The babysitter and woman who eventually married Chris Dawson threatened his first wife Lynette and had reason to see her killed, a judge has heard.
In the ongoing murder trial against Dawson, 73, an intercepted phone call between himself and his twin brother Paul from March 1999 was played to the court.
In that call, Paul Dawson is heard saying that the babysitter, known only as JC, had motive to kill Mrs Dawson, who disappeared in January 1982.
“If Lyn had been murdered, (JC) had the motive. (JC) had more to gain and (JC) did gain more than Chris ever gained from their relationship,” Paul Dawson told the NSW Supreme Court.
Dawson has been accused of murdering his wife and disposing of her body in January 1982 so he could have an unfettered relationship with JC. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and claims Mrs Dawson left home at the time due to marital issues and never returned.
JC and Dawson married in 1984 and separated in 1990.
Paul Dawson said JC had threatened Mrs Dawson during a birthday party for one of her daughters.
“(JC) just said if (Mrs Dawson) got in her way … she’d get rid of her,” he told Justice Ian Harrison.
Police claims Dawson had anything to do with the alleged murder of his wife were preposterous, he said.
“You’re not the sort of person to do this. Anybody who knows you knows that,” he was heard telling his brother in 1999.
Paul Dawson said he didn’t question Mrs Dawson taking some time away from the marriage because his brother had done the same in December 1981, when he had driven north towards Queensland with JC.
After his wife disappeared, Dawson drove up to the Central Coast several times to look for her, the court heard.
The trial continues.
