Chris Dawson

So this is not really what the law was intended for.

It was brought in and it was rushed after the Chris Dawson case.

And there's definitely a place for the law, for the likes of Chris Dawson.

If he doesn't, you know, that was the Teacher's Pet podcast.

And that was also from the Northern Beaches, you know, back at a time when it was pretty revolting, some of the stuff that was going on

I became quite angry at multiple failures by people who should have known better.

Police, prosecutors who repeatedly refused to run a murder case against Chris Dawson and this was after the original police investigation was replaced by a really thorough one It was knowing that Lynne's case couldn't have been a one-off.

There must be so many other unsolved cases of women who have been murdered in Australia and never got justice because the system failed them.

Realising that those cases could still be reignited, as Lynne's case was at the end of the teacher's pet series, I just thought, well, what better... role could I play as an investigative journalist who had the experience, had the backing of the Australian, the incredible support of our lawyers, JP and Justin and the team from Thomson Gear, because we have to take huge risks with these stories.

Every so often, a tipster would call to say they'd spotted her somewhere in Australia, but none of it ever checked out.

The only evidence that Lynette was alive at all came out of Chris Dawson's mouth.

And the longer she stayed gone, the thinner his excuses sounded.

That year, Chris married Diana.

After one more interview with her, they concluded that every avenue had been exhausted, that, quote, "Further inquiries proved fruitless." Because Lynette's parents had never formally accused Chris of anything, the police decided there was no reason to suspect him.

And so, once again, the case went quiet.

But it wouldn't stay quiet forever, because the one person who knew Chris Dawson better than anyone was about to reach her own breaking point.

You know their names.

All that and more coming up.

[suspenseful music] Chris Dawson was never really alone.

From the very beginning, he had his identical twin, Paul, right beside him.

The two boys were born in 1948 near Sydney, Australia, and they shared a bond that went deeper than most.

She got some of that from her dad, a former naval officer who became a math teacher.

With him teaching at the local high school and her mom running the house, the Simms family was about as steady and close as they come.

So when she started bringing Chris Dawson around in 1965, her parents were thrilled.

He was a star athlete with a thousand-watt smile, and he seemed like a good guy.