Lawyers for a man accused of killing two campers and burning their bodies have labelled the prosecution’s case as “a shambles from start to finish”.
Both sides began closing their cases before a Supreme Court jury in Melbourne on Tuesday 11 June, in the fifth week of the double murder trial of airline pilot Greg Lynn.
The 57-year-old is accused of murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay, who disappeared while camping in Victoria’s alpine region.
Lynn has admitted being involved in their accidental deaths, in March 2020, and destroying police evidence, but claims he is innocent of murder.
He told the jury Mrs Clay was killed after he and Mr Hill struggled over Lynn’s shotgun.
The accused killer said he tried to get his gun off Mr Hill, who had taken it from Lynn’s car after an argument over hunting.
Lynn claimed during the struggle a shot hit the side mirror of Mr Hill’s ute and went into Mrs Clay’s head.
He said Mr Hill then came at him with a knife and was stabbed in the chest during a second struggle, while Lynn was trying to defend himself.
However, prosecutor Daniel Porceddu told the jury Lynn’s story was a “fanciful” work of fiction that deliberately pinned Mr Hill as the aggressor.
While Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann KC told the jury the prosecution’s case had been “a shambles from start to finish”.
“What we have here is a prosecution case that’s just unravelling. It’s a pretty disgraceful spectacle,” he said.
He claimed Mr Porceddu’s closing address was “so desperate” it broke the court’s rules for fairness during a trial.
“A prosecution case that has bumbled and stumbled its way out of the problematic category it started in, into the category of hopeless,” Mr Dann said.
“A rule that’s been in place for 130 years was breached time and time again.”
He said Lynn had provided police with 1057 pieces of information and prosecutors had not proven that one of them was a lie.
He discussed 17 “lowlights” in the prosecution’s case, including “half-baked theories” about ballistics and a failure to adduce evidence about Mr Hill’s experience with firearms, or his character.
The defence closing address was set to continue on Wednesday.
