The letter penned about Lyn Dawson’s before she disappeared as her husband’s murder trial nears

REVEALED: The mysterious letter written by a family friend who warned Lyn Dawson she was ‘crazy’ to leave her husband Chris alone with his student Joanne Curtis – as he is set to go on trial for his wife’s murder

  • Chris Dawson, 71, had a committal hearing for the murder of his wife on Thursday
  • Lynette Dawson, then 33, vanished from Sydney’s northern beaches in 1982
  • He was allegedly in a sexual relationship with teenager Joanne Curtis at the time
  • Elva McBay, now 101, tendered a four-page letter as evidence at the hearing
  • It revealed Lyn had been warned not to leave her husband alone with his student

A letter penned by a family friend has revealed Lyn Dawson was warned she was ‘crazy’ to leave her husband alone with his teenage student before she disappeared.  

Elva McBay, 101, tendered a four-page letter at Chris Dawson’s committal hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

The former PE teacher, 71, is charged with the murder of his wife Lyn, who vanished from Sydney’s northern beaches in January 1982, in a case made famous by the popular podcast ‘The Teacher’s Pet’.

Ms McBay wrote that she had told Lyn to get the girl out of her home and that the teenager had allegedly threatened to take the mother’s life. 

 

Ms McBay wrote that she warned Lyn (pictured with one of her daughters) to kick the teenager out of her home

Chris Dawson (centre) leaves Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Wednesday, February 12

Chris Dawson (centre) leaves Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Wednesday, February 12 

‘Lyn said that there had been frequent disagreements and ­arguments between Joanne and herself and that during one of these arguments Joanne had threatened to kill her,’ Ms McBay’s letter seen by the Weekend Australian reads.

The case concentrates on the former Newtown Jets rugby league star’s alleged sexual relationship with his school student Joanne Curtis, who would babysit for the couple. 

In the undated letter, Ms McBay stated she became concerned and surprised to learn the teenager had moved into the family home to help out with the Dawsons’ two daughters, Shanelle and Sherryn.  

She wrote that the move was intended so Dawson could ‘help Joanne with her studies’ but during several conversations with Lyn during 1981 she noticed things were becoming rocky. 

The letter discloses the teenager was increasingly spending time with Dawson and becoming hostile towards Lyn, prompting Ms McBay to warn her to remove Ms Curtis from her home before the situation grew worse.

But Lyn is said to have responded: ‘Chris and I love each other and I trust him implicitly’. 

The letter adds that on one occasion Lyn dropped in to visit Ms McBay, who was at her sister-in-law’s home, Dawson’s twin brother Paul’s wife, Marilyn. 

Lyn told the women she was taking her daughters out for a while so her husband and Curtis could study without being disturbed. 

‘Both Marilyn and I were amazed at this and I told her quite frankly that she was crazy to go away and leave her husband and a teenage girl who obviously had a crush on Chris alone in the house,’ Ms McBay wrote.

Lynette  (Lyn) Dawson (right with Chris) disappeared from her family's Bayview home, in Sydney's Northern Beaches, on January 9, 1982 and was the subject of the popular 'The Teacher's Pet' podcast which sparked international interest in the case

Lynette  (Lyn) Dawson (right with Chris) disappeared from her family’s Bayview home, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, on January 9, 1982 and was the subject of the popular ‘The Teacher’s Pet’ podcast which sparked international interest in the case

But by Christmas, Ms McBay felt the Dawson’s marital issues had settled after Lyn phoned her asking for advice buying a present for her husband. 

Ms McBay wrote it came to her as a massive shock when Lyn went missing the following month.

The family friend was the first witness to give evidence at the four-day hearing that began on Monday. 

On Thurday, Dawson was committed to stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court, which is expected to take place this year.

He will appear before the court in April for arraignment on his charge.  

WHAT HAPPENED TO MISSING MOTHER-OF-TWO LYN DAWSON?

1970: Lynette Joy Simms marries footballer Christopher Michael Dawson. They are both 21 and later have two daughters, first Shanelle and then Sherryn

1980: Mr Dawson, who retired from playing rugby league to become a PE teacher, starts affair with 16-year-old pupil Joanne Curtis at Cromer High School on Sydney’s northern beaches

1981: Mr Dawson persuades Mrs Dawson to let Joanne move in to their home to get away from her violent stepfather and finish her Higher School Certificate

December 1981: Mr Dawson and his young lover run away together to Queensland but Ms Curtis changes her mind and they return to Sydney

January 8, 1982: Mrs and Mrs Dawson go to marriage counselling. Mrs Dawson’s mother speaks to her daughter, who is not a big drinker, on the telephone and thinks she sounds ‘sozzled’.

January 9, 1982: Mr Dawson says he dropped his wife at a Mona Vale bus stop so she could go shopping at Chatswood. Mrs Dawson fails to turn up to meet her mother, husband and children at Northbridge Baths. Mr Dawson says his wife rang him and said she needed some time to herself

January 10 or 11, 1982: Mr Dawson picks up Joanne from South West Rocks on the mid north coast of NSW and she moves into his home. He reports his wife missing six weeks later.

1983-85: Mr Dawson divorces his missing wife and marries Joanne. The newlyweds move to Queensland where Joanne has the couple’s daughter Kristen

1990: Mr Dawson and Joanne split up. She moves back to Sydney and urges police to search his old garden for a body

2000: Mrs Dawson’s pink cardigan is found during a police dig on the family’s former property at Bayview

2001 and 2003: Two coroners find that Mrs Dawson was murdered by a ‘known person’ – Chris Dawson – but he is not charged with any offence

2006: An episode of the British TV series Antiques Roadshow is filmed in Padstow, Cornwall. Mr Dawson later claims a woman seen in the background of the episode could be his missing wife

2018: Police prepare another brief for the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions. The Australian launches its podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, about the case

December 5, 2018: Queensland Police arrest Chris Dawson at the home of his twin brother. He is then extradited to NSW and charged with Lyn’s murder.

February 2020: Mr Dawson, who has pleaded not guilty to his wife’s murder, faces a committal hearing in the Downing Centre Local Court and is committed to stand trial.

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