Christopher Michael Dawson will maintain that he did not kill his wife Lynette in January 1982 as his murder trial draws to an end.
Returning to court for a second day of closing submissions on Wednesday, Dawson's legal team will continue its attack on the Crown's case that Mrs Dawson was murdered because of her husband's infatuation with one of his high school students, known as JC.
On Tuesday, Dawson's barrister Pauline David said her client was innocent, arguing that he had no motive for murder.
Ms David submitted that Mrs Dawson had abandoned her matrimonial home in the Sydney suburb of Bayview and had cut contact with friends and family in order to start a new life.
Mrs Dawson had been through several months of turbulence because of her husband's pursuit of JC, which included moving her into the family home, NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison heard.
She had also been dealt a devastating blow by Dawson's choice to drive up to Queensland with his teenage lover over Christmas 1981 in an attempt to break free from the marriage, Ms David argued.
"The world that she had built with Christopher Dawson was falling down around her," the barrister said.
As a strong willed independent woman, Mrs Dawson made the choice to cut her losses and leave, the court heard.
The Crown contends that Dawson murdered his wife and disposed of her body on January 8 or 9, 1982 because she was an obstacle to his sexual relationship with JC.
Dawson is alleged to have killed his wife and rushed to pick JC up from a camping holiday in Southwest Rocks, after which he installed her in the Bayview home.
© AAP 2022