Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn accused of murder of campers in Victoria’s Wonnangatta Valley cash problem

By William On Jun 22, 2023

An ex-Jetstar pilot accused of murdering campers with secret lovers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, is running out of money to fund his defense.

Greg Lynn appeared via video link at Victoria’s Supreme Court on Thursday, where his lawyer Dermot Dann, KC, revealed that Lynn was unlikely to be able to pay his legal team by the time he goes on trial in February.

The 56-year-old has been in custody since November 2021 – some 20 months after allegedly murdering the couple in the Wonnangatta Valley, in Victoria’s High Country.

Greg Lynn, 56, faces trial in Victoria High Court next year for two murders, if at all

Carol Clay (left) was allegedly shot dead by Lynn before Russell Hill (right) was stabbed to death

Police allege that Carol Clay was shot while in the back of this vehicle, which was damaged by fire following the alleged crime

The court heard that Lynn mr. Dann, who is recognized in legal circles as one of Australia’s top defense lawyers.

However, it remains unclear whether Mr Dann will continue to represent Lynn when he finally faces trial next year.

It is clear that Lynn had been hoping to get money from the back of his Caroline Springs property, which has become the subject of a separate lawsuit between his wife and the Victoria Police Department.

“Each avenue was and continues to be pursued with regard to an alternative course of funding the matter privately, it’s just that we are dealing with several entities that are a bit of a roadblock,” said Mr Dann.

The court heard that Lynn’s prospects of being awarded Victorian legal aid were also in shambles, as he continued to hold substantial assets, albeit stalled by proceedings related to the Confiscation Act.

Mr Dann said a High Court order in December stated that Lynn was still financially linked to the family home, which could ruin any application for state aid.

Lynn is due back in court on October 16, where Mr Dann is expected to seek to have his client’s interview record struck off the record amid claims, Victorian detectives obtained it wrongfully.

The content of that interview is now subject to a court-ordered gag order.

At an earlier hearing, it was said that homicide detectives in Victoria had gathered 773 pages of evidence against Lynn.

Many of those pages contain the content of Lynn’s nine-plus hour interview, which was recorded at Sale police station immediately after his arrest in November 2021.

Mr Dann promised to represent Lynn in October whether he had funding or not.

“Even if funding remains a problem, I am indicating to the court that I would be willing to continue the pre-trial investigation during that October period even if that problem persisted. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I am, even though that difficulty remains,” he said.

Greg Lynn, photographed in court last year, was questioned by police for four days

Police filmed thousands of Greg Lynn (right) in the 11 months before his arrest in Victoria’s Highlands. Nearly 300 relevant recordings were made after the broadcast of a 60 Minutes special about the missing campers

Lynn’s attorney Dermot Dann, KC (pictured left leaving court last year) plans to challenge the admissibility of his client’s interrogation record with police.

Mr Dann has long advocated that his client’s interview should be declared inadmissible in a murder case.

“There are 15 pieces of evidence that we are going to file an exclusion request, including the record of the interview and basically everything that follows,” he told the court in May.

Dann said the outcome could lead to a preliminary injunction, which could eventually render Lynn’s trial unnecessary.

While the contents of what exactly was discussed with Lynn by police cannot be revealed, Mr Dann described it as ‘explosive’ at a preliminary hearing last year.

“It’s just that these pieces of evidence are potentially groundbreaking in terms of how the trial will be conducted by the prosecution,” he told the court at the time.

Police allege Lynn shot Ms Clay in the head with a shotgun after she got into an angry confrontation with Mr Hill over using his drone in the national park, which is illegal.

Lynn was arrested at the junction of Doolans Plains Road and Moroka Road, Arbuckle – some seven hours after being overheard by police on top secret eavesdropping devices talking to himself in a ‘depressed state’.

WHY THE POLICE BELIEVE CAMPER WAS KILLED

Russell Hill knew the rugged Wonnangatta Valley as well as anyone brave enough to venture that far into the wilderness.

It’s courage that the police suspect took the lives of him and his secret lover Carol Clay.

Those who knew him claimed that he would never back down from a fight.

Weed sprayer Robert Williams told the court that Mr Hill was a “grumpy old bastard” who called him with a drone.

Campers Damir Javor and Goran Miljkovic had spotted the pair as they parked their vehicle at a campground believed to be shared by Lynn.

The pair were trapped behind the elderly couple as they slowly drove down the path to their campground, where two vehicles were already parked.

One of those cars was a white Landcruiser, the other was described as a blue Nissan Patrol – the same type of vehicle seized by police when they arrested Lynn on November 22 last year.