By Emily Woods, AAP
Caroline Springs airline pilot Greg Lynn is facing life behind bars after a jury found he murdered one camper, but not another.
The 57-year-old faced a five-week trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court over the 2020 double murder, taking to the witness stand to tell his story in the final weeks.
Russell Hill and Carol Clay went missing from the Wonnangatta Valley, part of Victoria’s alpine region, while camping together.
Lynn claimed the two deaths were accidental, but admitted burning the crime scene and destroying their bodies.
Forty-nine witnesses were called during the trial, including national park rangers, weed sprayers, campers, deer hunters, police forensic and ballistics experts and the families of Mr Hill, 74, and Mrs Clay, 73.
Mr Hill was married and the pair were having a secret affair together when they disappeared.
Lynn, Mr Hill and Mrs Clay were the only people who stayed at Bucks Camp that evening, on March 20, 2020.
Lynn said he had been out deer hunting when he returned to threats from Mr Hill that he had drone footage of Lynn hunting too close to the campsite that he would turn into police.
Later that evening, he said Mr Hill took a shotgun and ammunition from Lynn’s car.
Lynn claimed he went to get his gun off Mr Hill, who shot off a few warning shots before turning the gun on Lynn.
Lynn and Mr Hill struggled over the gun, Lynn claimed, when another shot went off and hit the side of Mr Hill’s ute mirror, which ricocheted off and went into Mrs Clay’s head.
Shot fragments were later found, proving that Mrs Clay died in a shooting.
Mr Hill then charged at Lynn with a knife, the pilot claimed, with a second struggle ensuing.
Lynn said he was trying to defend himself when the knife went into Mr Hill’s chest and there was no evidence shown to the jury about how Mr Hill died.
Lynn admitted to burning the couple’s campsite, putting their bodies in a trailer and driving to the Union Spur Track where he unloaded their bodies and covered them with sticks.
He returned twice, including in November 2020 when he set fire to Mr Hill and Mrs Clay’s remains.
He was arrested a year later, where he told his story to police and led investigators to the couple’s bodies, which were discovered to be broken down into 2100 bone fragments.
Lynn maintained he was innocent of murder and admitted to the jury his actions in covering up the crime, including repainting his 4WD used to dispose of the bodies, were “despicable”.
He had offered to plead guilty to destruction of evidence charges before the trial began, his defence team said.
But the prosecution said Lynn’s story was a work of fiction and his conduct after the killings proved beyond a reasonable double that he intended to murder the couple.
Twelve jurors began deliberating on their two verdicts on June 17, returning to the court more than a week later with their decision.
“Good afternoon, we the jury have come to a verdict, thank you,” the jury’s note read.
Asked for a verdict on Mr Hill’s murder, the jury’s foreperson told the court on Tuesday “not guilty”.
Asked about the murder of Mrs Clay, the foreperson replied “guilty”.
Lynn, wearing a suit and blue jumper, remained silent as the two verdicts were read aloud, raising his eyebrows after learning his fate.
Justice Michael Croucher thanked the jury for their service as he discharged the 12 jurors.
“I expect it’s a difficult process,” he said.
Lynn waved to his son Geordie, who was seated in front of him inside the court room, after the jury left the court.
He spoke to his lawyers before he was escorted from the court flanked by custody officers and will be sentenced at a later date.
The maximum penalty for murder is life in prison.
Lynn will return to court on July 19 for a mention where dates will be set.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
* March 20, 2020: Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, are allegedly murdered in Bucks Camp at Victoria’s Wonnangatta Valley. Greg Lynn burns the campsite
* March 21, 2020: Mr Hill’s phone connects to a tower along the Great Alpine Road. Lynn’s Nissan Patrol and trailer is captured on roadside cameras in the same area. Lynn moved the bodies to the Union Spur track
* March 22, 2020: Lynn returns home to Caroline Springs in Melbourne’s west
* March 26, 2020: Mr Hill’s wife Robyn reports him missing to the police
* March 27, 2020: Police begin searching the Wonnangatta Valley for Mr Hill and Mrs Clay
* March 28, 2020: Officers arrive at Bucks Camp and assess the burnt campsite after receiving a tip-off from the public
* April 1, 2020: Forensic scientists examine Bucks Camp. Mr Hill’s LandCruiser is removed from the scene and examined. Lynn posts an advertisement for his trailer on Gumtree
* April 3, 2020: The ad for Lynn’s trailer is removed from Gumtree
* April 10, 2020: Missing persons squad investigates, speaking to the families of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay
* May 6, 2020: Mr Hill’s LandCruiser is forensically examined for possible blood stains
* May 12, 2020: Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdown ends
* May 13, 2020: Lynn travels to the Union Spur track to check on the bodies
* June 4, 2020: Lynn paints his dark grey Nissan Patrol beige
* July 14, 2020: Police visit Lynn at his Caroline Springs home and photograph his re-painted car parked on a side street
* October 15, 2020: On police request, Parks Victoria rangers collect the remaining fire debris from Bucks Camp and kept it stored in three bags
* November 2020: Lynn returns to Union Spur and burns the bodies of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay before scattering their remains in a fallen tree trunk
* January 6, 2021: The bags of debris gathered from Bucks Camp are forensically examined. Heavy glass, solar panels and clothing is among the items found
* March 23, 2021: A four-day search of the Wonnangatta Valley starts. Police do not find any remains
* April 13, 2021: Police search along the Great Alpine Road for Mr Hill’s phone but nothing is found
* April 26, 2021: The start of four days of aerial searches of the Wonnangatta Valley but no human remains are found
* September 22, 2021: Police start using surveillance devices on Lynn’s car and home, recording conversations
* October 14, 2021: The families of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay make a public plea for information
* November 7, 2021: The missing persons squad publicly releases an image of Lynn’s trailer and Nissan Patrol, captured on roadside cameras at the Great Alpine Road. The image is shown on the 60 Minutes news program
* November 13, 2021: Lynn and his wife Melanie are recorded by police watching 60 Minutes. Melanie remarks the vehicle and trailer look like Lynn’s
* November 19, 2021: Lynn removes a distinctive awning from his Nissan Patrol
* November 22, 2021: Lynn leaves his home at 5.30am and drives to a secluded camp area in Arbuckle. Police arrest him. His house is searched and a shotgun is seized
* November 26, 2021: Lynn appears in Sale Magistrates Court, charged with the murders of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay
* November 29, 2021: Police search the Union Spur track over three days. They find more than 2100 burnt human remains in a fallen tree trunk
* February 11, 2022: Five blood stains are located on the canopy of Mr Hill’s LandCruiser
* March 2, 2022: Police re-examine Bucks Camp, finding fragments of bone, mirror and metal. One of the bones is confirmed as a skull fragment from Mrs Clay
* March 9, 2022: More bone fragments are located at Bucks Camp, with several again confirmed as coming from Mrs Clay’s skull
* January 25, 2023: Lynn is committed to trial after an eight-day committal hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court. He pleads not guilty to two counts of murder
* May 9, 2024: A jury is selected in the Supreme Court in Melbourne for the murder trial
* May 10, 2024: The jury is discharged over “technical reasons”
* May 13, 2024: A new jury is empanelled and the murder trial starts in the Supreme Court
* June 6, 2024: Lynn gives evidence to the jury. He maintains he’s innocent of murder but concedes his actions after the two deaths were “despicable”
* June 17, 2024: Jury begin their deliberations
* June 25, 2024: Jury returns a split verdict verdict, Lynn is found guilty of Ms Clay’s murder but not of Mr Hill’s.
