Sister-in-law upset by Chris Dawson affair

Chris Dawson upset his sister-in-law by asking if he might keep over at their place and share a mattress together with his babysitter JC whereas nonetheless married to his spouse Lynette in December 1981.

Giving proof on Dawson’s homicide trial in Sydney on Wednesday, Marilyn Dawson stated she was sad about permitting her brother-in-law and JC to remain at their place on Christmas Day however reluctantly gave them permission.

On the time, she stated she knew the wedding between Chris and Lynette Dawson was on shaky floor, however felt an obligation to assist her brother-in-law who had simply returned from an aborted journey north with JC.

“I felt torn between serving to Chris and attempting to assist Lyn and Chris’ household. His dad and mom in all probability did not know the place he was, and I simply felt upset that I used to be in that state of affairs,” she advised the NSW Supreme Court docket.

Dawson and JC had left Sydney in December 1981 to start out a brand new life in Queensland however had abruptly cancelled their plans after JC felt sick and wished to return residence, the court docket beforehand heard.

Dawson is accused of murdering his spouse and disposing of her physique in January 1982, so he might have an unfettered relationship with JC whereas retaining the household belongings together with their residence in Bayview, Sydney. He has pleaded not responsible to the cost.

Marilyn Dawson, who married Paul Dawson in 1969, advised the court docket she knew the couple’s marriage had not been going properly within the ultimate months of 1981, when her sister-in-law was spending extra time exterior of the household residence on the couple’s vacation home in Nowra.

“I requested Lyn to be sturdy and keep in her own residence if she wished to indicate that she beloved her kids and her residence and her husband,” she advised Justice Ian Harrison.

Nevertheless, she stated Mrs Dawson would at all times take her kids along with her on these journeys, and would by no means simply go away them at residence.

After Lynette Dawson disappeared in January 1982, Marilyn Dawson stated the subject of an insurance coverage coverage got here up in conversations along with her brother-in-law.

In a press release to police in March 1999, Mrs Dawson stated the cash within the insurance coverage coverage had simply “frittered away” and that the coverage had been dissolved.

Mrs Dawson stated that after the disappearance, Dawson stated his spouse had been noticed in Gosford and that she could have gone away to a retreat after “non secular individuals” have been noticed at their home in December 1981.

She stated that she by no means had any non secular sorts knock on the door of her residence, which was simply down the street from Chris and Lynette Dawson’s home.

After a household vacation to Lake Munmorah, NSW, in January 1982, Marilyn stated she returned to Sydney to search out Dawson and JC within the Bayview residence. She stated she by no means noticed Mrs Dawson once more after that.

The listening to continues.