'I really need a break': Accused murderer Chris Dawson, 70, breaks his silence as he spends Christmas Day with his third wife – and reveals how he survived three weeks in prison
- Chris Dawson has broken his silence after being released from Silverwater Jail
- The 70-year-old returned to his Mount Coolum home in Queensland this week
- Speaking from his swimming pool, the 70-year-old confessed he 'needs a break'
- Dawson also said on Christmas Day he struggled to cope behind bars at the jail
Chris Dawson has broken his silence about his recent stint behind bars after being charged with the cold case murder of his wife Lyn.
The 70-year-old, who was allowed out on bail on Christmas Eve, is living in his Mount Coolum home in Queensland with his third wife Susan as he awaits trial.
Speaking from his swimming pool on Christmas Day, a shirtless Dawson broke his silence and told the The Daily Telegraph he 'needs a break'.
'Yeah look, yeah I'm well thanks — I just really need a break,' Dawson told the publication, as he swam in the pool at a leisurely pace.
Accused murderer Chris Dawson has broken his silence about his recent stint behind bars after he returned to his Mount Coolum home in Queensland this week
When asked what got him through his three-week stint behind bars, Dawson initially refused to comment but then agreed 'thinking about family' made it easier.
The 70-year-old is back home with his third wife, Susan, after he was released from Sydney's Silverwater prison on Christmas Eve, a week after a court granted him bail.
A series of complications with the former rugby league player's application, including a problem with the $1.5 million surety, delayed his release by a week.
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Dawson was arrested on the Gold Coast earlier this month and extradited to NSW where he was charged with murdering wife Lynette Dawson, who went missing from Sydney's northern beaches in 1982.
Up until recently, Dawson, a one-time model and rugby league player for the Newtown Jets, had never been charged with any offence and his wife's body has never been found.
Police charged Dawson with Lyn's 1982 murder shortly after he landed in Sydney earlier this month following his extradition from Queensland.
Dawson (pictured left with brother Peter) released from Sydney's Silverwater prison on Christmas Eve, a week after a court granted him bail
On January 9, 1982 Lyn Dawson (pictured) made plans to meet her mother at Northbridge Baths, where her husband worked as a lifeguard. She did not arrive and is presumed to be dead
Dawson's case might not go to trial until 2020 at the earliest, which may have contributed to the magistrate's decision to release him on bail.
Since returning home, he will have to live at his wife's home on the Sunshine Coast and report daily to a local police station to comply with his bail conditions.
Dawson and Susan have married for almost 30 years, and despite the intense public scrutiny over his first wife Lyn's disappearance, she has always remained supportive.
The 70-year-old intends to plead not guilty to murdering his wife in the case, which made international headlines when it became the focus of The Australian newspaper's The Teacher's Pet podcast.
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