Greg Lynn is about to face the music, and he won’t like the tune

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Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher will have written and polished his sentencing remarks in a case where every word will be examined by the media, the public and most likely fellow judges in the anticipated appeal.

On Friday, he is listed to tell convicted murderer Greg Lynn, 57, how many years he will be spending inside for the murder of camper Carol Clay, 73. Croucher will not be sentencing Lynn over the death of fellow camper Russell Hill, 74, as the jury acquitted him of the charge of murder.

Greg Lynn in a prison van, leaving court as a convicted murderer.Credit: Jason South

While Lynn’s defence team has flagged that it will appeal the jury’s guilty verdict, the judge must sentence on the basis that the verdict is sound and will stand as valid.

In a pre-sentence hearing last month, the defence was caught in a corner. It could not suggest Lynn showed remorse, as he claimed he didn’t kill either camper and instead told the jury that Hill accidentally shot Clay and then somehow managed to fatally fall on his own knife.

Lynn did apologise from the witness box for covering up their bodies, but for the families in court it sounded as hollow as a bass drum in a Scottish pipe band.

Russell Hill, Carol Clay and the murder weapon.

What Lynn did admit was that after the couple died in March 2020 in Victoria’s High Country he meticulously destroyed evidence, transported the bodies to an even more remote location, burned them and then changed the colour of his car to avoid detection.

His argument that he is a good man, caught in a bad situation that made him do some dumb things, is not helped by the fact he returned to the bodies and smashed them into more than 2100 pieces.

Defence barrister Dermot Dann, KC.Credit: Wayne Taylor

The prosecution argued that the callous nature of Clay’s murder meant that Lynn should be sentenced to life, which is really a maximum of 25 years. Since he has already served three since his arrest, this would mean he would be 79 when released.

The very impressive defence barrister Dermot Dann, KC, argued the contrary. “This cannot be a case which falls into the worst category, deserving of a maximum penalty,” Dann said.

Walking up to an elderly, harmless, helpless and unarmed woman and shooting her in the head is not in the worst category? This is the legal version of trying to put out a bushfire with an eyedropper.

Dann repeatedly made it clear he thinks the jury decision will not survive an appeal, and certainly as the trial was concluding, many in the defence team were ready for their victory lap.

It must have been annoying when the jury simply wouldn’t accept Lynn’s version that when he and Hill were wrestling over a gun, Hill accidentally squeezed the trigger and a shotgun projectile managed to hit an external mirror on a four-wheel-drive and deflect in such a manner it hit Clay in the head, killing her instantly.

The mathematical probability of this is in the billions, or roughly equivalent to a bolt of lightning hitting a needle held by a left-handed leprechaun.

In such cases, it is usual to call character witnesses to prove the convicted person is quite lovely, and kind to both children and small animals. But not one person took the stand for Lynn. Not one.

He was described as a family man. But they couldn’t call his first wife, Lisa Lynn, because she died in controversial circumstances that will likely result in a second inquest.

Maybe the court would have heard how this family man killed the family’s pet pig for straying into his garden patch. Or how his next-door neighbour’s dog was strung up dead on their fence following a dispute.

He was described as having a solid work history as an airline pilot, but no co-workers were called because then the court may have heard that many air crew refused to fly with him. They thought he was a bully.

Lisa Lynn with son Geordie in an undated family photo.

Croucher may have doubts about the jury’s thought process in delivering one guilty verdict, but a jury does not give reasons for its decision.

The judge will also be guided by the doctrine of general deterrence − the desire to deter others from going down the same track.

Justice requires this justice to add a severe loading for the cover-up, the deliberate, methodical and self-serving destruction of the crime scene. Otherwise, it will be a green light to others.

The court owes Lynn the same level of compassion he showed Carol Clay. The jury found him to be a cold-blooded killer, and he should be treated accordingly.

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