Lyn Dawson ‘spotted’ by former neighbours working as a nurse

Former neighbours of Lynette Dawson claim they saw her alive and working at a Sydney northern beaches hospital two years after her disappearance and alleged murder.

Peter Breese created a stir in Downing Centre Local Court when he claimed he saw the missing housewife in June 1984 less than 20 kilometres from the Bayview home she disappeared from in early 1982.

Mr Breese and his wife, Jill, told magistrate Jacqueline Trad on Wednesday they had seen Lynette alive at the hospital two years after her disappearance.

Chris Dawson, who has been charged with murdering his wife, is facing a committal hearing to decide whether he should stand trial.

The ex-Newtown rugby league player has pleaded not guilty, maintaining Lynette abandoned her family to start another life 38 years ago.

He says several people have seen her alive since she went missing on January 9, 1982.

Family friend Elva McBay, 101, told the court on Tuesday she spotted Lynette at a public reception for Prince Charles and Princess Diana in Sydney's CBD in March 1983.

Mr Breese on Wednesday said he was lying in his bed at Rockcastle Hospital in Curl Curl (now South Pacific Private hospital) when a nurse who bore a striking resemblance to Lynette Dawson entered the room before quickly turning around and exiting.

"I believe I saw Lynette Dawson," Mr Breese told the court.

"I recognised her, she recognised me, but she turned on her heels and I never saw her again."

He said the interaction lasted five or 10 seconds but left a lasting impression.

Mr Breese claimed the woman's hair, appearance and glasses all resembled his former neighbour's.

He said his wife later confided in him she also believed she had seen Lynette working at the hospital during his stay.

Ms Breese told the court she spotted through a doorway a woman walking past a nurse's station.

"I believe I saw Lyn Dawson," Ms Breese said on Wednesday.

Ms Breese said she had seen the woman "more from the side than the front" and "just in passing".

But she was confident it was her ex-neighbour whose property at Gilwinga Drive backed on to her Torumba Avenue house.

"I don't believe I was mistaken but maybe it's a possibility," Ms Breese said.

The couple did not make much of their interactions until they saw a newspaper article in either 1987 or 1988 in which Lynette was listed as a missing person.

They contacted Mona Vale Police Station to offer information.

A constable rang Ms Breese back a few hours later and told her a detective investigating the case said "she was under the pool".

"What did the police say then?" Dawson's barrister, Phillip Boulten SC, asked.

Ms Breese replied: "That was the end of the conversation."

Outside court on Wednesday, her husband Peter lashed out at waiting media with an umbrella.

Psychic Debbie Malone told the magistrate on Wednesday she'd seen visions of Lynette Dawson's body buried out the back of her Bayview home near a rock and close to a fire trail.

The committal hearing is scheduled to conclude with a final witness on Thursday.

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