Just tiny scraps of bone were left of the elderly secret lovers allegedly murdered by former Jetstar pilot

The cause of death of secret campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay cannot be determined through medical science, forensic experts have admitted in court.

Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn, 57, has been acquitted in the Supreme Court of Victoria of the murders of Mr Hill, 74, and Ms Clay, 73, in the Wonnangatta Valley, Victoria’s Alpine region, on March 20, 2020.

On Monday, forensic entomologist Dr Melanie Archer told the court she could not say how the couple died from the limited pieces of bone fragments recovered by police.

Photos of what was left of those remains were shown to the jury on Thursday.

Images showed the charred fragments of Mr Hill and Ms Clay’s bones in a remote part of the bush where Lynn had tried to destroy the remains of their bodies with fire, the court heard.

Victoria Police Forensics Services Center expert George Xydias told the jury he believed Lynn had burned the bodies at another location before attempting to dump them at a second location.

Dr. Archer told the court that what little material they had to work with had been virtually destroyed.

“The problem for the forensic pathologist is that the material you need, the evidence you need to help you make that decision, has been erased,” she said.

‘There are no toxicological samples, so you cannot look for a toxicological contribution. You can’t examine for trauma because of the fragmentation of the remains… with natural disease there were no soft tissues left, so that wasn’t possible.”

Dr. Archer said what was left of the couple was set on fire made the problem worse.

“The toxicological and soft tissue evidence that we should be seeing cannot be seen in these highly altered and fragmented remains,” she said.

So you are left with indeterminacy as your only choice.”

Police found bone fragments scattered in the bush after Greg Lynn allegedly murdered and burned the bodies of secret lover campers

Russell Hill and Carol Clay’s burned-out campsite

The jury has heard that Lynn admitted destroying the bodies of the elderly campers because he worried he would be wrongly accused of murder.

Under cross-examination from Lynn Barrister Dermot Dann QC told the jury the forensic expert could not refute Lynn’s version of events.

“He set the bodies on fire at the time in November 2020, all that information in that report and that time frame, does that all match your findings?” Mr. Dann asked the doctor.

“Yes,” was the answer.

At the opening of the trial last week, Mr Dann told the jury that Mr Hill stole Lynn’s shotgun after he became enraged because Lynn was playing loud music 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.

“Mr. Hill fired the gun into the air and Mr. Lynn initially took cover in the back of his car.”

Carol Clay and Russell Hill never returned home from a secret camping trip

Greg Lynn leaves the crime scene. He has admitted to burning and scattering the remains of Russell Hill and Carol Clay

Lynn would later tell police he was left ‘s***less’ by Mr Hill’s actions.

“He decided the only way to make things safe was to get his gun back,” 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.

“The next thing is Mr. Hill comes up to him with a knife and yells at him, ‘She’s dead,'” Mr. Dann said.

‘There was a struggle 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.

The process continues.