‘Teacher’s Pet’ subject convicted of woman’s 1982 murder after true-crime podcast sheds new light on cold case

An Australian man was convicted of his wife’s murder on Tuesday after a true crime podcast drew widespread attention to the case in 2018.

A judge found Christopher Dawson, a 74-year-old former high school teacher, killed his then-wife Lynette Dawson in 1982.

At the time of his wife’s murder, Dawson was involved in an extramarital affair with the 16-year-old nanny of his two daughters, ages 2 and 4 at the time, according to a 2003 court filing called the inquest. She was a former student and days after Lynette Dawson’s disappearance, the teenager moved in with Christopher Dawson. They married when she turned 18 and separated four years later.

Hedley Thomas, an investigative reporter for The Australian newspaper, chronicled the case on his podcast, “The Teacher’s Pet.”

SUBJECT OF THE PODCAST ‘THE TEACHER’S PET’, WHO MOVED IN WITH A STUDENT WHEN THE DOSA DISAPPEARED, ACCUSED OF THE MURDER OF THE DOSA IN 1982

Chris Dawson and team arrive at the NSW Supreme Court on August 30, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. Dawson, a former Newtown Jets rugby league player, is accused of murdering his wife Lynette and disposing of her body in January 1982. Inset: Lynette Dawson
(Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images, inset: NSW Police)

Australian court records show Dawson, a former professional rugby player turned high school teacher, had asked for a trial by judge, waiving his right to a jury, citing the podcast’s large audience.

Thomas did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday afternoon.

The conviction was “40 years overdue,” he wrote in an essay published after the verdict.

Hedley Thomas speaks to the media at the Supreme Court of NSW on August 30, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. Former Newtown Jets rugby league player Chris Dawson was found guilty of murdering his first wife Lynette more than 30 years ago in January 1982 in a trial popularized by ‘The Teacher’s Pet’ podcast .
(Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

US MARSHALS CAPTURE 15 MOST WANTED MURDER SUSPECTS RAYMOND ‘RJ’ MCLEOD

“It was a hopelessly one-sided spectator affair,” he wrote of the proceedings. “Almost everyone wanted Dawson in handcuffs before lunch.”

The podcast attracted a global audience of approximately 60 million and brought new scrutiny to the case. Australian police arrested Dawson at his home in Queensland in December 2018.

Dawson reported his wife missing on February 18, 1982, according to the New South Wales Police. But his last known contact came more than a month earlier, when he spoke to his mother on January 8. They made plans for lunch the next day. She didn’t show up.

His body has not been found.

Chris Dawson arrives at the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, August 30, 2022. Dawson was convicted of murdering his wife 40 years ago following a renewed police investigation that was sparked by a popular podcast.
(Image by Dean Lewins/AAP via AP)

“All the circumstantial evidence convinces me that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she died on or about January 8, 1982, and that she did not voluntarily leave her home,” Judge Ian Harrison told the court, according to the Associated Press.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

He said Dawson had lied about receiving phone calls from his wife after her disappearance and called the argument he might have been without his family “ridiculous”.

Dawson faces up to life in prison.

Katherine Lam of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.