What Lynn said on secret police bugs revealed

A detective tasked with listening to 3150 secret recordings of Greg Lynn revealed the “misogynist” high country killer often recited “dark lyrics” to himself.

High country killer Greg Lynn was recorded on covert listening devices making bizarre comments to himself about Russell Hill and Carol Clay.

The former airline pilot’s Nissan Patrol had a tracker placed on it and was bugged with listening devices, as was his Caroline Springs home, which was also under video surveillance as part of the police investigation into the missing campers.

The Herald Sun can reveal that detectives tasked with bringing Lynn to justice had the unenviable task of listening to and documenting hours of recordings obtained from the bugs.

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”.

Mr Lynn was also a “lover of Nick Cave” and known to recite his songs along with “other dark lyrics” as he drove, a prosecutor told preliminary hearings.

While alone in his car in May 2021, Lynn was also heard to turn up the volume on his radio after a news story came on about the pair’s disappearance.

“I put a f--king trigger lock on it. You’ve gotta get a second set of trigger lock f--king keys and stick them in there … They’ve just got to keep pushing all the time, don’t they?” he said.

What Greg Lynn was heard saying on secret police recordings.

Later that day, another story about the case came on the stereo.

“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.

While camping near Howitt Plains on his own in December 2020, Mr Lynn said these things to himself.

“Ballistics, you’d think they would want samples of my ammo, you would. Until that,” he said.

“Little old people, they looked at me like (inaudible words) fair enough, fair enough.”

Greg Lynn’s Nissan Patrol and trailer were captured by an ANPR camera travelling along the Great Alpine Rd the day after the campers’ deaths. Picture: Supreme Court of Victoria

Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher ruled the remarks were inadmissable to Lynn’s trial because jurors would have to speculate about what he meant by them, noting the Queensland comment was contrary to the prosecution case that he murdered them.

“Since the prosecution case is that he killed them 14 months earlier, the jury would be forced to speculate about matters such as Lynn’s sanity or whether he might have been fantasising about a scenario that is totally at odds with their own case,” he said.

Listening devices were placed inside Mr Lynn’s home and car. Picture: David Crosling

The police investigation

With Lynn’s verdict handed down, the Herald Sun can reveal fresh details about the remarkable investigation into one of the country’s most high profile missing persons cases.

A “ping” from Mr Hill’s phone at the same time Lynn’s dark coloured Nissan Patrol passed traffic cameras near Mount Hotham brought detectives to his doorstep in Melbourne’s western suburbs in July 2020.

The first thing they noticed was his 4WD had been repainted beige.

During that conversation, Lynn lied about his movements in the Wonnangatta Valley four months earlier, claiming he had not seen the elderly campers.

He would later tell police the visit made him worried that his plan to “disappear” was unravelling, prompting him to return to where their bodies were dumped and burn them.

As they left, detectives took a photo of the Nissan and the next day they applied for warrants for his bank records.

Listening devices were later placed in his home and vehicle, and for nearly a year, the ex-pilot was seemingly unaware the missing persons squad was tracking his movements and listening to nearly every word he uttered.

A photo taken by a police surveillance team of Lynn’s vehicle after it had been repainted. Picture: Supplied

He would later tell police he was paranoid he was on their “radar” in the lead-up to his arrest as too many people had said odd things to him like he was on “The Truman Show”.

As the months dragged on with little progress, police needed a breakthrough.

They released a sketch and traffic camera image of Lynn’s Nissan which featured on a 60 Minutes episode about the missing campers in November 2021.

In the program, a reporter says investigators had accounted for every vehicle in the valley that weekend except the 4WD.

Detectives already knew it belonged to Lynn but they hoped it would elicit a response from him — and it did.

Police surveillance CCTV images reveal Lynn removing the awning from his 4WD. Picture: Supplied

Listening devices inside Lynn’s home picked up his wife Melanie laughing as she pointed out that the vehicle looked like his own.

“That’s not funny, sweet pea,” Lynn replied.

Days later, Mr Lynn was filmed on surveillance devices removing an awning from the Nissan.

“The car in the images did look a lot like my car — it was my car,” he said during his testimony, adding that removing the awning made it appear less so.

Nine days after watching the program, Lynn left his home bound for a solo camping trip in the high country.

Detectives listening in thought he sounded depressed, and knowing he had firearms with him, believed he could take his own life.

They knew they had to act quickly so the special operations group were called in for the arrest.

They swooped in by helicopter and took Lynn into custody without incident at a remote campsite near Arbuckle.

Lynn was arrested at a remote campsite near Arbuckle. Picture: Nine News

He was transported to Sale Police Station where his record of interview took place.

The interview was a crucial piece of evidence in Lynn’s trial, with about 3.5 hours played to the jury.
In the recording, the former pilot recounted how the elderly campers were accidentally killed before he panicked and covered up their deaths.

But what the jury did not know was that it took nearly six hours of questioning and 45 hours in custody before Lynn told police his version of events.

At the beginning of the interview, Lynn, who had spoken to legal aid but was not accompanied by a lawyer, told police he would be giving a “no comment” interview as instructed by his solicitor.

But detectives, who were unprepared as they had not expected to take him into custody so soon, piled on the pressure until he cracked.

Justice Croucher ruled the interview, and the evidence that flowed from it, inadmissable at trial because police used “oppressive conduct” and undermined Lynn’s legal advice.

But the defence reintroduced the interview as part of their case.

Detective Senior Constable Brett Florence, right, said his aim was to find the remains of the elderly campers. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Defence barrister Dermot Dann KC told the jury his client was “completely truthful and completely accurate” during the interview.

But he omitted that Lynn only provided his account after a barrage of more than a thousand questions.

Brett Forence, one of the detectives who questioned Lynn, told preliminary hearings his aim was to find the remains of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay.

“I’ve still got two grieving families. I’ve got pressure from the public, I’ve got pressure from … our command about making it right for those families and … that was my main focus right there,” he said.

While he criticised their conduct, Justice Croucher said he had “no doubt” the detectives were “decent, capable and hardworking members of Victoria Police” who were under great pressure to provide answers to the pair’s families.

The judge also noted that without Lynn’s account, their remains would likely never have been found.

“The Wonnangatta Valley is a vast mountainous area,” he said in his ruling.

“To find the evidence that was obtained from that site would have been not just like finding a needle in a haystack, but more like finding a speck in a dust storm.”