The case against former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has been branded a ‘disgrace’ by his lawyer as the five-week trial comes to an end.
Lynn, 57, has been acquitted in the Supreme Court of Victoria of the murders of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in the Wonnangatta Valley, mountain region of the state, on March 20, 2020.
On Monday, Lynn’s lawyer Dermot Dann KC attacked the prosecution case against his client.
Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn claimed he was only guilty of covering up the death. He denies killing the campers
Carol Clay was shot and killed. Police have not said how they believe Russell Hill might have been killed
‘This is a prosecution case that, from the problematic category in which it started, has moved unequivocally and unmistakably into the category of hopeless. Completely hopeless,” Mr Dann said.
The jury heard the Crown case was ruined by the “half-baked” prosecution, particularly by Attorney General Daniel Porceddu, who compared Dann to the bumbling fictional Inspector Clouseau.
“Cultivating a closing speech today that was so desperate that it broke, time and time again, an established rule in these courts – a rule of fairness,” Mr Dann said.
“That last speech today by my learned prosecutor was so desperate that a rule that has existed for 130 years and is well known to criminal lawyers was broken time and time again. It was a disgraceful performance. Absolutely disgraceful.’
Earlier, Mr Porceddu urged the jury to reject any idea that the campers died accidentally.
‘You heard that the suspect gave a version of events during his interrogation and in the witness box last week. For reasons I will go into in due course, the prosecution says this story is entirely fanciful,” he said.
“You can safely dismiss it as a complicated fiction.”
Mr Porceddu’s closing address follows Lynn’s appearance in the witness box last week.
Smartly dressed in a suit and dark glasses, the former pilot spoke in a cool and calm manner as he took the jury through the details of what police said was cold-blooded murder.
The jury heard Lynn claimed the couple died after Mr Hill stole his shotgun and the pair engaged in a deadly battle for control.
“I don’t know if he intended to shoot me or not, probably not,” Lynn told the jury.
“I think he was just trying to keep the shotgun for himself and scare me off.”
The jury heard that Lynn had been sitting by his campfire by the river when he saw Mr Hill take out his shotgun and load the magazine.
The doors of Lynn’s Nissan Patrol were wide open to release “all the music” from his car radio, which the pilot said was done in a “childish attempt” to irritate Mr Hill after a previous run-in with him.
Lynn’s lawyer Dermot Dann, KC, has blasted the prosecution case
Greg Lynn denies murdering the elderly couple
Lynn claims he became involved in a deadly struggle over his shotgun at the front of Mr Hill’s Landcruiser (pictured)
The 12-gauge shotgun Lynn claims was fired into Carol Clay’s head by Russell Hill
Although Lynn has always denied killing the couple, the jury heard that he had openly admitted to cleaning up the alleged crime scene and destroying evidence.
“It was despicable,” Lynn admitted.
‘All I can say to the families is that I am very sorry for all the suffering I have caused… yes, I should be punished for it. For what I did.’
The jury heard that Lynn had offered to plead guilty to destroying evidence before going to trial, but this was rejected by the prosecutor.
“I am innocent of murder,” he said.
‘I am innocent (also of manslaughter). I didn’t kill anyone.’
Lynn claimed Mr Hill accidentally shot Ms Clay in the head when he tried to wrestle the shotgun away from him.
Lynn pressed the bull bar of Mr Hill’s Landcruiser and claimed Mr Hill pulled the trigger, breaking the side mirror and hitting Ms Clay directly in the head.
Mr Hill died moments later after falling on his own knife during another struggle, Lynn claimed.
The row is said to have been sparked by Mr Hill’s alleged aversion to deer hunting.
“According to the defendant, this unfortunate series of events allegedly began with one thing: Mr. Hill was hostile to him because he was a deer hunter,” Mr. Porceddu said.
“He concocts a version of events in which Mr. Hill is the aggressor and he is the victim of an argument at the campsite.”
Greg Lynn leaves the wilderness after the deadly incident in March 2020
Carol Clay’s bag was left in Mr. Hill’s car
The scenic location where the deadly incident took place
To conclude the case, Mr Porceddu took the jury through all the evidence presented over the past month.
“He tells you that Mr. Hill and Ms. Clay were both accidentally killed in separate immediate, or near-instantaneous, fatal incidents, both caused by Mr. Hill’s conduct,” Mr. Porceddu said.
“The suspect’s story is indeed a series of very unfortunate events. Like the book series of the same name, it is also a complete fiction.’
Mr Porceddu claimed Lynn made further mistakes in his account to police of the alleged confrontation with Mr Hill.
“There are a number of reasons why the story is completely unlikely,” he said.
Mr Porceddu said Lynn had made an error in his account of the alleged struggle with Mr Hill by not taking into account the rope tied between the bull bar of his Landcruiser and the toilet.
The jury heard that the wrestling men would have become hopelessly entangled in the rope if Lynn’s version of events had been true.
“He knows he sank because he knows he and Mr. Hill would have gotten tangled in the guy rope,” Mr. Porceddu said.
Lynn’s outline of how he believes the deadly battle came about
Mr Porceddu claimed Lynn came forward with his story in the 18 months it took police to arrest him.
‘The so-called battle over the weapon is the entire lynchpin in the suspect’s story. Once that collapses like a house of cards, everything else collapses,” he said.
‘You don’t believe a word of it. We urge you to see the suspect’s story for what it is: a carefully constructed fiction developed over a year and eight months. During that time, the suspect was able to gain insight into the evidence that emerged through the media.
‘It was an account that was clearly so carefully rehearsed that he can repeat it almost word for word during two separate days of a police interrogation. It is a report designed to shift the blame onto Mr. Hill.”
The jury heard that Lynn’s story that Mr Hill stole his gun from his car made no sense.
“If you’re concerned about firearm safety and you snuck into the suspect’s campsite to confiscate his gun, and you’re trying to do it without him knowing, why are you loading it when all you’re doing is what is taking you back to your campsite?’ said the prosecutor.
Mr Porceddu said it was also unreasonable to think Mr Hill would have taken the shotgun and left Lynn’s gun in the car.
“If you’re going to confiscate the gun of someone you haven’t been on good terms with, with whom you might have been provocative, and you’re doing it to ultimately report him to the police, don’t do that. Do you think you’d make sure he didn’t leave another gun behind?’ he said.
The jury heard that police claimed Lynn probably killed Mr Hill after some dispute before eliminating Ms Clay because she was the only witness.
“If she had been allowed to live, Ms. Clay would have been able to identify the suspect,” Porceddu said.
“Although it is unknown how Mr. Hill was killed, as the suspect deliberately burned Mr. Hill’s body and destroyed all forensic evidence… the evidence establishes that Ms. Clay was killed by a gunshot to the head.”
The jury heard that forensic experts were able to identify only one bone fragment out of more than 2,000 found as belonging to Mr Hill.