Sue Strath is that rare, loyal friend who never turns away, who never gives up. Her efforts to poke and prod police into action over the disappearance of Lyn Dawson makes Sue one of the few heroines of a tragic story. Sue kept agitating for 16 years, although she was sure that Lyn was dead. The facts and chronology of the case show that Sue's persistence caused the police investigation in the late 1990s which led to much of the evidence presented in the murder trial. Sue was in the witness box at the murder trial for only a short time but her fascinating story battling bureaucrats and cops is unpacked here, along with all the developments in the case since Justice Harrison adjourned to consider a verdict and write his judgment.

And, as the Dawson twins turn 74, Chris faces another court -- this time on a charge of carnal knowledge of a student from his time at Cromer High. 

Plus, we meet some more inspiring women: the dedicated court-watchers who’ve been in the public gallery each day. 

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.  Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.

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Chris Dawson is a man of good character, badly let down by police and unfairly tainted over the disappearance of his wife: that's the essence of the Defence's closing address on behalf of the accused. Finally, the court got to hear Dawson's side of the story. Through barrister Pauline David, he admitted having behaved 'horribly' towards Lyn by beginning a relationship with babysitter JC, leaving his wife in such despair she walked out and cut off all contact with her family.

We heard from a surprising defence witness, and got some clues about Justice Ian Harrison's thinking, as he sought Ms David's rebuttal of the Crown's case. We hear the voices of Dawson family insiders, including Chris himself, in flashbacks to The Teacher's Pet investigation.

This is our longest episode yet, as we explore the fine detail of Chris' claims to be an innocent man, wrongly persecuted. 

To read The Australian's ongoing coverage of the trial search The Teacher's Trial or click here.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.  Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.

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Obsessed with teenage babysitter JC, Christopher Dawson murdered his wife Lyn in terror of losing what he so deeply desired. That was the powerful thrust of a meticulous and forensic closing address, delivered over two days by Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC. Everson said Dawson made four separate plans to escape his marriage before ultimately killing Lyn, disposing of her body and racing to South West Rocks to collect JC and install her in the family home, wearing Lyn's clothes and her rings.

This is the first of two episodes focusing on the closing submissions by each side. In the next episode: The Defence Closes.

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT. 

Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police taps on Chris Dawson’s phone in 2018 as episodes of The Teacher’s Pet were unfolding reveal him and his twin brother Paul raging over the former babysitter-cum-wife JC, as well as journalists, TV crews and homicide cop Damian Loone. In one intercept Chris discloses he was still hearing from Lyn some ‘six or eight weeks’ after she disappeared - although in 1982 he told police his contact with Lyn ceased after a week. He says of Lyn: 'she took off'. The evidentiary value of bruises described by witnesses on Lyn’s arms, neck and leg is weighed by the judge as the trial reaches its pointy end.

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hedley Thomas, the award-winning journalist behind The Teacher's Pet podcast, enters the witness box in the trial's eighth week. Thomas mounts a fiery defence of investigative journalism amid a fierce cross-examination by defence barrister Pauline David. Detective Damian Loone also returns to the witness box for a grilling over his investigative methods and integrity. The former cop stands firm under the onslaught, defending his actions in seeking justice for Lyn and answers for her family.

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Hedley Thomas will be in the witness box in the trial of Chris Dawson. The Australian's daily news podcast The Front will be publishing daily updates. Search for The Front in your podcast app, and hit the follow or subscribe button to get daily updates on the trial of Chris Dawson and Hedley's appearance as a witness.

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A retired cop makes an explosive revelation that an unverified and fleeting purported sighting of Lyn Dawson at a fruit barn closed down the first homicide investigation in the early 1990s. The court hears investigative files were left to decay in a damp storage facility, never to be found again. An author and confidante of family babysitter `JC’ speaks of her motivations for writing a book about her friend’s saga with Chris and Lyn Dawson, and her transition from student to teenage bride and “sex slave”.

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The names and reputations of Sydney’s most notorious crime figures are connected to Chris Dawson’s murder trial, as the focus turns to the gangland milieu surrounding the Newtown Jets rugby league club. The crown’s criminally-connected witness Robert Silkman speaks of his friendship with heroin trafficker and Newtown teammate Paul Hayward, and his drinking buddy and brother-in-law, psychopathic contract killer Neddy Smith. Silkman’s claims that Dawson asked him to help “get rid” of Lyn after a Newtown players' trip to the Gold Coast are ferociously attacked by the defence team. 

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The voices of Chris and Paul Dawson echo through the court once more as intercepted phone calls from the late '90s are played publicly for the first time. Members of the Dawson family, including twin brother Paul and sister-in-law Marilyn, recall the events leading up to and following Lynette Dawson’s disappearance decades earlier and mount a fierce defence of the accused.

The Crown bolsters evidence from former Dawson family babysitter JC, calling on former school friends and fellow playgroup mums to testify about her life in Queensland and the deterioration of her marriage to Chris Dawson.

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The court hears Chris Dawson's story in his own words as video of his first and only police interview on the topic of his wife's disappearance is played in full. His brother, Peter Dawson, remembers the crucial weeks and months following Lynette Dawson's disappearance and a teenage co-worker of JC recounts a frightening encounter with Chris Dawson, who allegedly warned him to stay away from JC. And this decades-old cold case hits a very modern road bump thanks to COVID-19.  

For daily updates from The Australian, search for "The Front" in your podcast app.

The National Sexual Assault Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service can be reached on 1800RESPECT.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.