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Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn was questioned by detectives over four grueling days in an ‘explosive’ record of interviews that may never see the light of day.
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 Friday, Lynn’s attorney, Dermot Dann, KC, appeared in court in an effort to hide the contents of that interview record and a subsequent statement his client made from the public.
Police allege that Russell Hill (pictured, right) and Carol Clay (left) were killed during a camping trip in March 2020
Greg Lynn, pictured in court this week, was questioned by police over 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.
Dann argued that the interview Lynn gave to police could still be deemed inadmissible and she would not appear before her expected jury trial in Victoria’s High Court later this year.
“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.”
In court documents released Tuesday, prosecutors revealed that homicide detectives had been investigating Lynn for about a year before finally arresting him in November 2021.
When they did, Magistrate Brett Sonnet revealed that Lynn was interviewed over four days between November 22 and 25 before being charged with two counts of murder.
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.
Greg Lynn’s attorney, Dermot Dann, KC claims his client’s police interview record would be viewed as “explosive” by the public.
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.
Dann told the court that the police had recorded his client before he agreed to make a statement, which Dann also hopes he has erased from the record.
“The way the interview proceeds, which is a notable interview in our presentation because of its length, because of the focus on the right to silence, the focus of this man’s legal counsel and other issues,” he said.
Dann said the Lynn interview would have a significant impact on the trial if it were allowed and its release to the public would likely result in “sensational” reporting.
“When I use the word sensational, what I had in mind is that the content of these pieces of evidence is explosive, or may be seen as explosive by viewers or readers,” he told the court.
Gregory Lynn, 55, (pictured) is charged with the murder of secret lovers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73.
Judge Sonnet will render his decision on issuing a gag order on the content of the interview and Lynn’s statement on Monday when the matter returns to court.
On Tuesday, the court heard that Lynn had allegedly been caught by listening devices talking to himself about the deaths of the elderly campers.
“Investigators identified the defendant to have conversations with himself while at various locations, at his home address, and while camping on his own,” the court documents state.
“It is alleged that the defendant sometimes referred to the deaths of Hill and Clay.”
The badly burned remains of the elderly couple were found by detectives from the Victoria Police Missing Persons Squad on 30 November 2021, after Lynn’s epic four-day interview.
The court heard that Lynn is accused of working to cover up his alleged crimes, placing camping items, including a bottle of barbecue gas belonging to the couple, inside their tent before setting it on fire.
It is alleged that this was done to hide his crimes. He packed up his own camp and fled with the bodies of Hill and Clay,” the court documents allege.
Police say Lynn dumped the couple’s bodies in the bush, but returned again in May and November “to implement measures to try to destroy the remains…including setting fire to the remains of their bodies.”
At the time of her arrest, Lynn was working as a senior checking captain pilot at Jetstar and had worked in the airline industry for more than 30 years, according to the documents.