedure which made her miracle babies suddenly viable, and she 75 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,600 Speaker 2: was able to have two beautiful little girls. And after 76 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 2: the years of longing for children and all of the 77 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 2: distress that she felt and seeing her friends and other 78 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 2: relations becoming pregnant and having families and her inability to 79 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 2: have kids, she was now raising her own little girls 80 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 2: and she doated on them. And I think it's a 81 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 2: really significant feature of this story because Lynn disappears and 82 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 2: doesn't have any further contact with her children, although Chris 83 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 2: says she maintained some contact with him for several weeks. Now, 84 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 2: of course, there will be a number of examples and 85 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 2: case studies of mothers and young mothers walking out on 86 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 2: families and never contacting their children again. But everybody who 87 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 2: knew Lynn said that that was so out of character, 88 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 2: it was so ridiculous a notion, particularly after all the 89 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 2: trouble that she had gone to to have children, the 90 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 2: idea that she would have walked away from her kids 91 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 2: and stayed away, and of course walked away from her 92 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 2: very tight knit family, her mother, her father, and two 93 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 2: brothers and her sister. 94 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: Let's go back a little bit to the relationship between 95 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: Paul and Chris. Did Lynn talk about this to anybody? 96 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,679 Speaker 1: Did she say, my husband is really way too close 97 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: to his twin and it's invasive in our wife. 98 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 2: Lynn no doubt confided some of these things to her friends, 99 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 2: And I know from Lynn's brothers and sister that at 100 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 2: times she raised an eyebrow over the relationship. But Chris 101 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 2: and Paul were very dominant figures. They were strong willed, 102 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 2: they were the men of the house. This was the 103 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 2: seventies and eighties. You know, women's rights were not really 104 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,479 Speaker 2: well developed at that time, and we have footage and 105 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 2: audio of Lynn from interviews that she did in the 106 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 2: nineteen seventies when Chris and Paul were being profiled in 107 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 2: this program about twins and their particular closeness was closely scrutinized, 108 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 2: and Lynn speaks about it and describes how, yes, they 109 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 2: are really close, but that's a nice thing, and they 110 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 2: support each other. They do everything together, and you know, 111 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,119 Speaker 2: it's really good that Chris has his best friend in Paul, 112 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 2: and vice versa. 113 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: Now we know that Chris, it sounds like, is you know, 114 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: really tight with money, very controlling, dominating figure. Is he 115 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: having extramarital affairs all the way up until she goes missing? Also, 116 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: other than the major relationship that we're going to talk about. 117 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 2: As a very popular physical education teacher on the Northern Beaches, 118 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 2: Chris was surrounded by young girls and young boys and 119 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 2: they looked up to him, fifteen and sixteen year olds. 120 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 2: They'd grown up watching him play football. He was on 121 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 2: their television screens through that period. And then he was 122 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 2: still appearing on television because he was a male model. 123 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 2: He was doing advertisements for corn chip makers, gene manufacturers, 124 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 2: and so on, and he would pose and he looked great. 125 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 2: I've seen the posters, and I've seen some of the 126 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 2: footage of him as a young man. He always did 127 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 2: these ads with his brother Paul, of course, but it 128 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 2: all lent itself to the image of these very handsome, 129 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:47,479 Speaker 2: very muscular, and very charismatic young men. As a result, 130 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 2: he had a lot of the high school students wanting 131 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 2: to spend time with them in the staff room at 132 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 2: the beach after school. And what Chris would do and 133 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 2: what Paul would do was groom young girls, initially offering 134 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 2: them counseling and special help, giving them advice on diet 135 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 2: or exercise if they were having troubles at home, being 136 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 2: prepared to end a friendly hear and then take advantage 137 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 2: of that and these relationships if that's what they were 138 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 2: developed through that period. And it seems that Paul was 139 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 2: taking the lead at a different high school on the 140 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:34,079 Speaker 2: Northern Beaches, and he and Chris would go out together 141 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,719 Speaker 2: into the beach and on drives with their respective students 142 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 2: who were their interest. And there were a number of 143 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 2: these occasions which students have talked to me about and 144 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 2: have talked to police about. Sex was usually at the 145 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 2: heart of all of them, and a lot of these 146 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 2: girls believed that they were in love or had some 147 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 2: special connection with their teachers. They were very young, age sixteen. 148 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 2: One girl said that she was fifteen, and in Australia 149 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 2: at that time it was a criminal offense if you 150 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 2: were a person in authority, such as a school teacher, 151 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 2: to be having sex with a girl age sixteen. 152 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: Did you find evidence that that administrators at the school 153 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: and at Paul School also knew about any of this? 154 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: Did parents complain or were there rumors anywhere? 155 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 2: Yes, the school staff knew about it. Number of parents 156 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 2: of other students knew about it, and even the parents 157 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 2: of the girls who were affected. Some of those parents 158 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,079 Speaker 2: knew about it and attempted to raise it with the school. 159 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:49,080 Speaker 2: I've interviewed the former deputy head of the Cromer High 160 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 2: School where Chrys Dawson taught about it, and an elderly man. 161 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 2: When I spoke to him, he's now deceased. He acknowledged 162 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 2: that this was going on, or seemed to him it 163 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 2: was going on, but he said, well, what can I do. 164 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 2: I don't have my own investigative agency. And you've got 165 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 2: to be really careful when you're making these kinds of 166 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 2: allegations about other teachers, and he was very powerful, and 167 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 2: he had friends in high places. So you know, there was, 168 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 2: i think, by the school administrators and by others in 169 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:29,079 Speaker 2: the community, a terrible failure to act on very obvious 170 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 2: instances of what we would now regard as sexual abuse 171 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 2: of children. 172 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,839 Speaker 1: Did you get the impression from anyone you spoke with 173 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: that Lynn knew about anything that was happening. 174 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 2: Yes. Lynn must have become aware that Chris had become 175 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 2: infatuated with one schoolgirl in particular, and we'll refer to 176 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 2: her as JC. The reason Lynn must have become aware 177 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 2: was because, several months after Chris had got his wish 178 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 2: to have JC come and live with them in their 179 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 2: family home, and Chris said that this was necessary because 180 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 2: JAC needed a stable home. She was having a lot 181 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 2: of trouble in her own home with an abusive stepfather 182 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 2: and a drunken mother. Lynn noticed that there was a 183 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 2: very unusual closeness between her husband and the girl. The 184 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 2: girl was a babysitter, and Lynn initially liked and supported her. 185 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,959 Speaker 2: And one of the tragedies is that that girl has 186 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 2: said that Lynn was the kindest person to her, perhaps 187 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 2: the kindest person she had encountered in her own life 188 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 2: to that stage, but Lynn realized that she was being 189 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 2: terribly betrayed under her own roof by her husband. Chris 190 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 2: would make his wife a cocktail in the evenings, and 191 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 2: it had the uncanny knack of putting Lynn to sleep. 192 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,680 Speaker 2: It would make her very drowsy, and she would go 193 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 2: to bed early, and then Chris and the girl would 194 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 2: do what Chris always wanted her. Therefore, it continued for 195 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:09,479 Speaker 2: some time until Lynn realized what had been going on. 196 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 2: One of the catalysts for her realization was a visit 197 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 2: by her mother to a hospital where Chris was having 198 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 2: an operation on his nose that had been whacked one 199 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 2: too many times in a football game and it was 200 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 2: being straightened up, and Chris had told Lynn to stay 201 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,559 Speaker 2: away from the hospital. He didn't want to be getting 202 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 2: visits from his wife. There was a tension between them. 203 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 2: He was being very mean towards her, clearly there was 204 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 2: a lot of anger in him while he was besotted 205 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 2: with this schoolgirl. Lynn's mother noted that Chris was being 206 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 2: tended very affectionately at his hospital dead by this girl 207 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 2: in her school uniform. She was dabbing his nose and 208 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 2: making eyes with him, and she reported it to her daughter, 209 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 2: and her father said, tell Lynn to get her out 210 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 2: of the house. So Lynn did ask JC to leave 211 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 2: the house immediately, and she packed up her bag and 212 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 2: then wandered down the road to Chris's brother Paul's house, 213 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 2: where she moved in and lived while she was finishing 214 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 2: her schooling. So under her nose, Linn's brother in law 215 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 2: and Lynn's sister in law were sheltering this young girl, 216 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 2: a vulnerable kid who just needed looking after rather than 217 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 2: the terrible exploitation that she was exposed to. But she 218 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 2: was being sheltered in secrecy by Linn's own in laws. 219 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: Let's go back clarify for me the timeline. So Lynn 220 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: and Chris are together in the six season seventies high 221 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: school Sweethearts. When we get to nineteen eighty two where 222 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: Lynn goes missing, how long had JC been living with 223 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: Chris and Lynn before this all blows up and she 224 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: moves in with Paul and his wife. 225 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 2: The grooming of JC began when she was in year 226 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 2: eleven at Cromer High School. It starts fairly early in 227 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 2: the year. Chris had targeted JC when he saw her 228 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 2: in the school playground, and then in late nineteen eighty one, 229 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 2: he asked Lynn, or effectively demanded to Linn that JC 230 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 2: be allowed to move in. So she moves in and 231 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 2: she's in the house for several months until around October 232 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 2: of nineteen eighty one, when Linn puts her foot down 233 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 2: and says, enough, you've been taking liberties with my husband, 234 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 2: which was a curious phrase because one is a schoolgirl, 235 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 2: she's a child, and her husband is a man in 236 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 2: his early thirties. If anybody was taking liberties, it was 237 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 2: the adult male, not the child. But that's how Linn 238 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 2: raised it, and that may have been the product of 239 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 2: that era as well. Very shortly before Christmas nineteen eighty one, 240 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 2: Chris presents his wife Lynn with a sales contract and 241 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 2: he wants Lynn to sign it. It's a contract to 242 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 2: sell their home, a beautiful property that Lynn has very 243 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 2: lovingly decorated and furnished, saving up her own funds from 244 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 2: a part time job and a childcare center, working really 245 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 2: hard to make it look as good as it possibly can, 246 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 2: and it's a prize home. It was worth a lot 247 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 2: of money at that time, but Chris wants it sold 248 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 2: because he clearly wants to separate from Lynn. He wants 249 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 2: to live with JC. They've even visited a couple of 250 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 2: flats around the area, very small, modest flats because they 251 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 2: couldn't afford much. Chris had commitments with his two young girls. 252 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 2: He was making mortgageory payments, so he had a plan 253 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 2: didn't sign it. She didn't want to sell her home. 254 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 2: She wanted to salvage the marriage. She believed that it 255 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 2: could be retrieved, so this contract remained unsigned. Chris then 256 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 2: decides that he needs to just start again. He needs 257 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 2: to go away with JC. They will start a new 258 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 2: life in the state of Queensland, about nine hundred kilometers 259 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 2: to the north. They would move to Brisbane or the 260 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 2: Gold Coast again lovely beaches, but far away from his wife, 261 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 2: who he has come to loathe. He resents her because 262 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,920 Speaker 2: she's this barrier. She's stopping him from having the girl 263 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 2: that he has become utterly infatuated with. So they start driving. 264 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 2: They leave just before Christmas and he has packed up 265 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 2: his most beloved possessions, including his pillow. It's all gone 266 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 2: into the vehicle. They've started driving north. They get to 267 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 2: the border with Queensland, but JC is having sex and 268 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 2: thought she regrets this decision. She's just finished high school. 269 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 2: She's leaving behind her own family, her sisters, her friends. 270 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 2: It doesn't sit well and she's breaking out in hives. 271 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 2: So she says, I want to go back. I can't 272 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 2: deal with this. The relationship had become very difficult, the 273 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 2: secrecy and then the exposure, the gossip, the tensions. She 274 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 2: didn't think she'd never be able to have Chris because 275 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 2: Lynn wasn't going to sell the house and how complicated 276 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 2: would it all be. Plus she was probably thinking about 277 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 2: having a relationship with someone her own age, someone who 278 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 2: was sixteen or seventeen. So they drive all the way 279 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 2: back to Sydney, and he doesn't want to go into 280 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 2: his own home. He's left a note for Lynn saying 281 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 2: I'm leaving, Please don't paint too black a picture of 282 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 2: me to the kids. But he drives back, goes to 283 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 2: his brother's house. They stay there in the spare room, 284 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 2: and then they spend Christmas night sleeping on the gym 285 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 2: mats in the high school. Instead of forking out for 286 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 2: a motel for the woman, he says he wants to 287 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 2: spend the rest of his life with. That's where they 288 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 2: end up spending Christmas night, and for the next week 289 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 2: or so, JC must be reflecting and thinking, this relationship 290 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 2: is impossible. How are we ever going to get through this? 291 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 2: I need a break and perhaps it should just be ended. 292 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,640 Speaker 2: She goes on a schooli's trip with her friends. They 293 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 2: go to a place called Southwest Rocks. It's about a 294 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,400 Speaker 2: four hour drive from Sydney. It's on the beach there, 295 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 2: staying intense in caravans. She's had a great time, but 296 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,160 Speaker 2: while she's up there, Chris is desperately worried that he's 297 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,919 Speaker 2: going to lose her. She's meeting and going out with 298 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 2: and having fun with people her own age. He's tried 299 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 2: to stop that. He's tried to control her behavior. He 300 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 2: wants her all to himself, and she's just slipping from 301 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,400 Speaker 2: his grasp. He's ringing her or telling her to ring 302 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 2: him every day that she's up there, and he tells 303 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 2: her one day in the second week of January, Lin's 304 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 2: gone and she's not coming back. I need you to 305 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,639 Speaker 2: come back here to be with me and the kids. 306 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 2: And he drives up there and grabs her. She moves 307 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 2: in and people just go on as if nothing's happened. 308 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 2: And Lynn's never seen again. 309 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 1: What is jc's reaction. Surely she's upset about going back 310 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: and being with this man she was trying to break 311 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: up with to begin with. Did she believe Chris's story 312 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: that Lynn just said him out, I'm not going to 313 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,360 Speaker 1: do this anymore, I'm leaving my family. 314 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 2: She believed what Chris told her, which was that Lynn 315 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 2: said she wanted to go away for a while. And 316 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 2: who knows, she's probably joined that weird cult. Maybe she's 317 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,199 Speaker 2: run off with them, or you know, she's gone to 318 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 2: New Zealand, she's moved to Perth on the other side 319 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 2: of Australia. She believed that there were no unusual circumstances, 320 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,160 Speaker 2: even though as she surveyed the bedroom, she realized that 321 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 2: nothing had been taken. All of Lynn's clothes were there. 322 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 2: Even Lynn's jewelry and underwear was still in place. And 323 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 2: Jason knew this because she had spent a lot of 324 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 2: time in the house. She had lived in the house, 325 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 2: she had been babysiteing the children for several months, she 326 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,679 Speaker 2: had been in the bedroom. Lynn had caught her and 327 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,720 Speaker 2: Chris having sex in the marital bedroom. 328 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 1: Wow, now the impression I got from you is that 329 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: Lynn was very close with her mother and her father. 330 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: When did they start to become alarmed or who was 331 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: the first person to say, we haven't heard from Lynn 332 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: in too long. 333 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 2: Lynn's parents and Lynn's two brothers and sister were all 334 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 2: immediately very concerned for Lynn's welfare. And he's the really 335 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 2: unusual thing. They believed. Chris, their son in law, their 336 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 2: brother in law too. He was able to assure them 337 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 2: that Lynn said that she just wanted some time away, 338 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 2: and he said to them that she had been calling 339 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 2: him and letting him know that she was fine, she 340 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 2: was safe. She just ended a bit more time away. 341 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 2: So they were unaware of how soon Linn was replaced 342 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 2: in the home. The course of the distance between Bayview 343 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 2: on the Northern Beaches and where Lynn's siblings and where 344 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 2: Lynn's parents lived, They did not have the knowledge that 345 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 2: things had changed so quickly and so extraordinarily. However, Lynn's 346 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 2: friends in the childcare center where Lynn worked, she was 347 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,879 Speaker 2: a nurse, and she had done some remarkable nursing work 348 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 2: in major public hospitals before when her children were born, 349 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 2: deciding to work part time at a childcare center as 350 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,479 Speaker 2: the nurse on duty, and Lynn's very good friends in 351 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 2: that childcare center were immediately suspicious because Lynn had been 352 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 2: confiding to them her fears and concerns about the burgeoning 353 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,640 Speaker 2: affection that Chris was showing towards JC over the previous months. 354 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 2: They had even seen Lynn and Chris go off to 355 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 2: what Lynn called marriage counseling, and that occurred in early 356 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 2: January nine eighty two, the first week of January, when 357 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 2: they left and went to a nearby marriage counselor's office suite, 358 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 2: and when they returned, Lynn's friends saw them holding hands. 359 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 2: They appeared to be very close together again, and Lynn 360 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 2: was smiling, and she told her family afterwards, everything's going 361 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 2: to be all right. Lynn and Chris went home that 362 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 2: evening and Lynn had a conversation with her mother, who 363 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,639 Speaker 2: rang and wanted to find out how things had gone. 364 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 2: And Lynn sounded like she had been drinking. But Lynn 365 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,919 Speaker 2: wasn't a drinker except for when Chris made her a drink. 366 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 2: She didn't enjoy our alcohol, so she was only a 367 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 2: very light social drinker. But her mother detected this slurring 368 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 2: of her words and she commented on it to Lynn, 369 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 2: and Linn said, oh, Chris has just made me a 370 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,439 Speaker 2: lovely drink, and her mother never spoke to her again, 371 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 2: and nobody did. 372 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: So she drops off the face of the earth in 373 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 1: January of nineteen eighty two, and Chris just moves on. 374 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: At what point is there really like an emergency, like 375 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: people think something has to be done and then the 376 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: parents become alarmed. 377 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, it takes some time because Chris puts off 378 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 2: reporting Lind's disappearance for about six weeks. He only reports 379 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:46,120 Speaker 2: her disappearance at the insistence of Lynn's family. Lyn's parents 380 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 2: worried sick, and Lynn's mother goes out looking for Lynn. 381 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 2: She travels to the northern Beaches. She travels up to 382 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 2: the central coast, where Chris said that Linn had gone. 383 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 2: She's ringing around Lind's friend. Nobody has seen Lynn. Chris 384 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 2: keeps saying, though that Lynn's fine, She's been in touch. 385 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 2: The week's turn into months and then years. Becomes apparent 386 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 2: eventually to Lynn's family that Chris has effectively wiped Lynn 387 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 2: from his affections. Chris turns up with a couple of 388 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 2: garbage bags full of Lynn's belongings and takes them into 389 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 2: the parents' home and says, these are Lins. I don't 390 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,120 Speaker 2: know whether she's ever coming back. But you have them. 391 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:36,120 Speaker 2: He's gone there with Jc, the former schoolgirl who has 392 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 2: now become the stepmother. She soon after marries Chris. In 393 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 2: the house, there's a very simple ceremony, very few guests. 394 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,880 Speaker 2: Of course, Paul Dawson's there with his wife Marilyn, and 395 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 2: life continues as if nothing has changed for Chris. But 396 00:25:54,840 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 2: Lynn's friends are remaining very suspicious and they to get 397 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 2: the police involved, even right to the office of the Ombardsman. 398 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 2: And the Ombudsman in Australia is a person who will 399 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 2: investigate citizens' complaints about the failure of government agencies. And 400 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 2: this woman, Sue Strath, very bravely writes and says, I 401 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,919 Speaker 2: don't think the police have done a professional job at 402 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 2: all investigating the disappearance of my good friend Lynn, who 403 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 2: loved her kids, loved her home, loved her husband, and 404 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 2: then suddenly disappears at the same time as her husband 405 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 2: is in this absolutely infatuated relationship with a teenage girl. 406 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,639 Speaker 2: So how much more suspicion do you need? But the 407 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 2: Ombardsman ends up finding after following it up with the 408 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 2: police that well, the parents didn't raise any concerns at 409 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 2: the time, and no one else has suggested any wrongdoing, 410 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 2: and they don't even go and interview other students or 411 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,200 Speaker 2: school staff to corroborate the version of events that Chris 412 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:56,959 Speaker 2: had a lot of motive to get rid of his 413 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,200 Speaker 2: wife because he was seeing and then eventually the husband 414 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:06,120 Speaker 2: of JC. So they get married in nine eighty four. 415 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 2: They have a child in early nine eighty five. That 416 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 2: child is born on the day three years later that 417 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:22,199 Speaker 2: Lynn was murdered. By a terrible coincidence, Chris decides to 418 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 2: leave the Northern Beaches because Paul and Marylyn wanted to 419 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,199 Speaker 2: leave too. They wanted to move to Queensland, and in 420 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,880 Speaker 2: nine eighty five they moved to the Gold Coast, where 421 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 2: Chris starts to teach at a school called Keebra Park 422 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 2: in Southport. That was my high school. I left Keebra 423 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 2: Park High at the end of nine eighty four and 424 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,679 Speaker 2: Chris starts there just weeks later and was teaching some 425 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,879 Speaker 2: of my friends from the year below and teaching some 426 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:50,960 Speaker 2: of my friends from the same year who had repeated 427 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 2: And so when I was working in my first job 428 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,439 Speaker 2: as a newspaper reporter at the Gold Coast Bullet, just 429 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 2: a few kilometers from my school, I was reporting on 430 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 2: school rugby league, which Chris was then coaching at my 431 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 2: old school. I must have met him through that period, 432 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:11,719 Speaker 2: but it's not until nineteen ninety that the police properly 433 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 2: investigate for the first time Lin's disappearance, and the catalyst 434 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 2: for that was JC. Having had eight years with Chris 435 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,919 Speaker 2: since Lyne's disappearance, having started a life with him and 436 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:29,679 Speaker 2: built a home with him on the Gold Coast, she 437 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 2: decides she needs to flee. She's become concerned for her 438 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 2: own safety. She identifies in Chris the same behaviors as 439 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 2: he is grooming other schoolgirls at the school on the 440 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 2: Gold Coast that she was subjected to when she believed 441 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 2: she was the only one when she was a schoolgirl 442 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 2: in Sydney, and she packs up her things and takes 443 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 2: her daughter and they drive all the way back to 444 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 2: the northern beaches of Sydney and she goes to see 445 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 2: Linz family to tell them what her suspicions are. Up 446 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 2: to that point, which is eight years after Lynne's disappearance, 447 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 2: there had been no foul play investigation. She then goes 448 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 2: to see detectives and discloses to them what has gone on, 449 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 2: and she initiates divorce proceedings, and I think that for 450 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 2: her at that time there must have been a measure 451 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 2: of concern that if she didn't do these things she 452 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 2: could be killed. There was self protection as well as 453 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 2: perhaps the unburdening of a belief that must have been 454 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 2: developing not just you know, over days, but months and 455 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:40,920 Speaker 2: possibly a couple of years. I don't think you suddenly 456 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 2: wake up and decide my husband murdered his first wife 457 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:46,280 Speaker 2: eight years ago so that he could be with me. 458 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: You know, I'm curious about the impression people had of 459 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: Lynn as a mother, which it sounds like she was 460 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,280 Speaker 1: an outstanding mother, very close to her two girls. I 461 00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: just don't understand why her parents weren't more can concern. 462 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: It seems like so out of her character. Did that 463 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: not come up for them very often? That there's no 464 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: way she would take off and leave her two kids. 465 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 2: And Kate, I've wondered the same thing, and I've tried 466 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 2: to get my head around that. And what makes it 467 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 2: slightly more complicated is that very early in the peace, 468 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 2: soon after Lynn had disappeared, her father, Lynn said to 469 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 2: his son and to his wife, the bastard's done her 470 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 2: in and so he had that belief early on he 471 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 2: was in ill health, perhaps he didn't believe that he 472 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 2: could do much about it. His own children still wanted 473 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 2: to believe that Lynn was safe and well, and for 474 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 2: some reason just couldn't come back to face the embarrassment, 475 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 2: the shame of her husband having married this former babysitter. 476 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: In fear because he sounds like he was very controlling 477 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: and potentially violent to begin with, So maybe she was 478 00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:59,040 Speaker 1: scared and they thought that too well. 479 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 2: I think that the loved ones of people who go missing, 480 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 2: despite a lot of evidence pointing to death, they really 481 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 2: want to cling to hope that their sister or daughter 482 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 2: is still alive. And that's a perfectly understandable human emotion. 483 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,560 Speaker 2: If they apply the sort of logic that we might 484 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 2: apply from our detached position, they're never going to see 485 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 2: their loved one again. So there's this candle they want 486 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 2: to keep alight that she might be coming back. And 487 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 2: it takes an intervention by someone like JC who says, 488 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 2: these are the things that happened, These are the things 489 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 2: that you perhaps didn't know. This is the timing of 490 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 2: events in terms of me coming into the house. This 491 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 2: is what Chris said to me. Lynn's gone she's not 492 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 2: coming back. I mean, how would he know unless he 493 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 2: had killed her, that she's not coming back. 494 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: So Jace goes to the police and says, I think 495 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: that my husband might have killed his first wife. I 496 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: have left. I am divorcing him. What is the next 497 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: step for the police? I'm assuming asking her what do 498 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: you think happened? Or how did this whole conversation go 499 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 1: between JC and investigators? 500 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 2: The police mount a homicide investigation, and I've interviewed one 501 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 2: of the homicide detectives who was part of that. They 502 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 2: interview Lynn's friends, they interview JC, they interview the parents, 503 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 2: and they interview in a videotaped session on the Gold 504 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 2: Coast Chris Dawson, the person who they believe may well 505 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 2: have murdered his wife and concealed her body. Many years later, 506 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,840 Speaker 2: we were able to watch the video tape of this interview. 507 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 2: I only had the audio of it for my podcast, 508 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 2: but later on we were able to get access to 509 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 2: the video and it's extraordinary. You see this very handsome man, 510 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 2: he was teaching at the Old Coast High School, probably 511 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 2: had just left school to go to the police station 512 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,360 Speaker 2: to deny that he had had anything to do with 513 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,959 Speaker 2: Lynd's disappearance. He talked about possibility that she'd gone off 514 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 2: to a colt. He said that she yeah, wasn't a 515 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 2: bad mother and it was out of character for her, 516 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 2: and she made a number of calls to him when 517 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 2: she first went away, but he doesn't understand why she 518 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 2: hasn't come back. He then said that his accuser, JC 519 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 2: was driven by bitterness that she was trying to get 520 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 2: custody of the children. It was all part of the 521 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 2: rancor and awful things that are sometimes said when a 522 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 2: marriage fails, and that she's trying to paint him in 523 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 2: the worst possible light because she's doing her best to 524 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 2: get the spoils of their marriage. He doesn't properly answer 525 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 2: a really logical question, which is you have marriage counseling, 526 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 2: and you've told us about the marriage counseling, and you've 527 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 2: said that it all seemed to go really well, and 528 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 2: you had high hopes, and Lynn had high hopes that 529 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,719 Speaker 2: would go well. So if that's the case, why does 530 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 2: Lin leave early the next morning wearing just a pair 531 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 2: of pink shorts and a shirt and carrying a light 532 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,760 Speaker 2: shopping back. Why if she's got hopes that the marriage 533 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,160 Speaker 2: is going to be put back on track. Does she 534 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 2: just go and stay away? And nobody has ever heard 535 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 2: from her again, She hasn't touched the bank account, there's 536 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:23,239 Speaker 2: no sign that she's ever voted, or traveled or accessed 537 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:27,359 Speaker 2: any medical facility. 538 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:33,200 Speaker 1: So ultimately it's his word against jc's word, and it 539 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:36,920 Speaker 1: would be very difficult to track down Linn. I mean, 540 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: it's easy to say, well, listen, you know she's not 541 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: using any of these resources. But then the flip side 542 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,760 Speaker 1: is is how do you then discount what Chris is saying. 543 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 1: How were they able to proceed with an investigation to 544 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,640 Speaker 1: find out whether or not Lynn was still alive. 545 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 2: Well, they relied in part on something Chris said, which 546 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 2: was that Lynn had he believed, been seen by a 547 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 2: woman who was the wife of a guy Chris knew 548 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:11,080 Speaker 2: well from his football playing days. A woman called Sue 549 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:14,799 Speaker 2: Butler said to her husband, who told Chris, that she 550 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,440 Speaker 2: thought she had seen Lynn at a fruit barn on 551 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,319 Speaker 2: the Central Coast, and Lynn didn't talk to her. She 552 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 2: didn't say, hey, Lynn, where have you been. You've been 553 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 2: missing all this time. I'm so glad you're safe and well. 554 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:30,759 Speaker 2: It was apparently a fleeting glimpse. The police took that 555 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,760 Speaker 2: away and they got advice from lawyers and others about 556 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,600 Speaker 2: what they could do, given that they had been investigating 557 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,360 Speaker 2: this case for some months, and the advice was well, 558 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,239 Speaker 2: with that sighting or so called sighting, it's going to 559 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 2: be really difficult to prove that she's not just living 560 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 2: somewhere and she's not a murder victim at all. So 561 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 2: the police investigation was terminated. Bizarrely, the police didn't go 562 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:01,640 Speaker 2: and corroborate Chris's claim about the sighting. They didn't go 563 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 2: an interview the woman purported to have made the sighting. 564 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,680 Speaker 2: She then died several years later, and of course that 565 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:11,319 Speaker 2: opportunity was lost forever. I should also point out, Kate, 566 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 2: that Chris had very good contacts with police, different police 567 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,359 Speaker 2: on the Northern Beaches. The football club that he and 568 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,360 Speaker 2: Paul were playing for when they moved up to the 569 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 2: Northern Beaches after retiring from first grade rugby league was 570 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:30,480 Speaker 2: called the Belmont Eagles, and one of the leaders of 571 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,759 Speaker 2: that club was a very well known powerful cop, the 572 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,640 Speaker 2: detective sergeant on the Northern Beaches, and he had helped 573 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:43,840 Speaker 2: Chris come up with Chris's original statement about the circumstances 574 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,799 Speaker 2: surrounding Lynn's disappearance. This was also at a time of 575 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,879 Speaker 2: very cozy relationships between cops and footballers. It's a very masculine, 576 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:56,399 Speaker 2: very misogynistic culture. I don't believe that a copper would 577 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,239 Speaker 2: cover up for Chris Dawson if that copper believed that 578 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,960 Speaker 2: Chris had killed his wife. But I think that a 579 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,759 Speaker 2: copper who knew Chris Dawson and knew Paul Dawson, they 580 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:09,040 Speaker 2: would turn a blind eye to doing a thorough investigation 581 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,720 Speaker 2: because you know, he's one of us, he's a mate, 582 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,440 Speaker 2: he plays for the team. Look, we can't upset him. 583 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 2: His wife's gone and abandoned him. You know, we've got 584 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:18,359 Speaker 2: to get behind him. 585 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: Well, what happens next. It sounds like Chris has talked 586 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:23,680 Speaker 1: his way out of it. I'm assuming Paul has not 587 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,840 Speaker 1: said a word. And I'm sure jac is petrified because 588 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,440 Speaker 1: now her soon to be ex husband is pissed at 589 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,920 Speaker 1: her for going to the police. And it sounds like 590 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:34,440 Speaker 1: we're kind of in the middle of a mess at 591 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: this point. 592 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 2: That's right. So it's ninety ninety one. The police investigation 593 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:43,640 Speaker 2: has been terminated. Nothing's really happening except Lynn's friends from 594 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:49,399 Speaker 2: the childcare center are becoming increasingly concerned as each year 595 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:53,279 Speaker 2: goes past. They just can't believe that nothing has been 596 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 2: done about this, and Sue Strath, the very good friend 597 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:00,000 Speaker 2: who had contacted the ombudsman back in Ninein eety five, 598 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,360 Speaker 2: she's got a friend on the Northern Beaches who's married 599 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:07,080 Speaker 2: to a cop, and that cop he becomes in charge 600 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,960 Speaker 2: of the local station, and she starts lobbying him and says, 601 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:13,640 Speaker 2: when are you going to investigate the disappearance of my 602 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 2: good Friendlyn. When are you going to do this properly? 603 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:20,879 Speaker 2: Nothing's been done. So he, having heard this story through 604 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,759 Speaker 2: Sue and through his own wife, who Sue has been 605 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,239 Speaker 2: bobbing as well, he decides to put a detective called 606 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:32,040 Speaker 2: Damien Loon onto the case. It's nineteen ninety eight. Damien 607 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 2: is a detective senior constable, and he decides pretty early on, 608 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 2: having looked at the material and done number of interviews, 609 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:44,920 Speaker 2: that this was so suspicious that Lynn, with her incredible mothering, 610 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:50,560 Speaker 2: commitment and devotion, with the equity in her house, with 611 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 2: her family ties, with everything that she had in her community, 612 00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:58,319 Speaker 2: would not have just gone away under the circumstances that 613 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:03,120 Speaker 2: Chris purported had happened, and he really began turning over 614 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:07,080 Speaker 2: old rocks and reinterviewing everybody, and he brings the case 615 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 2: to the coroner, which means that it becomes a case 616 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 2: heard over a number of days by a judicial officer, 617 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:18,799 Speaker 2: a magistrate. And that magistrate his names Karl Milvanovitch. He 618 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,280 Speaker 2: was the deputy state coroner, and he in two thousand 619 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,399 Speaker 2: and three holds public hearings. In two thousand and one, 620 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:30,560 Speaker 2: three years after Damien's investigation started, another coroner had also 621 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:35,440 Speaker 2: heard the evidence and decided that Chris Dawson should be 622 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:40,800 Speaker 2: prosecuted for the alleged murder of his wife Lynn, But 623 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:44,359 Speaker 2: the office of the DPP in Sydney decided in two 624 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:47,320 Speaker 2: thousand and one, no, there's not enough evidence, there's nobody. 625 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,040 Speaker 2: We're not going to do that. Damien then does more work. 626 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 2: He gets a second inquest started with Karl Milavanovitch leading it, 627 00:39:56,640 --> 00:40:00,080 Speaker 2: and that hears from all the witnesses over a number 628 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,239 Speaker 2: of days, a number of public hearing days, and Carl 629 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:09,239 Speaker 2: Malvanovitch makes the same recommendation for a criminal prosecution. He 630 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,719 Speaker 2: says that a known person is capable of being convicted 631 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 2: for the murder of Lin Dawson. The DPP again says no, 632 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:23,320 Speaker 2: not doing anything, and over a number of years following 633 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:30,120 Speaker 2: that there's just spasmodic action by police and by prosecutors 634 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 2: who go through the process of reviewing the file and 635 00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:37,200 Speaker 2: again saying no. I first wrote about this case in 636 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,880 Speaker 2: two thousand and one, during and after the first inquest, 637 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:43,520 Speaker 2: and it remained a case that I wanted to revisit 638 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:48,759 Speaker 2: when podcasting became something I thought I could exploit to 639 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,520 Speaker 2: do a really deep dive and over multiple episodes and 640 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:56,880 Speaker 2: in many months of investigation, tell this story that you 641 00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:58,879 Speaker 2: know I had first heard about in two thousand and one. 642 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,600 Speaker 2: So my investigation starts in late twenty seventeen. I go 643 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 2: and visit the family, Lynn's brothers and sister, and over 644 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:12,120 Speaker 2: several months record hundreds of hours of audio and produced 645 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 2: the Teacher's Pet podcast series, which starts in May twenty 646 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 2: eighteen with the first episode, and by the end of 647 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:25,000 Speaker 2: twenty eighteen, amid incredible backlash of community, public anger and 648 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:30,040 Speaker 2: outrage that this case hasn't been prosecuted, that Lynn has 649 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:34,600 Speaker 2: been this model mother, this very forgiving wife, that all 650 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:39,320 Speaker 2: of these deeply suspicious circumstances haven't led to the coroner's 651 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:43,400 Speaker 2: recommendations being accepted by the DPP by the time the 652 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:47,520 Speaker 2: sixteenth and final episode of The Teacher's Pet was unfolding 653 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:53,200 Speaker 2: in December twenty eighteen, So seven months after we started 654 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:57,600 Speaker 2: the series, Chris Dawson was arrested and charged over Lynn's 655 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:01,560 Speaker 2: murder and then we had to wait for a murder trial. 656 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,920 Speaker 1: And you know, with your podcast you had brought an 657 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:09,120 Speaker 1: incredible amount of attention and obviously you know that kind 658 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:13,400 Speaker 1: of media pressure has to influence everybody in society, and 659 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:16,160 Speaker 1: certainly you know people who were prosecuting the case, but 660 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,560 Speaker 1: didn't they have to pull Did you all pull the 661 00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:21,680 Speaker 1: podcast while he went on trial because the concern was 662 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:25,840 Speaker 1: your podcast is so influential and powerful that he wouldn't 663 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:28,160 Speaker 1: get a fair trial because of all the evidence you 664 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:30,839 Speaker 1: dug up Or am I just simplifying the argument here? 665 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:35,000 Speaker 2: No, you're absolutely right. Okay. The Office of the DPP 666 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:39,880 Speaker 2: asked us in early twenty nineteen to withdraw the podcast 667 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,759 Speaker 2: in Australia. Be course, it contained so much evidence, so 668 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,480 Speaker 2: much material, none of which was inaccurate, but all of 669 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:52,319 Speaker 2: it damning for Chris, and the concern was that he 670 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:55,680 Speaker 2: needed to get a fair trial, and the DPP probably 671 00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:59,479 Speaker 2: wanted to cut off the arguments that Chris's lawyers would 672 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 2: make that the podcast was still playing, he could never 673 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:05,640 Speaker 2: get a fair trial. Now, newspapers are never withdrawn from circulation. 674 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:11,200 Speaker 2: Libraries that hold archived newspapers are not culled of their 675 00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:13,920 Speaker 2: files because of the risk that the DURA might go 676 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,000 Speaker 2: and read them. But the podcast is different because you 677 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:20,480 Speaker 2: can access at any time and the delivery of the 678 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:22,840 Speaker 2: audio is so easy, and you know, it was a 679 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:26,879 Speaker 2: sensible request and we took it very seriously and in 680 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:31,200 Speaker 2: Australia we took the podcast down. It continued to play uninterrupted. 681 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 2: Outside Australia, it had gone to number one in the 682 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:38,600 Speaker 2: United States and Canada and the UK and New Zealand 683 00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:42,800 Speaker 2: and other countries. But we decided that from early twenty 684 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:46,840 Speaker 2: nineteen until the verdict in the murder trial, which didn't 685 00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:50,960 Speaker 2: occur until twenty twenty two, it wouldn't be available to 686 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:52,279 Speaker 2: Australian audiences. 687 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,360 Speaker 1: So Chris Dawson goes on trial. Does his twin brother 688 00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:59,160 Speaker 1: who he is impossibly close with, play a role, Does 689 00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:01,840 Speaker 1: Paul play a role at all in this trial? Or 690 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,040 Speaker 1: does he get any kind of punishment for any sleazy 691 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:06,280 Speaker 1: thing he's ever done. 692 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:11,680 Speaker 2: Paul Dawson has denied any wrongdoing. He's denied the allegations 693 00:44:11,719 --> 00:44:15,640 Speaker 2: made by other former school girls. Some of these allegations 694 00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,400 Speaker 2: have been set out in great and very distressing and 695 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:25,000 Speaker 2: harrowing detail in their police statements, and without evidence from 696 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:28,480 Speaker 2: a woman who may want to be a complainant, Without 697 00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:31,000 Speaker 2: a person coming forward and saying I am going to 698 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 2: go further than my statement, I'm actually now going to 699 00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:37,960 Speaker 2: make a complaint of underage sex with Paul Dawson, the 700 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:41,759 Speaker 2: police can't do much and Paul was not connected to 701 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,960 Speaker 2: Lin's murder. There were certainly questions raised about what he 702 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:48,319 Speaker 2: knew and when he knew, but Paul always said no, 703 00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:51,080 Speaker 2: I didn't know anything, and Chris would not have killed 704 00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:53,880 Speaker 2: his wife, and I totally believe in my brother. 705 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:57,239 Speaker 1: What I'm curious about is what role did Jesse have. 706 00:44:57,600 --> 00:44:59,640 Speaker 1: Did she testify during the trial. 707 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:03,399 Speaker 2: When we finally got to the trial in twenty twenty two, 708 00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:07,200 Speaker 2: it was an enormous relief to Lynd's family and no 709 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:11,680 Speaker 2: doubt to JC and the police, because since late twenty eighteen, 710 00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:15,200 Speaker 2: when Chris was charged over Lynn's murder. He had been 711 00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:20,160 Speaker 2: fighting tooth and nail with some very skillful defense lawyers 712 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:23,280 Speaker 2: to argue that he should never have to face a trial, 713 00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:27,520 Speaker 2: and his major argument in that was the podcast. He 714 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:30,200 Speaker 2: said he could not get a fair trial because of 715 00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:33,319 Speaker 2: the Teacher's Pet podcast that I had done, and as 716 00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:39,000 Speaker 2: a result, the judge should permanently terminate all proceedings against 717 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:41,239 Speaker 2: him and let him go back to his peaceful retirement 718 00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:43,960 Speaker 2: near the beach on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. Now, 719 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:48,520 Speaker 2: of course, the DPP argued strongly against that. There were 720 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:53,239 Speaker 2: many days of hearings as judges listened to some of 721 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:56,400 Speaker 2: the interviews that I had done and studied my podcast. 722 00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:00,600 Speaker 2: I was in the witness box for three days answering 723 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:06,239 Speaker 2: questions from a very skillful senior criminal defense lawyer, and 724 00:46:07,239 --> 00:46:10,759 Speaker 2: I felt at times that this case was doomed. I 725 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:14,120 Speaker 2: was very worried that the efforts that we had made 726 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:17,160 Speaker 2: to try to shine a light on what was a 727 00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:21,560 Speaker 2: terrible injustice, a failure of the criminal justice system over many, 728 00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:25,880 Speaker 2: many years, would end up being distorted and turned into 729 00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:30,200 Speaker 2: a supposed failure of journalism in the case of recklessness 730 00:46:30,239 --> 00:46:34,360 Speaker 2: and irresponsibility, and said that I went too far. Nobody 731 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,840 Speaker 2: said that I got any facts wrong. They didn't accuse 732 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:43,640 Speaker 2: me of making stuff up, or fabricating things or verbaling people. No, 733 00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:47,200 Speaker 2: it was that there was too much detail, and that's 734 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:49,680 Speaker 2: what a podcast series, I feel, has meant to do. 735 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:53,200 Speaker 2: In a case as old as Len's. We didn't have 736 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:56,040 Speaker 2: too many options. How was it ever going to be 737 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:59,960 Speaker 2: sold unless we fleshed it out. It had been a 738 00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:03,200 Speaker 2: cold case for a long time. The family had given 739 00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:07,440 Speaker 2: up hope. The podcast they saw as their last chance 740 00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:10,319 Speaker 2: of getting justice. There were a number of very good 741 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:13,920 Speaker 2: witnesses during the murder trial. Chris didn't give any evidence 742 00:47:13,960 --> 00:47:17,520 Speaker 2: on his own behalf, and that's his right, but JC 743 00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:22,200 Speaker 2: did give powerful evidence. She strode to the witness box 744 00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:27,560 Speaker 2: as a woman who had been carrying this burden for 745 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:31,239 Speaker 2: so long. She believed that her life had been, if 746 00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:36,360 Speaker 2: not ruined, so badly affected by her contact with a 747 00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:39,879 Speaker 2: school teacher, a man whom she believed was looking out 748 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:43,239 Speaker 2: for her best interest when she was sixteen. But as 749 00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:47,360 Speaker 2: she became an adult and studied psychology and learned about 750 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:52,080 Speaker 2: the grioming behaviors of sex offenders, she realized that there 751 00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:58,120 Speaker 2: was always this incredibly selfish motive that Chris had to 752 00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:01,640 Speaker 2: control her. There are a number of other strong witnesses. 753 00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:04,880 Speaker 2: Of course, I didn't see many of the witnesses because 754 00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:08,000 Speaker 2: I was a witness myself in the murder trial. Again 755 00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:12,680 Speaker 2: was part of the defense's attempt to suggest that journalism 756 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:17,880 Speaker 2: had contaminated the whole process, rather than being the disinfectant 757 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:21,560 Speaker 2: which allowed the light to pull in. But in the end, 758 00:48:21,800 --> 00:48:25,040 Speaker 2: the judge, after a period of some weeks of deliberation, 759 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,320 Speaker 2: back in his chambers as he wrote his judgment, and 760 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,440 Speaker 2: it was a judge alone trial. Chris had elected to 761 00:48:32,040 --> 00:48:34,840 Speaker 2: dispense with a jury. It was his right to choose 762 00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:38,080 Speaker 2: a judge because there had been so much publicity. The 763 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:41,240 Speaker 2: judge came back and said that he had no doubt 764 00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:46,320 Speaker 2: that Chris Dawson murdered Lynn, that Lynn had been dead 765 00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:52,040 Speaker 2: for forty years, and that he should be sentenced until 766 00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:53,600 Speaker 2: effectively he dies in prison. 767 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:57,000 Speaker 1: So that's it. He's given life in prison, and he's 768 00:48:57,040 --> 00:48:59,040 Speaker 1: still alive, I presume is. 769 00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:02,680 Speaker 2: And he's in a prison called Long Bay. It's a 770 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:05,759 Speaker 2: very short distance from where he grew up in a 771 00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:11,440 Speaker 2: place called Maroubra near the beach in Sydney. And he 772 00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:16,719 Speaker 2: must reflect on how his life just began to spiral 773 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,560 Speaker 2: after he would have thought he'd got away with this. 774 00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:22,239 Speaker 2: He'd got away with it for a very very long time, 775 00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:26,160 Speaker 2: thirty six years from when Linn was murdered until when 776 00:49:26,719 --> 00:49:31,120 Speaker 2: he was charged. And if it hadn't been for the 777 00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:36,040 Speaker 2: podcast and the community outrage that followed, Lynn's family thinks 778 00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:38,239 Speaker 2: he would be continuing to get away with it. 779 00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:41,520 Speaker 1: Well, let's with this last bit bring it back to 780 00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:45,840 Speaker 1: the victim here, and you know, Lynn, we don't know 781 00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:49,959 Speaker 1: what happened definitively. Does the family have hope in ever 782 00:49:50,200 --> 00:49:53,560 Speaker 1: finding her body or is this something they're pursuing or 783 00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:56,760 Speaker 1: is there just a closure for them moving forward? 784 00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:01,760 Speaker 2: There must always be hope, but it's a pretty forlorn hope. 785 00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:07,200 Speaker 2: They I believe, have had closure since chrys Daw, since conviction. 786 00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:13,840 Speaker 2: I'm very close to Linn's brother and sister and Linn's 787 00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:17,560 Speaker 2: sister in law, and they're beautiful people and we catch 788 00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:23,040 Speaker 2: up and they're incredibly warm. They're very honest, decent people, 789 00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:26,080 Speaker 2: and I think that is part of the explanation for 790 00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:30,000 Speaker 2: their acceptance for so long of the lies and deceit, 791 00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:33,360 Speaker 2: and they just weren't aware of the scale of the betrayal, 792 00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:36,120 Speaker 2: and they sometimes say, how could we have been so 793 00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:40,440 Speaker 2: naive for so long? You know, I think it's not 794 00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:45,880 Speaker 2: through anything except their own decency. Sometimes good people are 795 00:50:45,920 --> 00:50:46,720 Speaker 2: easily conned. 796 00:50:58,120 --> 00:51:00,960 Speaker 1: If you love historical true crime, store Worries, check out 797 00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:03,839 Speaker 1: the audio versions of my books The Ghost Club, All 798 00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:07,080 Speaker 1: That Is Wicked and American Sherlock and Don't Forget. There 799 00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:10,920 Speaker 1: are twelve seasons of my historical true crime podcast, Tenfold 800 00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:14,719 Speaker 1: More Wicked right here in this podcast feed, scroll back 801 00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:17,319 Speaker 1: and give them a listen if you haven't already. This 802 00:51:17,440 --> 00:51:20,920 Speaker 1: has been an exactly right production. Our senior producer is 803 00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:25,680 Speaker 1: Alexis a Morosi. Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain. This 804 00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:29,920 Speaker 1: episode was mixed by John Bradley. Curtis heath Is our composer. 805 00:51:30,200 --> 00:51:34,680 Speaker 1: Artwork by Nick Toga. Executive produced by Georgia Hardstark, Karen 806 00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:39,120 Speaker 1: Kilgariff and Danielle Kramer. Follow Wicked Words on Instagram at 807 00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:43,240 Speaker 1: tenfold More Wicked and on Facebook at Wicked Words Pod