The key points through four weeks of missing campers trial

When Greg Lynn took to the witness box it marked the crescendo in one of Victoria’s most highly anticipated criminal trials. Here’s how the missing campers case has played out in the courtroom.

Greg Lynn took to the witness box after weeks of watching on from the dock. Picture: Paul Tyquin

As Greg Lynn stepped down from the witness box, it marked the end of evidence in one of the most highly anticipated trials in recent memory.

His fate will soon be placed in the hands of a Supreme Court jury who must decide if he is guilty or not guilty of murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73.

Over 17 days, the jury heard from 49 witnesses including hunters, police, forensic experts and friends and family of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay, who vanished during a camping trip to the Wonnangatta Valley in Victoria’s High Country in March 2020.

Mr Lynn was the final witness — the only called by the defence — where he kept his composure as he came under fire from Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu.

The former airline pilot, 57, denied killing the retirees, recounting the same story he told police following his arrest that they accidentally died in separate struggles involving a shotgun and knife.

Fearing he would be blamed for their deaths, Mr Lynn admitted bundling their bodies in his trailer, dumping them in remote bush before later returning and setting fire to their remains.

The prosecution and defence will have one final chance to argue their case when they deliver their closing addresses this week.

Justice Michael Croucher will then provide legal directions, known as a “charge”, before the jury will begin their deliberations.
Here is what the jury heard during the four-week trial.

Week 1

In the first week of evidence, the jury heard from family and friends of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay, including Emma Davies who revealed she was aware of her mother’s affair with Mr Hill.

She said Sale Police contacted her in the days after the couple’s disappearance, asking if she knew where her mother was and if they could issue a media release about her and Mr Hill’s disappearance.

“I indicated to (the officer) that Russell was married and so I was concerned about the media release going out and showing them camping together,” she said.

Carol Clay and Russell Hill.

Robin Ashlin, a long-time friend of Mr Hill, said Mr Hill’s wife Robyn Hill asked him in the days after her husband’s disappearance if he had been camping with Mrs Clay.

Mrs Hill had told him her husband and Mrs Clay had planned to leave their respective partners so they could be together but he broke his promise after she had already divorced her husband.

He said he was shocked when he learnt of their relationship or that a man aged in his 60s or 70s would get involved with another woman.

“One’s enough trouble,” he said to laughter from the public gallery.

Several witnesses including other campers, hunters, weed sprayers and park rangers who sighted or interacted with Mr Lynn or the missing campers also gave evidence.

Weed sprayer Robert Williams said a “grumpy fella” — believed to be Mr Hill — sped past him in the Wonnangatta Valley the day he was allegedly murdered.

Robert Williams was spraying weeds in Wonnangatta Valley when he saw a man believed to be Mr Hill. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Week 2

Mr Hill’s widow, Robyn Hill, was called to the witness box in the second week, where she revealed her husband had confessed he was having an affair with Mrs Clay but promised it ended more than a decade before his death.

Mrs Hill’s voice cracked but she remained composed as she told the jury she had known Mrs Clay for about as long as her husband, who introduced her as his cousin.

They were so close with Mrs Clay they used to holiday with her and her ex-husband on Phillip Island.

It was only when a neighbour gave Mr Hill an ultimatum that he come clean to his wife of 50 years that she became aware of the affair.

Her husband promised to end things with Mrs Clay but the affair continued in secret up until their deaths, she revealed.

Mr Hill’s widow, Robyn Hill, arrives at the court with her daughter Debbie Hill. Picture: David Crosling

Mrs Hill, who was seated for her evidence due to her frailty, told the court about the life she had built with her husband, with the couple having three daughters and living in Lilydale and Nayook before they settled in Drouin in 2001.

Her husband was a fit and active man but she said he began to slow up in his later years.

Leading Senior Constable Abbey Justin was the first missing persons squad detective to give evidence.

She revealed police tracked Mr Lynn after Mr Hill’s mobile phone data indicated his handset travelled along the Great Alpine Road around 10am on March 21, 2020 – the morning after the alleged murders.

Mr Lynn’s Nissan Patrol was captured on roadside cameras near Mount Hotham ski resort at a similar time.

Police visited Mr Lynn at his Caroline Springs home in July 2020, where they noticed his dark-coloured 4WD had been repainted to a “light brown”.

ANPR images of Greg Lynn driving on the Great Alpine Road. Picture: Supplied.

Greg Lynn was photographed by his wife, Melanie, repainting his car on June 4, 2020. Picture: Supreme Court of Victoria.

Several forensic expert witnesses who searched for and analysed remains found at Union Spur Track in November 2021 also took the stand.

Molecular biologist Dadna Hartman said DNA analysis of a bone fragment was a likely match for Mr Hill, while a skull fragment recovered from Bucks Camp — where the alleged murders took place — was likely Mrs Clay’s.

The jury also heard from local police who were among the first investigators to examine the missing campers’ destroyed campsite in the days after their disappearance.

Week 3

In the third week of evidence, defence barrister Dermot Dann KC unleashed on police experts, accusing them of peddling a “half-baked” theory and botching their investigation.

Forensic officer Mark Gellatly — a specialist in bloodstain pattern analysis — examined Mr Lynn’s Barathrum 12-gauge shotgun, telling the jury no blood was found inside the barrel but a partial DNA profile was obtained from “red brown staining”.

He explained he had given consideration to a “vacuum theory” which is where blood is sucked into the barrel of a weapon if it is discharged close to a person.

This raised a scenario where Mrs Clay was shot from a distance closer than what Mr Lynn had told police.

Mr Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann KC. Picture: Nicki Connolly

But under cross-examination from Mr Dann, Mr Gellatly admitted the theory had not been mentioned in either of his police statements or 476 pages of notes.

He conceded he was not a ballistics expert and not qualified to give an opinion on the theory, that the staining could have been gun oil and there was no evidence it was Mrs Clay’s blood.

There were several tense exchanges as Mr Dann accused Mr Gellatly of colluding with the prosecution to give misleading evidence.

“I can’t actually recall if we spoke about (the theory) or not,” Mr Gellatly said.

The defence barrister took Mr Gellatly to transcripts from a preliminary hearing, in which he denied discussing the theory with the prosecution.

“So that’s just false evidence, that’s just a lie?” he said.

“It wasn’t a lie,” he said.

“Do you have some ongoing difficulty with your memory?” Mr Dann asked.

“No I don’t,” he replied.

Two days earlier, Mr Dann accused Paul Griffiths, a ballistics and firearms expert, of making a false statement in relation to trajectory testing of Mr Lynn’s shotgun.

Mr Dann accused Paul Griffiths of making a false statement Picture: Diego Fedele

Leading Senior Constable Griffiths conducted testing to determine if Mrs Clay was shot in the head after a projectile passed through a side mirror as two men struggled over a firearm — the account Mr Lynn gave police.

He concluded it was “plausible” for one of the tests but was grilled by Mr Dann over why he did not know or make inquiries about the position, height and angle of the shotgun as the men wrestled over it.

“This is just a botched exercise isn’t it,” Mr Dann said.

“It’s completely accurate,” he replied.

Constable Griffiths also admitted he had falsely stated in his report that he used Mr Lynn’s firearm for his test when he had actually used a 12-gauge shotgun from the Forensic Services Centre library.

“It was an oversight,” he said.

Week 4

After weeks of Mr Lynn silently watching on from the dock, the jury finally heard from the man accused of Mr Hill’s and Mrs Clay’s murders.

About 3½ hours of his interview with police following his November 2021 arrest was played to the court over two days, before Mr Lynn took the stand on Thursday.

In his interview, he revealed he was paranoid that he was on the police “radar” in the lead-up to his arrest, noting people had said too many odd things to him like he was on “The Truman Show”.

With the two elderly campers dead, Mr Lynn told detectives his piloting career had taught him to make “quick decisions” to try and get the “best outcome”.

“None of my decisions, whichever pathway I took, was going to make any difference to these two,” he said, adding he wanted to save himself.

Lynn proclaimed he was innocent of murder. Picture: David Geraghty

Mr Lynn said he dumped the bodies near Union Spur Track, covering them with branches.

“The object was not to make them as such disappear, but for me to disappear,” he said.

Police would visit Mr Lynn at his Caroline Springs home in July 2020, which he said made him nervous that his plan was “unravelling”, prompting him to make the evidence vanish instead.

“I steeled myself for the task and allowed myself one night to do it,” he said.

Returning to the site in November 2020, he described being sick several times as he burnt the decomposing remains.

Seated in the dock, Mr Lynn looked down as parts of the interview were played.

After the prosecution case closed, Mr Dann called his client to the witness box on Thursday.

In an extraordinary testimony lasting more than three hours, Mr Lynn apologised to the pair’s families for disposing and burning their remains, labelling his actions “despicable”.

“All I can say to the families is that I am very sorry for your suffering that I caused,” he said.

But he proclaimed he was innocent of murder.

Crown prosecutor Mr Porceddu challenged Mr Lynn’s account, suggesting he killed Mr Hill then Mrs Clay.

“You murdered Mr Hill,” he said.

“That’s not true,” Mr Lynn replied.

“As you murdered Mr Hill you became aware Mrs Clay saw what happened,” Mr Porceddu said.

“I didn’t murder Mr Hill,” he replied.

His testimony marked the first time the jury heard Mr Lynn speak in person, and have his account directly challenged by the prosecution.

Mr Porceddu and Mr Dann will deliver their closing remarks on Tuesday as the trial enters its fifth week.