Chris Dawson has pleaded not guilty to murdering his ex-wife Lynette, who vanished without a trace in 1982.
The 70-year-old appeared at a Sydney court on Thursday to enter a formal plea - after his sensational arrest late last year.
Dawson was charged with murder in December 2018 following the 1982 disappearance of his wife Lyn 37 years ago.
The former rugby league player had been the centre of The Australian's wildly successful podcast The Teacher's Pet.
Lyn's body has never been found and Dawson has vehemently proclaimed his innocence over the past three-and-a-half decades.
Mere days after his wife disappeared in 1982, the Cromer High school teacher moved his student Joanne Curtis into the family home, and the pair later married and had a child.
Dawson was released on bail last year on a $1.5million security after appearing at Sydney's Central Local Court.
If Dawson is found guilty pending a trial, he will be given a 'lengthy custodial sentence', a magistrate noted previously.
The matter has been adjourned until August 2019.
