Chris Dawson, subject of The Teacher's Pet podcast, found guilty

Chris Dawson, the subject of The Australian’s highly successful The Teacher's Pet podcast, has been found guilty of murdering his wife, Lynette.

Lynette Dawson disappeared without a trace in 1982 and her whereabouts have never been determined. At the time, her husband Chris had been accused of grooming the family babysitter, a then sixteen-year-old schoolgirl. The state made the case that the motive for Lynette’s murder was to replace her with the schoolgirl, and to avoid the financial devastation that a divorce would bring.

One of Australia's most high-profile trials came to an end after a five hour ruling on Tuesday. Justice Ian Harrison said that he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Lynette had not voluntarily abandoned her family to start a new life in secret – a claim that has followed the case for years. 

Justice Harrison concluded that he believes Lynette to be dead, and that the only explanation for her disappearance was a "conscious and voluntary act committed by Mr Dawson with the intention of causing her death."

Lawyer for Chris Dawson, Greg Walsh, has already brought up the suggestion of bail application ahead of the sentencing date – however it is not certain yet whether or not the decision will be appealed. 

Released as part of The Australian’s podcast suite in 2018, The Teacher’s Pet – hosted by journalist Hedley Thomas – has since recorded 52 million downloads worldwide across 16 episodes. Since its release, it has hit the top spot on the podcast charts in Australia, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand.

The podcast has been unavailable since 2019 in preparation for the trial to go ahead. Despite the publicity the podcast brought to the case, every effort was made not to influence the decision handed down.

The spin off podcast, The Teacher’s Trial, has been giving listeners updates on the proceedings since May this year. The 17 episodes of The Teacher’s Trial have been downloaded 4 million times.