JUDGE RULES AGAINST NEW WITNESS EVIDENCE AT CHRIS DAWSON MURDER TRIAL
2Judge rules against new witness evidence at Chris Dawson murder trial
By Sarah McPhee Updated June 15. 2022 — 4.03pmfirst published at 10.56am Save Log in. register or subscribe to save articles for later. Share Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size A NSW Supreme Court judge has ruled against allowing fresh evidence from multiple witnesses at the murder trial of Chris Dawson. 5½ weeks after the Crown opened its case. Dawson. 73. has pleaded not guilty to murdering his first wife. Lynette Dawson. who vanished from Sydney’s northern beaches in January 1982. Chris Dawson (right) leaves the NSW Supreme Court last week with his older brother Peter Dawson.Credit:Louise Kennerley The Crown alleges Dawson murdered Lynette and disposed of her body. possibly with assistance. motivated by a desire to have an unfettered relationship with his former student and babysitter. known as JC. As proceedings continued on Wednesday. Justice Ian Harrison ruled against the admission of new evidence from people who have come forward since the trial began in mid May. including observations made in 1969. the year before Chris and Lynette Dawson married. “This evidence is late. it’s not particularly strong. It’s even older than almost everything else in this case by about 10 years.” he said. Crown prosecutor Craig Everson. SC. acknowledged it was “not evidence upon which a crucial fact in the case will stand or fall”. The judge noted four or five witnesses were proposed to be called. “I just think a line has to be drawn under this sort of evidence. given when it arrived and what it tells me about anything in the trial.” Harrison said. “My inclination is to not permit the Crown to call this evidence and to produce a judgment as speedily as I can in detail. setting out my reasons for that course.” Everson said more people had “come out of the woodwork”. separate to the application dealt with. including someone who has “rung Crime Stoppers with some information and police are taking a statement”. Retired NSW Police officer John Pendergast testified that he became involved in the Dawson investigation in the late 1990s. as a detective sergeant at Dee Why. where detective Damian Loone was allocated the case. Pendergast. who spoke with Dawson relatives and JC. agreed with defence barrister Pauline David’s suggestion that it had been “unusual” the case did not go to the homicide squad. He was asked whether in 1999. he “deliberately ignored” what Ross Hutcheon and his wife Lynette Hutcheon. who was Chris Dawson’s sister. had said about an alleged sighting of Lynette Dawson outside Gladesville Hospital up to six months after she disappeared. “They didn’t give me any information of any sightings.” Pendergast said. He said if they had. he would have included it in a running sheet and welcomed the information. not rejected it. A 1999 running sheet. signed by Pendergast. states that an interview with the Hutcheon couple had established neither “have ever had any contact with the missing person ... since her disappearance”. In audio recordings played to the court on Tuesday. Ross Hutcheon. who died this year. remained adamant he had mentioned the incident. saying the statements taken by the police were “absolutely wrong”. Pendergast denied David’s suggestion that his case theory was “that Chris Dawson had killed his wife”. He said it was “not true” that he placed no credence in any alleged sightings because he considered she was dead. and denied he had pursued an agenda pushed by JC. He said he was “very much interested” in information suggesting Lynette Dawson’s whereabouts and felt her family had been “dudded” by a lack of investigation. David claims her client was prejudiced by delays and that there were failures by police to follow up leads. Meanwhile. Robert Silkman began his evidence that he had played rugby league with Chris Dawson. and to a lesser extent his twin brother Paul Dawson. with the Newtown Jets in 1975. “During the season....
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