‘What happens if we can’t decide?’: Jury still deliberating in missing campers case

The jury in the murder trial of former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn wants to know what will happen if they can’t reach a unanimous verdict as deliberations near the end of a sixth day.

Carol Clay and Russell Hill went missing during a camping trip to the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

The jury deliberating in the trial of accused high country killer Greg Lynn has asked what will happen if they are unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Now in the sixth day of deliberations, the 12-person jury returned to the Supreme Court on Monday with a series of questions including a request that the judge repeat his directions relating to a unanimous verdict.

They also asked what would happen if they were unable to reach a unanimous decision, if they had to find Mr Lynn guilty or not guilty on both charges of murder and sought clarification on legal directions related to an absence of motive.

Justice Michael Croucher explained to the jury that if they did reach a point where they could not unanimously agree on a verdict, they would write a note, he would discuss with counsel and then he would answer their question.

“You have not reached that point yet because you’re asking questions of law,” he told them.

“For now … I would ask you to go back and consider your verdicts further,” he said.

The jury — who have been deliberating since last Monday — must decide if Mr Lynn, 57, is guilty or not guilty of murdering retirees Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, who vanished during a camping trip to the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

Former pilot Greg Lynn is accused of murdering the elderly campers. Picture: David Geraghty

Justice Croucher repeated some of the directions set out in his “charge”, telling the jury of six men and six women the prosecution was not required to prove a motive.

He explained each offence should be considered separately and they were not required to reach the same verdict on each offence.

Last week, the jury asked for a recording of the testimonies of Mr Lynn and Paul Griffiths, a ballistics expert with Victoria Police who conducted testing on Mr Lynn’s shotgun.

Mr Lynn, who faced a five-week trial, claimed the couple were accidentally killed in separate struggles involving a shotgun and a kitchen knife after a dispute with Mr Hill over his drone.

He admitted dumping the couple’s bodies in remote bushland before returning eight months later and setting fire to their remains, telling police he panicked and covered up their deaths because he thought he would be wrongly blamed.

In his closing address, Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu labelled Mr Lynn’s version of events “complete fiction” as he urged the jury to reject his claims.

“The accused story is indeed a series of very unfortunate events,” he said.

“Like the book series of that name, it is a complete fiction.”

But the prosecutor conceded the precise circumstances of the alleged murders, including a motive, were unknown other than that Mrs Clay was “shot to the head”.

Defence barrister Dermot Dann KC accused the prosecution of employing “increasingly desperate and ill-fated” manoeuvres against an innocent man.

“You’re being asked to find a man guilty of murder, there’s on the prosecution case, zero factual foundation, zero motive,” he said in his closing address.

“Just a complete blank, does that sit well with any of you?”

Nearly 50 witnesses including other campers, hunters, family and friends of the missing campers, forensic experts, police and Mr Lynn himself gave evidence to the trial.