Chris Dawson, 70, is granted bail and will be freed ahead of his trial over the murder of his wife Lyn
- Former rugby league player Chris Dawson has been granted bail in Sydney court
- The 70-year-old former Newtown Jets player accused of murdering wife in 1982
- Central Local Court magistrate Robert Williams granted bail to him on Monday
- He was arrested on the Gold Coast in early December and extradited to Sydney
Chris Dawson has been granted bail despite being charged with murdering his wife Lynette almost 37 years ago.
The former rugby league star intends pleading not guilty to killing his spouse, who was a 33-year-old mother of two young daughters when she disappeared from Sydney’s northern beaches in early 1982.
At Central Local Court on Monday, magistrate Robert Williams granted bail to the identical twin, whose brother Paul also played league and rugby union before becoming a high school physical education teacher.
Chris Dawson (pictured arriving in Sydney last week) has been granted bail after he was charged with murdering his wife Lynette decades ago
The former rugby league star (left during the 1970s) intends to plead not guilty to killing his spouse (right), who was a 33-year-old mother of two young daughters, when she disappeared from Sydney’s northern beaches in early 1982
The 70-year-old former Newtown Jets player, accused of murdering his wife Lynette Dawson in January 1982, was arrested on the Gold Coast earlier this month and extradited to Sydney.
Two days after her summer disappearance, Chris Dawson’s then 17-year-old girlfriend Joanne Curtis moved into their Bayview home and slept in the marital bed, The Australian’s podcast The Teacher’s Pet revealed.
Ms Curtis, who Dawson met when she was a student at Cromer High School on Sydney’s northern beaches, would go on to become his second wife and the mother of his third daughter.
They moved to the Gold Coast soon after Lynette Dawson’s disappearance but Ms Curtis left that relationship in early 1990 and returned to Sydney, a decade after meeting her fewer teacher and starting an adulterous relationship with him.
The 70-year-old former Newtown Jets player, accused of murdering his wife Lynette Dawson in January 1982, was arrested on the Gold Coast earlier this month and extradited to Sydney
Magistrate Mr Williams rejected the prosecution’s argument last week that Chris Dawson could potentially flee Australia using the passport of his identical twin brother Paul.
Chris Dawson was charged on December 6 with the murder of his wife on Sydney’s northern beaches in early 1982 after fresh statements from at least two witnesses, including from Dawson’s former wife Joanne Curtis.
Appearing in court via video link on Friday, Dawson yelled ‘that’s a joke’ and ‘you’re kidding’, before being reprimanded by the magistrate in a fiery bail hearing.
Crown prosecutor Craig Everson had argued Chris Dawson could leave Australia using the passport of his identical twin brother Paul.
Both brothers lived a few doors from each other at Gilwinga Drive in Bayview during the time of Lyn Dawson’s disappearance.
Chris Dawson went to Sydney Boys High School in Moore Park during the 1960s, which future prime minister Scott Morrison would attend during the 1980s.