A former student taught by Chris Dawson has revealed how he would call her "petal" and his "beautiful bub", and leave secret love letters in her schoolbag.
The woman, known only as JC, appeared in Dawson's Sydney murder trial on Wednesday, saying in 1980 he had wanted to teach her after spotting her on the playground.
"He told me that he had seen me in the playground the year before when I was 15 and decided that he would like to get to know me better because I was attractive to him," she said.
Dawson, 73, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Lynette, who disappeared from the couple's Bayview home in January 1982. The Crown alleges he killed his wife and disposed of her body to be in a relationship with JC.
The former teacher pursued JC through the final years of high school, leaving notes of love and affection in her schoolbag in 1980 and 1981, the court was told.
In one Christmas card, referring to JC as "petal", Dawson wrote of his love towards his student before signing off as "God".
JC said this was Dawson's self-appointed nickname to disguise who he was because she was then 16.
Another card sent by Dawson on JC's birthday in 1981 referred to her as his "lovely beautiful bub".
She said this attention from Dawson, who she felt could be trusted as her teacher, was different from her life at home where her parents would drink heavily and her stepfather was controlling, violent and abusive towards her mother.
JC said she would spend the night at Dawson's home while she was hired to babysit his children, that she used to swim topless in his pool, and that he kissed her for the first time while giving her a driving lesson.
She stayed at the Dawsons' home while completing her HSC where she said Dawson was distant to his wife, teasing her through song and calling her fatso. The court heard Dawson made Lynette sleep by giving her alcohol so he could have sex with JC.
Chris Dawson's former brother-in-law Greg Simms told the court earlier on Wednesday that he believed the former rugby league player was guilty of murdering his wife.
"You have taken the view, haven't you, that Mr Dawson is guilty?" Dawson's barrister Pauline David asked.
"I believe so, yes," Mr Simms replied.
The barrister suggested Mr Simms had painted her client in a unfair light because he was desperate to get closure about Ms Dawson's disappearance.
Mr Simms said his attitude towards Dawson and his beliefs about what happened to his sister shifted after a discussion in early 1990 when JC said Dawson had wanted to hire a hitman to get rid of his wife.
"What is your attitude to Mr Dawson today?" Ms David asked.
"Well I wouldn't want to speak to him," Mr Simms said.
Ms David questioned whether Mr Simms' testimony had been altered because of conversations he previously had with Rebecca Hazel who authored a book about Ms Dawson's disappearance and through what others had said in The Teacher's Pet podcast on the topic.
Mr Simms' wife Merilyn Simms also took the stand, saying the last time she spoke to Ms Dawson was in October 1981. At the time, Ms Dawson was very upset, saying her husband was angry and evasive, and that their sexual relations had broken down.
She described a phone call from Dawson in September 1982, almost 10 months after Ms Dawson's disappearance, when his two children were visiting their family farm. At the time, Dawson accused the Simms family of abducting the children and secretly taking them to see his wife.
"He was very angry and agitated, and he said that he wanted Lyn to come back, he wanted to see her walk in the door, and that he missed her," Ms Simms said.
The judge-alone trial continues onThursday.
