Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn woke up a camper in the middle of the night as he tried to flee the area with the bodies of two elderly campers he had murdered, a jury has been told.
Lynn, 57, has been acquitted in the Supreme Court of Victoria of the murders of secret campers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in the Wonnangatta Valley, in Victoria’s Alpine region, in March 2020.
On Monday, the court heard that Matthews set up camp near a river crossing in the remote region, about 5km from Bucks Camp, where Lynn allegedly killed the elderly couple on March 20 at around 5pm.
Tom Matthews told the court he had been sitting in his sleeping bag in a tent on the roof of his car when he heard someone, who investigators believe was Lynn, pull into his campsite around midnight.
‘I heard a car coming onto the track with a trailer. They passed our camp and stopped at the river crossing,” he said.
‘The river crossing was closed. On the other side of the track there was a ‘road closed’ sign due to the forest fires.’
Greg Lynn joins the Supreme Court of Victoria in his ongoing murder case
Geordie, Melanie and Elliott Lynn depart from the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne
Detectives allege Lynn murdered the elderly campers before placing their bodies in his caravan and dumping them in the bush at another location.
However, his first attempts to leave the area were thwarted by the blocked road, which Mr Matthews said forced Lynn to perform a tricky U-turn in pitch-black conditions right next to where he was sleeping.
Mr Matthews said that although he did not poke his head out to observe the tricky maneuver, he could hear and see the brake lights of Lynn’s car as he repeatedly tried to reverse to his spot with the trailer to go back as he had come.
The court ruled that Lynn needed several attempts to make the three-point turn.
On Wednesday, the court heard Lynn claimed Hill and Mrs Clay had died in a ‘tragic accident’.
His barrister Dermot Dann, KC, told the jury that Mr Hill stole Lynn’s shotgun after he became enraged because Lynn was playing loud music on the night he was murdered.
“He went to Mr. Hill to try to get the gun back — to take control of the gun,” Mr. Dann said.
The jury heard that when Lynn tried to wrestle the firearm away from Mr Hill, the gun went off and Ms Clay was hit in the head.
A struggle ensued over the knife. Mr. Lynn tries to defend himself – they are engaged in this struggle – and as part of that struggle the two men fall to the ground and the knife goes through Mr. Hill’s chest.”
The court heard that Hill and Lynn had argued earlier in the day about Lynn hunting deer so close to other campers.
On Monday, the aftermath of that fight and Lynn’s attempts to destroy the crime scene were played out in court.
Civil engineer Andrew Marquardt told the court he came across Mr Hill’s burnt-out campsite at around 1pm the next day.
Although the fire appeared to be well extinguished, Mr Marquardt said he felt compelled to investigate the accident scene in an attempt to determine whether the vehicle’s owner may still be in the area.
Mr Marquardt said he lifted the lid of Mr Hill’s Esky and found the food inside appeared fresh.
There was a pink handbag in the passenger seat of Mr Hill’s 4WD and he saw empty cans near the rear wheels of the vehicle and a fire damaged battery.
Campers describe burnt-out scene as ‘unusual’
Carol Clay and Russell Hill had a long-term secret relationship
Mr Marquardt told the court he was so intrigued by the scene that he returned the next day to take pictures of it.
After leaving the wilderness that day, he reported what he had seen to police and provided the photos.
Farmer and agricultural scientist Nicholas Linden was equally intrigued by the damaged remains of Mr Hill’s campsite.
Accompanied by his 11-year-old son, Mr. Linden arrived on the scene days later.
He described Mr Hill’s vehicle as having a 10 meter long wire attached to the rear with an antenna strung high in a tree.
The jury heard that Mr Hill was an amateur radio enthusiast who had regularly contacted friends during his doomed journey.
Mr Linden told the court he feared the campsite’s owner might have accidentally set it on fire by pitching his tent too close to a campfire.
No one was near the campsite and his calls went unanswered, he said.
‘I shouted: ‘Is anyone here, is there anyone?’, but there was certainly no response. There was no one around, no one around,” Mr Linden said.
Like Mr. Marquardt, he also went to the police when he left the wilderness.
‘We felt comfortable enough to spend a night next to the campsite, but for a young child it was probably a bit alarming. It was definitely something different,” he said.
“It was unusual enough that there was a court order (to go to the police) and I reported it because there was nothing in the media at the time.”
The court heard the campers were not officially reported missing until March 27, with Senior Constable Christopher Skiba tasked with making the first trip to what would eventually become a murder scene.
A yellow Esky and a few cans were spotted by a camper who came across Mr. Hill and Mrs. Clay’s burned-out campsite
A camper heard Lynn perform a complex U-turn around midnight on the night police say he killed two campers
The officer told the court he could find ‘nothing unusual’ at Mr Hill’s campsite other than it had burnt down.
“I think we went through the car to see if there were any clues as to what had happened. “After determining there was nothing of significance we could work out, we continued to search the area,” he said.
The court heard while Mr Hill’s car was locked, the rear bonnet was not.
A check of a refrigerator inside revealed that the food inside had since spoiled.
When the officer finally entered the front of Mr. Hill’s vehicle using a hidden spare key, he discovered that his wallet had been tampered with.
“There was no cash in the wallet, which was a little surprising, I thought,” he said.
“I was expecting to see some sort of credit or debit card, but I don’t think I found one.”
A foot search of the nearby area revealed no further signs of life, he said.
The court heard Senior Constable Skiba arranged for specialist crime scene officers to arrive at the scene.
Forensic chemists examined the scene days later, driving Mr Hill’s car out of the bush as they finished.
Opening the case on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu rejected Lynn’s version of events.
“It is likely that there was a dispute over Mr. Hill’s drone or the vision captured by his drone,” Mr. Porceddu said.
The process continues.