Appeal judges have asked prosecutors whether they will pursue ex-pilot Greg Lynn for manslaughter over the death of a camper after being cleared of his murder.
Lawyers for Lynn, 59, on Thursday 6 November argued his 32-year maximum jail sentence for the murder of Carol Clay was manifestly excessive in Victoria’s Court of Appeal.
In a split verdict in June 2024, a jury found Lynn guilty of 73-year-old Mrs Clay’s murder at a remote campsite but not guilty of the murder of her secret lover Russell Hill, 74.
Lynn, who maintains his innocence, admitted he moved and burned the two bodies but claimed their deaths in 2020 were both accidental.
His barrister, Dermot Dann KC, previously said the jury’s guilty verdict was unsafe and made on “unsatisfactory grounds” as he claimed the prosecution had conducted an unfair trial.
The appeal was opposed by Director of Public Prosecutions Brendan Kissane, who said the trial was not unfair and defence should have applied to discharge the jury if they believed it was.
Mr Kissane did not appear at the court on Thursday for Lynn’s challenge of his prison term because he had another commitment, prosecutor Kathryn Hamill said.
Appeal court justices Phillip Priest and Peter Kidd asked Ms Hamill to speak to the director about several questions in the event Lynn faces a retrial, but stressed the court had not yet come to any conclusions on Lynn’s appeal prospects.
The questions included whether the prosecution would offer manslaughter as an alternative offence over the death of both Mr Hill and Ms Clay in the event of a retrial.
Justice Kidd asked Ms Hamill whether the prosecution would rely on a motive for Ms Clay’s killing, if there were a retrial, which Ms Hamill also took on notice.
On Lynn’s sentence appeal, Mr Dann argued his client’s 32-year term, with a non-parole period of 24 years, for Ms Clay’s murder was “manifestly excessive”.
He claimed Lynn’s sentence was “in the highest echelon of sentences in the standard sentence era, for a single murder committed without pre-meditation”.
The appeal judges reserved their decision on Lynn’s appeals and will return at a later date.
