‘Alarming’ find at slain campers’ tent: court

A farmer on an overnight trip with his son had detailed the “alarming” moment they came across the burnt out campsite of a missing couple.

Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, returned before the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday for the start of the second week of his trial.

The former Jetstar pilot has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley more than four years ago.

The elderly couple vanished while on a camping trip in the Wonnangatta Valley, with Mr Hill’s Toyota LandCruiser and charred campsite located by police two days after they were reported missing on March 26, 2020.

Prosecutors allege Mr Lynn killed the pair in the evening of March 20, likely after a dispute with Mr Hill, while his defence argued the couple’s deaths were a tragic accident.

Called to give evidence on Monday, farmer Nicholas Linden said he discovered the burnt remains of a campsite on March 25 describing it as “out of the ordinary”.

We came across the LandCruiser and, for all intents and purposes, it looked like a brand new LandCruiser,” he said.

“There was a burnt out camp site probably not 2m from the vehicle.

“I walked up to the fire to make sure there wasn’t anyone in it ... it looked as if a ember from the fire had set fire to the tent”.

Mr Linden told the jury he left the valley early the following day, saying the sight was “probably a little alarming for a young kid”, reporting the find to police the same day.

Camper found site day after alleged murder, court told

Civil engineer Andrew Marquardt told the jury he was on a trip with his wife and two children when he spotted the “burnt out camp” on March 21 — the day after the pair were allegedly murdered.

He said it did not appear the fire was “actively burning” and he could not recall a strong smell or smoke.

The family drove on and found another site, the jury was told, but Mr Marquardt returned the following morning to investigate.

He noticed the rear canopy of Mr Hill’s vehicle was burned, with the passenger side mirror “damaged”, the court heard.

He said he checked an esky on the ground, noting the food inside “didn’t look as if it was old or foul”.

Camper tells jury of ‘midnight’ car noise

Another man camping with his children in the Wonnangatta Valley, Tom Matthews, gave evidence he woke in the middle of the night to hear a vehicle with a trailer performing a manoeuvre in the dark overnight on March 20.

Prosecutors allege after killing the pair in the evening of March 20, Mr Lynn packed their bodies into his trailer and left the valley, later dumping them “many hours” away.

Mr Matthews told the jury he was camping near a section of the Wonnangatta Track which had been closed due to bushfires in the area, when he heard an “older four-wheel drive” approach and then turn around.

“The trailer banging on the pot holes is what woke us up,” he said.

“The driver reversed the trailer into sort of where we were camped and turned around.”

Under questioning from Mr Lynn’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, Mr Matthews said he did not know when this occured other than it was the “middle of the night”.

The court heard he agreed it could have been Mr Lynn’s 1997 Nissan Patrol.

Prosecutors alleged Mr Hill was killed first by unknown means, and Mrs Clay was shot in the head soon after as a witness to the first slaying.

Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu told the jury the crown would argue Mr Lynn’s conduct after the deaths, including setting fire to the campsite and disposing of the bodies, was an “implied admission” of guilt.

But Mr Lynn, through his barrister Dermot Dann KC, has asked the jury to accept his account of the deaths, saying Ms Clay was accidentally shot through the side mirror as the two men fought over a gun.

On his account Mr Hill then came at him with a knife screaming; “she’s dead”, and was killed when he fell on the knife.

“This is a case of two accidental, tragic deaths. Tragic accidental deaths in circumstances which were not of Mr Lynn’s making, and not of his choosing,” Mr Dann told the jury last week.

He said Mr Lynn did not dispute the prosecution’s account of what he did after the deaths, but argued he made a “series of terrible choices” fearing he would be wrongly blamed.

Also on Monday, Justice Michael Croucher advised jurors the trial was “well on schedule” to be completed in the estimated four to six weeks.

The trial continues.