Camper killer Gregory Lynn lodges appeal over his murder conviction

Convicted murderer Gregory Lynn will appeal against his conviction and sentence, and has formally lodged documents to fight to clear his name over the killing of camper Carol Clay.

Lawyers for the former airline pilot handed paperwork to the Court of Appeal late on Monday, 31 days after he was sentenced to a 32-year jail term for the murder of Clay, 73, in the High Country in March 2020.

Gregory Lynn outside the Supreme Court on the day he was sentenced.Credit: Jason South

On June 25, a Supreme Court jury found Lynn guilty of murdering Clay but not guilty over the death of her camping partner, Russell Hill, 74, following a five-week trial.

After seven days of deliberations, the jurors rejected Lynn’s claims that Clay died accidentally at a remote campsite in the Wonnangatta Valley known as Bucks Camp.

However, the court heard the split verdict provided a quandary for Justice Michael Croucher in how to sentence Lynn in line with the jury’s decision.

Croucher said while it was impossible to determine the causes of death for Clay and Hill, the discovery of the grandmother’s DNA at the crime scene was consistent with her being shot in the head.

“It was a violent, brutal, horrific death. There is no suggestion that Mrs Clay posed any threat to Mr Lynn,” Croucher said during sentencing on October 18.

“This was just a terrible thing to do – hence my conclusion that this was a very grave murder.

“Given Mr Lynn’s age at the time of his arrest ... he will be about 79 before becoming eligible to apply for parole, and he will be about 87 when his head sentence expires.”

Croucher ordered Lynn serve 24 years before he becomes eligible for parole.

Russell Hill and Carol Clay.Credit: The Age

Lynn has maintained both Hill and Clay died in separate accidents moments apart, with Clay shot to the head and Hill falling on his own knife.

Lynn admitted, though, to burning the pair’s campsite, bundling their bodies into his box trailer and hiding them in remote bushland north of Dargo.

Eight months later, Lynn returned to the burial site, where he burnt the remains in what he told police was an attempt to distance himself from what had happened.

He was arrested almost a year later and led detectives to the campers’ remains, with 2100 bone fragments all that was left of the pair.

It was later revealed Lynn had gone to extensive efforts to cover up his crime, painting his Nissan Patrol from a dark blue-grey colour to beige, selling the trailer and removing a distinctive awning from the vehicle’s side.

On the day of his sentencing, the court heard Lynn wrote a letter to the court where he maintained his innocence.

“I am disappointed and perplexed by the jury verdict, as I have not killed anyone,” he wrote.

“However, I accept that my decision to flee the scene and attempt to disappear, and all of my actions to that effect, were selfish and callous in the extreme.

“For those actions, I am very sorry.”

A podcast from 9News, The Age and 9Podcasts followed the court case as it unfolded. 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.

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