Police swooped on ex Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn when they heard him talking to himself about SUICIDE

Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has been arrested in the Victorian highlands after police overheard him speaking to himself about suicide.

Lynn, 56, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court this week charged with the murders of camper secret lovers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73.

On Monday, the detective responsible for listening to 3,150 secret recordings captured from Lynn’s wagon, a blue Nissan Patrol that he later resprayed beige, revealed that officers from the special operations group descended on Lynn in helicopters after hearing the killer speak to himself. about possible self-harm.

Greg Lynn, pictured in court last week, was questioned by police for four long days.

Russell Hill (pictured with his missing drone) is believed to have filmed campers in and around the area where he was allegedly killed.

Senior Police Chief Detective Daniel Passingham said Lynn was expected to be traveling to the Grampians in western Victoria when he heard him talking to himself on the other side of Victoria.

In a statement released Monday night, it was revealed that the experienced detective grew concerned when he heard Lynn speak in a “depressed state.”

“Lynn commented that his time was coming to an end, Melanie (his wife) had three children to look after, a nice rum, whiskey or cocktail would be nice,” said Senior Police Chief Passingham.

The detective said that after listening to Lynn through more than 3,000 recordings, he knew something was not right.

“I had a feeling that he was going to commit suicide,” he told the court.

Lynn had been armed with a high-powered center rifle on the unexpected trip.

Half an hour after the SOG officers took off, Lynn was in custody.

Daily Mail Australia cannot report exactly what Lynn told police during her epic four-day interview log after Judge Brett Sonnet agreed to implement a gag order.

A suppression order was also issued and a statement Lynn provided after another undercover recording by police.

What can be revealed is that the 3,000-question interview lasted a grueling nine hours and 18 minutes, the longest lead agent Passingham has ever conducted.

Greg Lynn’s attorney, Dermot Dann, KC claims his client’s police interview record would be viewed as “explosive” by the public.

In conclusion, the court heard that Lynn allegedly provided them with a detailed “mud map” outlining the location where she allegedly dumped the bodies of Mr. Hill and Ms. Clay.

But it is an interview that may never go before a Victorian Supreme Court jury amid claims by Lynn’s defense that it is inadmissible.

Senior Principal Constable Passingham told the court that he had heard Lynn reflect on the alleged murders as she was driving into the Wonnangatta Valley shortly before her arrest.

“He expressed it while traveling across the high plains just before his arrest that day between Glenmaggie and Licola,” he told the court.

Lead agent Passingham further revealed that Lynn and his wife had been recorded watching a 60 Minute show about the missing campers.

In court documents released last week, prosecutors revealed that homicide detectives had been investigating Lynn for about a year before finally arresting him in November 2021.

The Missing Persons Squad detective said police had made thousands of recordings of Lynn in her car in the 11 months before her arrest in the Victorian highlands.

“In what I had heard from the defendant, he had phrased it as a chapter in life,” Police Chief Passingham said.

The detective also claimed that Lynn had mentioned while driving alone in his vehicle that his “book had been written.”

The Missing Persons Squad detective said police had made thousands of recordings of Lynn (pictured) in her car in the 11 months before her arrest in the Victorian highlands.

“These are on the recordings that are taken while you are driving the Nissan Patrol,” he said.

Last week, Lynn’s attorney, Dermot Dann, KC, described his client’s interview as “explosive.”

“It’s just that these pieces of evidence can be a game changer in terms of how the prosecution will conduct the trial,” he told the court.

“They would potentially have such a huge impact on the way that trial is conducted… there are very real, very lively, very substantial issues with respect to those two pieces of evidence.”

The court heard that Lynn was held in cells at Sale police station without legal representation during the interview.

“They fed him, they gave him water, they put him to bed,” Police Chief Passingham told Mr Dann.

The court heard that the police had pounced on Lynn as she entered the rugged desert at 5:35 pm on November 22.

Following his arrest, Lynn had asked to make a phone call to his wife, flight attendant Melanie Lynn, who tuned in to Monday’s hearing via video link.

The request was allegedly denied and the police took Lynn back to the Sale police station for questioning while secretly recording it.

The charred remains of the Russell Hill camp after his alleged murder

Victoria Police and forensics search for the remains of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay in the bushland north of Dargo Victoria on November 30, 2021

Lead Agent Passingham said Lynn did not have access to a lawyer until the next day, when she spoke with a lawyer for an hour and a quarter.

While the content of the interview is to remain secret, it can be revealed that Mr. Dann was critical in the way the police interviewed his client.

Mr. Dann repeatedly questioned the professionalism of Chief Constable Passingham and questioned him about his knowledge of what a police officer can and cannot do while conducting an interview record.

Is that a standard practice of yours when an accused person says “look, my lawyer just told me not to comment”? So he says “wait, his lawyer is not in the room, he was not there when the events occurred?” are meant to have happened, it’s up to you”?’ she asked.

Principal Constable Passingham told the court that it was “not standard practice”.

“But given a person’s rights doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stop asking them questions,” he replied.

Lead Constable Passingham said he suspected lawyers charged with representing people charged with serious crimes were actively working against the police.

Judge Sonnet asked the detective what he thought Lynn might have discussed with her lawyer before agreeing to be interviewed.

“I have no idea…that maybe the Victorian police are not to be trusted…requiring him to make no comment in regards to them, that they’ll take you down the garden path, that they’ll want to take you for a walk.” “. in a car, that as investigators they will do everything possible to get the truth,’ Police Chief Passingham told the court.

An image of what police believe Greg Lynn’s vehicle looked like when the alleged murders took place.

Greg Lynn had asked to speak to his wife Melanie (pictured) following her arrest in the high country

Earlier, police reconstruction expert Chief Police Chief Paul Griffiths told the court it was “plausible” that Clay was shot in the head by a bullet fired from the front of Hill’s LandCruiser.

Senior Police Chief Griffiths said he reconstructed a scenario in which Ms Clay was shot while standing or crouching near the passenger side mirror of the LandCruiser as two men, standing on the hood of the car, were fighting over a weapon.

Lynn continues to deny murdering the couple while they were camping in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

According to a summary of the indictment, investigators allege that Lynn argued with the campers before killing both of them.

“The circumstances of their deaths and the defendant’s subsequent conduct are consistent with the defendant having intent to cause death or at least cause each of them genuinely serious injury,” the indictment summary read.

The elderly camper, Ms. Clay, was allegedly shot in the head and killed when Mr. Hill tried to take a gun from Lynn, the court heard.

Lynn is then alleged to have stabbed Mr. Hill to death before burning their bodies and dumping them elsewhere.

The preliminary hearing continues.