6-minute guide: Major moments in Greg Lynn’s trial ahead of his sentencing

Greg Lynn will tomorrow learn his fate over the brutal murder of Carol Clay. The high country killer faces life in prison over the elderly camper’s death.

High country killer Greg Lynn will tomorrow return to court to be sentenced over the shooting murder of Carol Clay.

After a five-week trial in the Supreme Court, Lynn, 58, was found guilty of murdering Mrs Clay, 73, who along with Russell Hill, 74, vanished during a camping trip to the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

The former Jetstar pilot was found not guilty of murdering Mr Hill.

He is facing a maximum penalty of life in prison for murdering Mrs Clay, who was shot in the head by Lynn after an argument broke out over Mr Hill’s drone.

The standard sentence for murder is 25 years in Victoria, and Lynn has already spent more than 1000 days in custody.

As he prepares to learn his fate, we recap some of the most shocking revelations to emerge in the missing campers case.

Lynn was found guilty of Carol Clay’s murder but not guilty of the murder of Russell Hill.

Campers were having ‘fun in bed’ moments before deaths

Lynn said he believed the secret lovers were mid-tryst when he blasted music from his car stereo in a “childish” attempt to annoy Mr Hill, as a result of the pair’s earlier verbal spat over a drone.

“(Mr Hill’s) trying to have fun in bed and I was playing the music that he didn’t like loud and he’s lost his temper,” Lynn said.

He admitted to police that turning up the stereo was “a bit of a childish things to do”.

Lynn claimed both deaths were accidental

Defence lawyer Dermot Dann KC told the court: “This is a case of two accidental tragic deaths”, alleging Mrs Clay was accidentally shot in the head when the two men wrestled over a shotgun.

Lynn claims the deadly confrontation was sparked after Mr Hill took Lynn’s firearm from his car and threatened to take it to police because he had filmed the ex-pilot on his drone hunting close to the campsite.

Enraged by Mrs Clay’s death, Mr Hill then allegedly came at Lynn with a knife before the elderly camper was accidentally stabbed in the chest and died during a struggle.

Greg Lynn talks about the the gun being pointed at him by Russell Hill in his police interview.

Mr Hill and Mrs Clay’s divorce pact

Mr Hill and Mrs Clay were high school sweethearts who had rekindled their relationship in secret in 2006.

Mr Hill’s long-time friend, Robin Ashlin, told the court the pair had at one point planned to leave each other’s respective spouses so they could be together.

But he said Mr Hill backed out of the agreement after Mrs Clay had already divorced her husband.

Lynn took the stand in his own defence

In a shock twist, Lynn entered the witness box and was grilled by the prosecution on his account of the deaths.

Family members of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay were seated just metres away as he described how he burnt the couple’s bodies, how he used a bucket and a torch to find “bits and pieces” of blood and tissue to remove them from the scene.

Lynn said he tried to cover up their deaths because he feared he would be blamed.

He also detailed how his pilot training had taught him to remain calm in crises, and to make snap decisions that were “in the best interest”.

A court sketch of Greg Lynn in the witness box. Picture: Paul Tyquin

Lynn offered to plead guilty to destroying evidence

The killer admitted burning the bodies was “despicable” and apologised to the families.

When asked by his lawyer, Dermot Dann KC, if he should be punished for burning the bodies, Lynn replied: “Yes I should be punished.”

Mr Dann also revealed that Lynn had offered to plead guilty to the offence of destruction of evidence, as his client maintained “I am innocent of murder”.

Asked about the offence of manslaughter, he said: “I am innocent … I haven’t killed anyone.”

But for the destruction of evidence, he replied: “I am guilty.”

Russell Hill and Carol Clay’s campsite was burnt, with Lynn later returning to burn the pair’s bodies. Picture: Supreme Court of Victoria

Manslaughter charge ruled out

When the trial started, the jury was asked to decide if Lynn was guilty of murder – and if not, could he be guilty of manslaughter?

But during the fifth week of the trial Justice Michael Croucher told the jury they would no longer need to consider the alternate charge of manslaughter as part of their deliberations.

“In the circumstances of this case, if you are not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the murder, you would not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of manslaughter,” he said.

“Accordingly, you must put manslaughter out of your minds.”

Secret recording devices captured hours of Lynn’s mutterings

Lynn’s Nissan Patrol had a tracker placed on it and was bugged with listening devices during the police investigation into the campers’ disappearances, as was his Caroline Springs home.

A detective who listened to 3150 individual recordings of Lynn talking to himself formed the view the ex-pilot was “homophobic, narcissistic, a chauvinist, misogynist (and) prejudiced”.

On one recording, Lynn was alone in his car when he turned up the volume on his radio as a news story came on about Mr Hill and Mrs Clay’s disappearance.

“They’re sitting on a beach in f--king Queensland. Nudist beach. Butt naked. Playing on his f--king drone. Running up and down the beach. Taking pictures of the young people. Who’s got the biggest dick?” he said to himself.

Justice Croucher ruled the remarks were inadmissable to Lynn’s trial because it would cause jurors to speculate about what he meant by them.

Greg Lynn arrives at the Supreme Court during his murder trial. Picture: David Geraghty

Lynn’s family could lose $1m home

The Lynn family property in Caroline Springs has been in state hands for more than a year amid the lengthy murder prosecution.

The Herald Sun revealed in August last year that police had restrained the former Jetstar pilot’s three-bedroom house in the lead up to his double murder trial.

Such clamps are placed on property so that proceeds of sale can provide compensation for victims but the Lynn matter is not yet final, with his lawyers foreshadowing they would likely appeal the verdict.

Should he win an acquittal, the legal restraining order on the property would be lifted.

Property records show his wife, Melanie, became the sole proprietor of the home within weeks of her husband’s arrest in November 2021.

The Lynn home in Caroline Springs could be sold to provide compensation to victims if his murder conviction is upheld. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig

Lynn married Melanie in 2004 and the couple had a son together in 2007. Picture: David Geraghty

Lynn’s dating history, tragic ex-wife

Following his conviction over Carol Clay’s murder, the Herald Sun revealed Victoria Police asked those close to Lynn about the disappearance of a woman he spent time with two decades ago when he was a pilot in the Middle-East.

The woman had gone missing while they were both in Qatar.

The death of Lynn’s first wife was also expected to be referred to the State Coroner in a bid for a fresh inquest as an earlier probe heard she “lived in terror” from her ex-husband’s threats and abuse.

Lisa Lynn’s body was in 1999 found in the foetal position in the front yard of the couple’s Mount Macedon home.

She died of a combined drug and alcohol toxicity, despite being a teetotaller.

During his pre-sentencing plea, the court heard that, in addition to his two children with his former wife, Lisa, Lynn had another child with a woman in Adelaide.

“That relationship ultimately broke down so he moved back to Melbourne with his sons,” Mr Dann told the court.

In 2004, he married his current wife, Melanie, and the couple had a son together in 2007.