Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
🚨 Our Pro Data Reveals the True Winner of Earnings Season Access Data
Australia 'Teacher's Pet' podcast subject gets 24-year sentence for 1982 murder
By Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY (Reuters) -An Australian former high school teacher, who was the subject of the hit podcast "The Teacher's Pet", was sentenced on Friday to 24 years in jail for murdering his wife 40 years ago, in a case that has gripped the nation.
The cold case against Christopher Dawson was reopened after the 2018 podcast put pressure on the police to revisit their investigation.
A 2003 inquest had recommended charging Dawson with his wife Lynette's murder but prosecutors declined, citing a lack of evidence.
"Dawson has enjoyed until his arrest 36 years in the community, unimpeded by the taint of a conviction for killing his wife, or by any punishment for doing so," New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Ian Harrison said during the sentencing.
"In a practical sense, his denial of responsibility for that crime has benefited him in obvious ways."
Dawson's lawyer, Greg Walsh, said he planned to appeal the sentence.
"Our system of justice and our democracy is based upon the presumption of innocence," he told media on Friday. "He maintains his innocence."
Lynette Dawson's brother, Greg Simms, said the family welcomed the sentence.
"We respect and thank Judge Harrison for his sentence, and hope Chris Dawson lives a long life in order to serve that sentence," he told media.
Dawson will be eligible for parole in 2040, when he will be 92 years old.
Dan Doherty, a homicide detective involved in bringing the charge, said while the sentence would bring comfort to the family, the case remained open as the victim's body had still not been located.
In August the Supreme Court found Dawson deliberately killed his wife in January 1982 to pursue a relationship with a teenage student he was having an affair with, and who had babysat and lived in his Sydney home.
Dawson, now 74, claimed his wife had left him - a defence that Harrison said was fanciful.
Lawyers for Dawson, who was tried without a jury due to the publicity surrounding the case, argued that the podcast, produced by News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA)'s the Australian newspaper, denied him a fair trial because of the way he was depicted.
Harrison had agreed the podcast - a number-one hit that the newspaper says has been downloaded more than 50 million times - had cast Dawson in a negative light, but had not factored into the verdict.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.