1 00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: This is jam Nason with jonesda Well. 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 2: Incredible scenes yesterday when Chris Dawson was found guilty of 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 2: murdering his wife Lynn forty years ago Channel Tens. Hugh 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 2: Riminton was at was courtside joins us Now Hello Hugh. 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: Hello Amanda. 6 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,920 Speaker 2: Look, there were so many reasons to believe this man 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 2: was guilty, and yet there was no body. All the 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,159 Speaker 2: evidence was circumstantial, so we were on the edge of 9 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: our seats wondering will he be found guilty. 10 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: Yes, it was one of those scenes because Judge Ian 11 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: Harrison said early on that all the evidence was wholly circumstantial, 12 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: and he explained why in law that made it a 13 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: very high bar that the Crown had to get over 14 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: to convince him that Chris Dawson was guilty, and you 15 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: kind of felt okay, So he's kind of laying in 16 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: his excuses essentially for acquitting him. But then he went 17 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: one after the other through the pieces of evidence that 18 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: have been offered up that Lynette doors that survived beyond 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,559 Speaker 1: January the eighth of nineteen eighty two. The phone calls 20 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: the Christalls said he got from her the sightings that 21 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: various people said they'd seen her after that, and he 22 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: just one after the other, demolished each one, and you 23 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: started to think, okay, all right, And then and then 24 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: ultimately he said that he was convinced that she hadn't 25 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: survived beyond that day, and that she didn't voluntarily leave home, 26 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: but he still then had to be convinced that she 27 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: had died as an act of a conscious and voluntary 28 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: act by Chris Daus and others, that he killed here 29 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: and meant to kill her, And just in the last 30 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: few minutes he made it plain that he believed that's 31 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: exactly what would happened. 32 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 3: And that's a hell of a thing, because they say 33 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 3: the most reliable witness in a murder case is the 34 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 3: murderer themselves. But if I don't give that up, you've 35 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 3: got nothing. 36 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: That's true. One of the things which was plainly the 37 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,399 Speaker 1: judge home dinner on was that apart from these sightings 38 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,119 Speaker 1: which he dismissed, there a whole bunch of reasons why 39 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: each sighting only one he called a fabrication. He thought 40 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: the others were just mistakes or they were, in his words, frail, 41 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: including one sighting which someone saw her at a shopping 42 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,839 Speaker 1: set and then get into a current drive away in fact, 43 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: had a driver's license for example, So you know, he 44 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: said he was happy to dismiss those ones. But the 45 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: only phone calls that she allegedly ever had made were 46 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,399 Speaker 1: to Chris Dawson, And he said that it was absurd 47 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: to think that a woman who had left suddenly, leaving 48 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: her clothes behind, leaving her children behind, leaving behind a 49 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: mother who loved her, and that she was close to 50 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: siblings and friends, that the only person that she'd ever 51 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: called had been the person that she was fleeing, and 52 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: you just never happened. He was satisfied that all of 53 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 1: those phone calls relye each of them happened in circumstances 54 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: where there were no witnesses to the phone calls. So 55 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: to that end, he just was satisfied that she didn't 56 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: live beyond that day. And he'd said that had he 57 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: been convinced that she had lived, there was any evidence 58 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: to convince him that she had lived beyond that day, 59 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: he said that the crown case would have collapsed. But 60 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: he satisfied himself that no, she had died on that day. 61 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 2: And how did Chris Dawson respond when this verdict was 62 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 2: read out? 63 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: Well, generally through the trial and he has been he's 64 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: given very little away in the last few moments, a 65 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: few minutes before the verdict was handed down, it was 66 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: fairly evident that he wasn't the judge was not going 67 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: to acquit him, and at that point the brother was 68 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: sitting next to him put his arm around his shoulders. 69 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: There wasn't much reaction. I wasn't a regular court, but 70 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: I spoke to the people who were there. I was 71 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: in a spill out of court room. But this arm 72 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: went around him, and that there was a kind of 73 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: a shudder his judge, so visitor Greg Walsh, said that 74 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: he was very, very upset. That was really exposed once 75 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: he'd left the court room in handcuffs, because as soon 76 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: as the verdict was read, he was told to stand 77 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: and then two court officers security officers came over and 78 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: put the cuffs on him and then led him away. 79 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: And then the only evidence we then got of his 80 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: reaction came from his own lawyer, who said that he 81 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:40,359 Speaker 1: was naturally very upset and that he asked that the 82 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: lawyer called his wife to explain it. That he'd always 83 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: professed his innocence and that he would appeal against it. 84 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 3: And the appeal process. Where does that go? 85 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: Now, well, there is you know, they've got the master 86 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: their appeal. They've got to go through this four hours 87 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: and forty four minutes that was read out by the 88 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: by the judge looked to see if there was anything 89 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: in there which would give grounds for an appeal. So, 90 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 1: you know, it's interesting because this was not a jury trial, 91 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: because sometimes you get the appeals on the basis of 92 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: a misdirection of the jury, but that's not the case. 93 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: This is a judge only trial. See, if a jury 94 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: gives a verdict, you never know their reasons. You just 95 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: say yes or not guilty or not guilty. But with 96 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,039 Speaker 1: the judge, he gives his reasons and so they must 97 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: now sift through the reasons and try to find, you know, 98 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: somewhere in law where the judge was in error that 99 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: would justify an appeal. So some sort of appeal they're 100 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: must together. There was a suggesting that they were going 101 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: to try to get a bail application going that the 102 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: lawyer said on the grounds that he is not well 103 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,679 Speaker 1: and that he has cognitive issues, but even he admitted 104 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: that he might not go ahead with that. There are 105 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: medical facilities within the jail system, and one presumes that's 106 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: if he's got any particular issues. If we dealt with 107 00:05:58,520 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: by doctors inside. 108 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 3: Jail might say he's had cognitive issues for the last 109 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 3: forty years. Hugh. It's great for you to catch up 110 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 3: with us. 111 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: Thank you. 112 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 3: I mean it's great for us to catch up with you. 113 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:14,119 Speaker 3: Of course we can watch you ten years first tonight, 114 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 3: five o'clock on ten. Hugh Riminton, thank you for joining us. 115 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 2: Thanks you all. Thank you.