there was insufficient evidence for a criminal conviction. A second inquest, held in February 2003 by State Coroner Carl Milovanovich, recommended Chris be charged with Lynette's murder. Cowdery again refused to prosecute Dawson, citing the lack of evidence. In April 2018, following extensive investigations, NSW Police requested the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to review its brief of evidence. Chris was arrested in Queensland in December 2018, extradited to New South Wales, and charged with the murder of his first wife. He was granted bail, and in June 2019 pleaded not guilty to her murder. In February 2020, Chris was committed to stand trial for the murder of Dawson. He is also facing a charge of carnal knowledge with a girl between the ages of 10 and 17, relating to his sexual relationship with Curtis while still a teacher at Cromer High School. Trial Chris Dawson applied to have the case stayed on the basis that there had been an "inordinate delay" in prosecuting him, and that there was a risk that members of the jury could have prejudged his guilt due to widespread publicity about the case. A temporary stay was granted "to allow publicity to fade from jurors' minds", but his application for a permanent stay was denied in both the NSW Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal. In April 2022, he was denied special leave by Justice Stephen Gageler to appeal to the High Court of Australia. In May 2022, Justice Robert Beech-Jones granted Dawson's application for a judge-alone trial after he argued the "extensive pre-trial publicity meant a jury was unsuitable in his case." The trial before Justice Ian Harrison began on 9 May and ran for 10 weeks, concluding on 11 July. The prosecution presented a circumstantial case, alleging Dawson's motive for murder was his desire for an "unfettered relationship" with Curtis. The defence acknowledge Dawson may have "failed" his wife but that she "left and abandoned" the family of her own accord, and suggested she may have created a new life. The defence relied on a number of witnesses who claimed to have seen Lynette since her disappearance. Chris Dawson chose not to give evidence. On 30 August 2022, Justice Harrison took five hours to deliver his reasons for finding Dawson guilty. He found Dawson had lied on a number of occasions, including about his relationship with Curtis, about his