ON THE RECORD

‘The Teacher’s Pet’ Hit Podcast Leads to Arrest of Murder Suspect

Prosecution of ‘Teacher’s Pet’ case will rely on two pieces of additional evidence generated by podcast.

The villain of a true-crime podcast downloaded more than 27 million times has been arrested, and will be charged with murdering his wife, who disappeared in 1982 in Australia. Chris Dawson, 70, has always denied killing his wife, with whom he had two children, saying that she abandoned the family for a religious group. But a podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, brought global attention to the case this year. Since May, more than 27 million people have listened to the series, which is produced by The Australian newspaper and highlighted the bungled handling of the case by police. The victim’s brother, Greg Simms, said he was “ecstatic” about the development, adding, “We’ve always been determined to find the truth and that’s the reason why we’ve fought to keep Lyn’s name alive.” The police case will rely in part on two additional witness statements generated as a result of the podcast.