Lynn, usually expressionless, raises eyebrows after verdict

A jury has found former airline pilot Gregory Lynn guilty of murdering Carol Clay in the case of the missing campers after a five-week trial.

Following seven days of deliberations, jurors rejected Lynn’s claims that Clay, 73, died accidentally at a remote campsite in eastern Victoria. They found that camper Russell Hill, 74, was not murdered.

Gregory Lynn leaves the Supreme Court after Tuesday’s verdict.Credit: Joe Armao

For almost the whole trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Lynn sat composed at the back of the courtroom, expressionless and wearing the same suit, shirt and tie. During his testimony in the witness box, he appeared calm and composed.

He had denied two counts of murder over the deaths in March 2020 of Hill and Clay at a campsite in the Wonnangatta Valley, about five hours’ drive north-east of Melbourne, claiming both had died by accident.

On Tuesday, as the jury foreperson returned the verdict, the former Jetstar pilot reached to sip a cup of water and stared straight ahead.

Sergeant Brett Florence, the lead police investigator, was present in court, sitting next to other members of the missing persons squad, including Detective Senior Constable Abbey Justin and Detective Senior Sergeant Tony Combridge.

Upstairs in the public gallery, some were forced to stand to fit into the at-capacity area.

Jurors began their first full day of deliberations on Monday of last week. Lynn has been in custody since his arrest in November 2021, travelling to and from court every day of the trial in the back of a prison van.

At 12.24pm, as the court reconvened, the judge revealed the jury had passed him a note that read: “Good afternoon, we the jury have come to a verdict, thank you.”

Lynn then stood for the jury for the final time, as he had done each time he entered and exited the courtroom over the past six weeks. As the jury left the room, he watched on, raising his eyebrows as he sat.

Lynn was remanded in custody to appear back in court on July 17 for a pre-sentence hearing.

Clockwise from left: A sketch of the Bucks Camp site Gregory Lynn drew for police; Gregory Lynn; Carol Clay and Russell Hill.

The families of Hill and Clay issued a statement thanking the prosecution and police for their efforts, but expressed devastation at the not guilty verdict for Hill.

“We thank the jury for their verdict of guilty in the murder of Carol Clay. It was an extremely difficult task given that the accused destroyed so much evidence. The verdict of not guilty in relation to the murder Russell Hill is devastating,” they said.

“Our families were always aware that the prosecutor had an enormous burden of proof as there were no eyewitnesses. The accused was the only person who saw and experienced what happened. He was also the only person who emerged alive.

“We are heartbroken at the loss of our loved ones. It will take time to absorb the verdicts, put this behind us and set about healing and getting on with our lives.”

Police Assistant Commissioner Martin O’Brien paid tribute to both families after the verdict.

“Their courage and resilience in the face of their grief, amidst enormous public attention, has been nothing short of extraordinary,” he said.

“We will continue to support them in every way possible following this decision.

“We would also like to acknowledge the determination and perseverance of missing persons squad detectives over the course of this exhaustive and complex investigation.”

During the trial, Lynn admitted destroying Hill and Clay’s campsite deep in the Wonnangatta Valley and disposing of their remains, but claimed he did so in a panic because he knew he would be blamed for their deaths and needed to protect his family, lifestyle and career.

During the trial, the jury heard the fatal incidents of March 20, 2020, were sparked by a dispute between Lynn and Hill about hunting and the older camper’s use of a drone.

Hill expressed concern that Lynn was hunting too close to the camp, telling the former pilot that someone close to him had previously been accidentally killed by a deer hunter.

Hill said he had footage of Lynn hunting, which he was going to take to police.

Lynn’s son Geordie is escorted from court by lawyers on Tuesday.Credit: Jason South

Lynn rejected Hill’s accusations, but in what he described as a childish move, loudly blasted music from his Nissan Patrol to annoy the pair later that night.

Giving evidence in the trial, Lynn said he noticed that Hill had come over to his unlocked car and taken a shotgun from the back seat and a magazine of ammunition from the front, before starting to walk back to his own campsite.

The court heard Hill fired warning shots into the air, causing Lynn to duck for cover behind Hill’s Toyota LandCruiser ute.

The two men then wrestled for control of the loaded weapon up against the front bull bar of Hill’s car, when a shot was accidentally fired through the side mirror and hit Clay in the head as she crouched near the rear passenger-side tyre, Lynn claimed.

The jury rejected this version of events.

Lynn told police he was able to reclaim the shotgun and take it back to his camp before being confronted by Hill, who was carrying a knife and screaming, “She’s dead”.

The pair had then wrestled and fell to the ground, with the black-handled kitchen knife sticking into Hill’s chest, the former pilot said.

Lynn said that in the aftermath, he made a series of terrible choices, fearing his life would be “screwed”, and he decided to try to make the disaster go away.

He set fire to the site at Bucks Camp before bundling the two bodies into his box trailer and travelling through the night to another remote area known as Union Spur Track, north of the town of Dargo, where he left the remains under sticks and leaves.

Hill and Clay’s disappearance sparked an investigation that spanned 20 months. Police identified 12 cars in the same area as the last ping from Hill’s mobile phone the day after the murders.

All but Lynn’s dark-coloured Nissan Patrol were eventually eliminated.

When police first knocked on the door of his Caroline Springs home in July 2020, they noticed the car had been painted beige.

Prosecutors argued that Lynn’s actions after the pair’s deaths, which also included selling the trailer used to move the bodies, were incriminating conduct that he would only have taken part in if he was guilty of murder.

Lynn returned to the bodies in November 2020 and set them alight, leaving only thousands of bone fragments, a wristwatch and ring for police to recover after his arrest.

Prosecutors claimed Lynn’s story was akin to the children’s fiction book A Series of Unfortunate Events and could not be an accurate picture of what happened.

They told the jury that while the precise motivation and circumstances of the murders were unknown, Lynn deliberately and violently killed the pair with murderous intent – probably after a dispute over Hill’s drone.

The Crown said while it was not known how Hill was killed, police believed he had died first, before Clay was shot in the head because she was a witness.

Defence lawyer Dermot Dann, KC, had argued the prosecution could not prove any motive and that its evidence was seriously flawed.

A new podcast from 9News, The Age and 9Podcasts follows the court case as it unfolds. The Missing Campers Trial is the first podcast to follow a jury trial in real time in Victoria. It’s presented by Nine reporter Penelope Liersch and Age reporter Erin Pearson.