It’s been four years since Chris Dawson was jailed for killing his wife Lynette Simms in 1982 – and now he’s made a shocking request to be transferred to a prison in Queensland.
The 77-year-old killer and sex-offender, who has dementia, applied to be moved to Queensland so he can be closer to relatives he’s still in contact with.
While no decision has been made to move Dawson, the request has raised concerns.
A forensic psychologist tells Woman’s Day that the killer could, in fact, receive special treatment behind bars, which could cause great distress to Lyn’s family.
“Corrective services will have to be mindful,” prison psychologist Pamela Nathan tells Woman’s Day.
“They’ll have to balance compassion and human rights with issues of accountability, and how his victim’s family feels when considering the transfer,”
Dawson’s deteriorating cognitive capacity also raises the possibility that he could finally confess to the murder.
During his Supreme Court trial in 2022, Dawson’s eldest daughter Shanelle fought through tears and pleaded for him to “finally admit the truth”.
“The night you removed our mother from our lives was the night you destroyed my sense of safety and belonging in this world for many years to come,” Shanelle told Dawson in court.
Dawson has always maintained his innocence, and is supported by his twin brother Paul, older brther Peter and his youngest daughter, Sherryn.
NO SPECIAL TREATMENT
In January 1982, Dawson killed his wife Lyn at their home on Sydney’s northern beaches due to his obsession with a high school student who moved into the family home. He eventually became the subject of the popular true-crime podcast The Teacher’s Pet, which contributed to his arrest in December 2018.
The following June, he pleaded not guilty to killing Lyn in January 1982 and faced trial in August 2022.
Following a judge-only trial, Dawson was found guilty in December 2022 and was sentenced to 24 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years.
During a court hearing in September 2023 where he faced charged relating to carnal knowledge, Judge Sarah Huggett noted a psychiatrist had assessed Dawson since he entered custody and found his cognitive functioning had declined due to head knocks and concussions he received through years of playing rugby league and union.
“He is of the opinion the offender has a mild cognitive impairment and that he is in the early phases of dementia,” Huggett said.
Dawson was sentenced to a further three years for the extra charge and will begin serving that sentence in August 2039.
As Corrective Services consider Dawson’s transfer request, some of Lyn’s relatives have already urged them to reject the application.
“Her body is somewhere in NSW and he’s never told us where it is,” Lyn’s sister Pat Jenkins told The Australian. “Why should he be rewarded when he has deliberately, and for his own benefit, taken away our much-loved family member and won’t tell us where her body is?”
Similarly, Lyn’s brother Greg Simms and his wife Merilyn think Dawson should not receive special treatment behind bars.
“The crime happened in NSW and that’s where he should stay” Greg and Merilyn said.
“He doesn’t deserve any privilege to do whatever he likes.”
MURDER CONFESSIONS
In August 2023, dementia patient Rodney Marvin Nichols was arrested at his Florida nursing home after confessing to killing his girlfriend who disappeared in 1975.
The 81-year-old, who is confined to a wheelchair, was charged with murdering Jewell Parchman Langford in Montreal, Canada.
During a bail hearing, Nichols’ public defender questioned the validity of the confession due to his dementia.
“There are serious questions as to whether he has any real idea of what is transpiring from day to day,” Bernardo Lopez’s motion read.
“The Federal Detention Center is no place for someone with Mr Nichols’ frailties and vulnerabilities.
In April, Nichols was found unfit to stand trial in Ontario and he remains innocent.
Similarly, Carolyn Krizan-Wilson was sentenced to six months behind bars in October 2013 for killing her husband Roy McCaleb in 1985. The 71-year-old Krizan-Wilson claimed a homeless man killed Roy during a break-in at their home in Houston, Texas – but later pleaded guilty to shooting her husband after she was charged with his death in 2012.
