Major update in missing campers trial

Former Jetstar captain Greg Lynn will take the stand at his double murder trial, a jury has heard.

On Wednesday afternoon the prosecution officially closed their case, with Mr Lynn’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, rising to his feet.

“The defence will call one witness, it will be Mr Lynn,” he said.

The jury was sent home shortly before 4.15pm after Mr Dann joked “I don’t think we will be done today”.

Mr Lynn, 57, is facing trial in the Victorian Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in March 2020.

Prosecutors allege Mr Lynn killed the pair “without lawful justification”, while he has asked the jury to accept they both died accidental deaths “not of his choosing”.

The elderly couple vanished while on a camping trip, with their remains discovered 20 months later in November 2020 following the former pilot’s arrest.

Lynn admitted destroying evidence: defence

Under cross-examination from defence barrister Dermot Dann KC, the lead investigator, Detective Sergeant Brett Florence, confirmed he believed Mr Lynn admitted to a separate offence of destruction of evidence during his November 2021 interview.

“Let me ask you this ... on his version of events outlined in the record of interview would Mr Lynn be guilty of destruction of evidence?” Mr Dann asked.

“On destruction of evidence, yes he would,” Sergeant Florence responded.

Mr Dann suggested his client had been “brutally honest” with police.

Detective had 2½ years to test Mr Lynn’s account: Defence

Under cross-examination, Sergeant Florence confirmed that police had spent “a lot of time” testing aspects of the accused man’s account of the deaths.

“I can’t be 100 per cent certain of everything,” Sergeant Florence said.

“As best we can, yes, we tested all the theories.”

Mr Dann took Sergeant Florence through statements made by Mr Lynn, including where he burned the bodies, how his shotgun functioned, how he travelled home and other people he’d seen in the Wonnangatta Valley.

Each time, the detective confirmed what Mr Lynn said “ties in” with the evidence the jury had heard over the past four weeks.

Mr Dann suggested another police witness, ballistics expert Senior Constable Paul Griffiths, had agreed that trajectory testing was “spot on” with Mr Lynn’s account of the deaths.

Sergeant Florence, who was sick last week, expressed surprise, saying he believed the results of the testing were “inconclusive”.

He later clarified; “the reason for the tests was to see if the scenario was plausible or not plausible, and my understanding is it was inconclusive”.

Secret recording of Mr and Mrs Lynn discussing TV special

Footage from a 60 Minutes program on the disappearance of Mr Hill and Ms Clay was played to the jury in which Mr Lynn’s car was depicted.

The November 7, 2021 report described a “mid-90s Nissan Patrol”, which the reporter described as one of the “strongest leads” in the hunt for clues.

The court was told that Mr Lynn and his wife, Melanie, were secretly recorded watching the program on November 13, with Mrs Lynn commenting that the vehicle “really looked like his car and trailer”, Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu said.

Seven days later the accused man was recorded removing a black awning attached to the roof of his car.

Earlier, Sergeant Florence said Mr Lynn had been photographed by his wife repainting his car from dark blue to beige on June 4, 2020 – two months after the alleged murders.

Sergeant Florence said a photo of Mr Lynn’s car had been circulated as “part of our media strategies to elicit information”.

The jury were also shown two aerial videos of the region where Mr Lynn’s car was snapped passing two automatic number plate recognition cameras on March 21 and the location where he claimed to have thrown the campers’ phones.

Sergeant Florence said the video was made for court to “put into context” how dense and dangerous the terrain was.

Asked if police had done a physical search for the phones, the detective said no because “it’s an extremely vast area”.

Jury shown sketch of couple’s resting location

On Wednesday, the jury were shown a rough sketch made by police during Mr Lynn’s interview of the location where he had hidden the campers’ bodies.

The image, which shows a bend in the Union Spur track, was marked with an X.

Under cross-examination from Mr Dann, Sergeant Florence confirmed that what Mr Lynn had said about the location of the site was true.

This week the jury was shown a 3½ hour video of Mr Lynn’s interview with police in which he gives an account of the couple’s accidental death and advises detectives where he dumped their remains.

But, in the recording, he said he’d returned in November the same year and burned the bodies, telling police there was “nothing left”.

On Tuesday, Sergeant Florence gave evidence that Mr Lynn drove about 180km to the Union Spur track early in the morning on November 25.

“We left Sale Police Station about 6am or 630am and arrived about 9am,” he said.

“It was difficult to find because it was extremely foggy.

“We went along the Union Spur track … and took some video while I was there.”

He told the jury he sent two videos back to a police officer at Sale Police Station, with Mr Lynn providing guidance on where the remains were.

Days later, the jury heard, forensic officers would discover more than 2100 burnt bone fragments at the base of a fallen tree.

Sergeant Florence also gave evidence that police had placed a live tracking device on Mr Lynn’s car almost a year before his arrest.

He told the jury the device was installed on December 3, 2020, about two weeks after Mr Lynn returned to where he had hidden their bodies and burnt them with kerosene.

Sergeant Florence said the device was providing Mr Lynn's GPS location to police up until his arrest on November 22, 2021.

He said he had combed through Mr Lynn’s Gumtree records after he confirmed during his police interview he’d sold the trailer used to move the two bodies.

The jury was told 10 days after the alleged murders, Mr Lynn listed the trailer, a Jayco camper and an antique sleigh bed on Gumtree.

In the interview, Mr Lynn said he listed the items because he was stood down from work during the Covid-19 pandemic, and sold the trailer to an “Asian” man.

Sergeant Florence also said Mr Lynn had been photographed by his wife repainting his car on June 4, 2020.

The jury heard he told police on November 24 that Mr Hill had stolen a gun from his Nissan Patrol after earlier accusing Mr Lynn of hunting too close to camp and threatening to go to the police.

On his account, as the two men fought over the gun it discharged, killing Mrs Clay as she crouched near Mr Hill’s car.

Mr Hill then came at him with a knife, leading to a second struggle that ended when the two men fell and the blade pierced Mr Hill’s chest, he said.

In the interview, Mr Lynn then confirmed he had burnt their campsite and dumped their bodies off a dirt track in an effort to “save himself”.

None of my decisions, whichever pathway I took, was going to make any difference to those two,” he told the detectives.

At the start of the trial, Mr Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann KC told the jury that there was no dispute between the prosecution and defence that on Mr Lynn’s account he was not guilty of both murders or the alternative charge of manslaughter.

“As a matter of law, the prosecution will have to disprove his account,” he said.