A police witness has been accused of lying and conspiring to disrupt the double murder trial of former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn with a “half-baked” theory.
During cross-examination by Victoria Police forensic officer Mark Gellatly on Thursday, defense lawyer Dermot Dann KC suggested the evidence presented by Gellatly the previous day was a “flagrant breach” of his duty as an expert to provide impartial evidence.
On Wednesday, the jury heard that the DNA expert had been asked to analyze Lynn’s Barathrum Arms SP-12 shotgun for blood in March 2022.
Lynn, 57, faces trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria after pleading not guilty to allegations he murdered Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73.
Gellatly said there were no traces of blood on the external surface, but a “reddish-brown stain” was cleaned from the inside of the barrel.
“We have a theory, or there is a known phenomenon with firearms: when they are fired, a vacuum is created in the barrel and blood can flow back in,” he said.
Gellatly said a “very partial” single-source DNA profile was obtained, but it was insufficient to compare with existing profiles of Russell Hill, Carol Clay or Lynn.
The officer was questioned at length about this by Mr Dann, who noted in Mr Gellatly’s statements and in 360 pages of notes that he had not mentioned the “vacuum theory”, nor had he notified the defense of his intention to mention it.
“Don’t you see that thinking three weeks into a murder trial is totally inconsistent with your obligations as an expert witness?” He questioned.
“They seem like half-baked theories that end up going nowhere.”
Gellatly responded that he had made it clear that he was not a ballistics expert and claimed that he mentioned the theory only to explain why he had taken samples from the gun’s barrel.
The jury was told that only one of 42 DNA sites was present on the shotgun barrel, and the officer now agrees that it is “possible” the stain was gun oil.
Dann suggested he had discussed this with prosecutors earlier in the week.
The jury heard that the officer had initially denied the topic was ever discussed when questioned in the morning, but now said he does not remember if the topic was broached.
“I’m saying you’re lying,” Mr. Dann replied.
“You think if you admit to having discussed it, prosecutors will look bad.”
“No,” the officer said.
Russell Hill and Carol Clay were murdered
The jury heard that Mr Gellatly had no training in vacuum theory, other than knowing of the theory’s existence.
Dann suggested that the theory had “absolutely no relevance” to this case, in which Lynn had reported that the gun accidentally misfired and killed Ms Clay from 3 or 4 meters away.
—Whose idea was it to propose a theory in which you had no experience? he said.
Mr Gellatly replied: “I have no idea.”
Earlier, during his primary examination, the forensic officer told the jury he was asked to examine the inside of the canopy of Mr Hill’s Toyota LandCruiser for the “possible presence of blood” in February 2022.
In a passenger-side compartment, he said he located six small “apparent” blood stains and three “gelatinous” grease deposits.
He told the jury that the tests could not confirm that the stains were blood, but his conclusion was that “it was most likely blood, noting that tests can give a false negative when affected by heat.”
Tests of a stain and a grease deposit returned DNA samples with “extremely strong support” for Ms Clay’s proposal.
Gellatly said analysis of the spatter indicated that “some type of forceful event” had occurred, but there was not enough information to make a finding about the mechanism.
“Excluding a strange gust of wind… my best possible guess is that the event occurred before this,” he said.
Lynn, 57, faces trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria after pleading not guilty to allegations he murdered Mr Hill, 74, and Ms Clay, 73, on the night of March 20, 2020.
The elderly couple disappeared while camping in the remote Wonnanangatta Valley, and their remains were discovered more than 20 months later under a felled tree in bushland, the jury was told.
The jury was shown photographs of the stain on the internal divider. Image: Supplied/Supreme Court of Victoria
Prosecutors allege Lynn killed the couple, probably after a confrontation with Hill, while the former pilot asked jurors to accept they both died in tragic accidents.
At the beginning of the trial, Dann told the jury that his client had said Clay was accidentally shot in the head while the two men were fighting over the gun.
He said Lynn told police after his arrest that Hill had approached him with a knife shortly after, but he fell on the blade and died.
Jurors were sent home shortly after 3.30pm for a “long weekend” as Judge Michael Croucher said there were no more witnesses available this week.
He said the next witness the prosecution intended to call was the informant, Detective Sergeant Brett Florence, but he was a “criminal”.
“You may have noticed that Detective Florence was not here this week,” Judge Croucher said.
‘He is in the process of overcoming his illness and received a medical certificate until the weekend. We hope she will be here on Monday.
Judge Croucher told jurors that the trial, expected to last up to six weeks, was “ahead of schedule”.
The trial continues.