SYDNEY—An Australian man was convicted on Tuesday of murdering his wife 40 years ago after a renewed police investigation that was triggered by a popular podcast.
Christopher Dawson, 74, faces a possible life sentence. He opted for a trial by judge instead of a jury in the New South Wales state Supreme Court due to his notoriety from “The Teacher’s Pet” podcast, which 60 million people have listened to since 2018. The podcast set out a circumstantial case that Dawson had murdered his wife, Lynette.
Justice Ian Harrison found that Dawson killed his wife in 1982. At the time, Dawson was a high school teacher who was in a sexual relationship with a teenage former student and babysitter for his two daughters, identified in court as J.C….