Wife-killer Dawson unlikely to see the outside again after 18-year sentence
Almost 40 years after killing his wife Lynette and disposing of her body, former Sydney schoolteacher Chris Dawson will now spend at least 18 years in jail.
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On Friday, Justice Ian Harrison delivered a maximum sentence of 24 years in the NSW Supreme Court after finding the 74-year-old guilty of murder in August.
âIn my opinion the murder of Lynette Dawson is an objectively serious crime,â Justice Harrison said while sentencing Dawson.
âLynette Dawson was faultless and undeserving of her fate.â
The decision concludes a four-decade long wait for justice for Mrs Dawsonâs family, who are still pleading with the convicted wife-killer to reveal the location of her body.
Dawson was given a non-parole period of 18 years, meaning he will be aged in his 90s before he can apply for release from jail.
Dawson murdered his wife in January 1982 to have an unfettered relationship with a high school student who was also his babysitter, known as JC.
During the sentence hearing in November, crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC said Dawson had planned a âdeliberate and conscious actâ of domestic violence with an intention to kill.
He said a crime of âvery great heinousnessâ required a term of life imprisonment.
Dawsonâs lawyer Greg Walsh disputed claims the crime was at the high end in terms of objective seriousness.
Mr Walsh said the former Newtown Jets rugby league player had already suffered under the âmost constant and egregious publicityâ for four decades.
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His health was also deteriorating, the court heard, with Dawson showing signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain condition often experienced by those who play contact sports.
Dawson has filed an appeal of his conviction.
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