For years, the daughter of convicted killer Chris Dawson has spoken out about her struggle in making sense of her father’s shocking conviction.
In December 2022, Shanelle Dawson watched as her father was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murdering his wife, Lynette – Shanelle’s mother – in 1982. Lynette’s body has never been found.
Now, Shanelle has revealed in an online post that she has been dreaming of her father in a way that she hopes will help her take the next step in healing.
“Just as I started to drift off to sleep, a dream vision arose. It was of a darkened movie theatre,” she said in an online post.
“As I looked towards the soft glow of the door with the green-lettered exit sign, my father walked towards it and turned to wave to me, solemnly and with what felt like relief, mirroring my own, amongst many other complex feelings that were triggered by seeing him.”
Shanelle, who now lives in WA, also confirmed in the post that she hasn’t spoken to the former school teacher since his 2018 arrest.
Lynette’s disappearance was the subject of the investigative podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, which helped police refocus their case against Dawson. He has always maintained his innocence.
Shanelle said the recent dream has made her question whether Dawson, who is in his late 70s, was “actually about to pass,” and if so, whether she should get in contact with him.
“Whether he’d want to is another thing,” she said. “In this moment, I’d feel ok about not, but you never really know until it happens.
“I was trying to feel into whether or not he was saying goodbye from my psyche, or if he is preparing to leave this plane of existence?
“[I] have noticed, whilst there is still grief and I still can’t make sense of him, he doesn’t affect me since I wrote my book and did the impact statement.”
Elsewhere in the post, Shanelle says she always wanted her beloved mum to visit her in her dreams, but she sadly has no recollection of whether this has ever happened.
“If she does, I have never remembered. I feel her sometimes and know she’s with us,” she said.
Lynette disappeared from the family’s home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in January 1982.
Shanelle and her younger sister were told by Dawson that their mother had chosen to leave them.
Within days of Lynette’s disappearance, Dawson moved their daughter’s adolescent babysitter – and his former student – into the family home.
In June 2025, Dawson lost his final appeal against his murder conviction after the High Court shot down his latest challenge.
“There is no reason to doubt the correctness of the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal, including its dismissal of the appeal,” the panel of six judges wrote.
“Accordingly, it would be futile to grant an extension of time (to appeal).”
Dawson will be eligible for parole in 2041.
