Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has apologized to the families of secret lovers campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay after taking the witness stand to defend his “despicable” behavior.
Lynn, 57, pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to the murders of Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in the Wonnanangatta Valley in Victoria’s alpine region on March 20, 2020.
On Thursday, Lynn took the witness stand to tell the jury in her own words how the campers died as a result of a tragic accident.
While Lynn has always denied murdering the couple, the jury heard he freely 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 them… yes, I should be punished for it. For what I did.’
The jury heard that Lynn had offered to plead guilty to destruction of evidence before going to trial, but the prosecution had rejected her.
Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn enters the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday
A diagram compiled by Greg Lynn showing police the open doors of his Nissan Patrol in relation to the Russell Hill camp.
“I am innocent of murder,” he said. ‘I am innocent (also of homicide). I haven’t killed anyone.
Dressed neatly in a suit and dark-rimmed glasses, the former pilot spoke coolly and calmly as he explained to the jury the gory details of what police allege was a cold-blooded murder.
The jury heard Lynn claim the couple died after Hill stole his shotgun and the pair became involved in a deadly struggle 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 and scare me.”
The jury heard that Lynn was sitting near his campfire by the river when he saw Mr Hill pick up his shotgun and load the magazine.
The doors of Lynn’s Nissan Patrol had been left wide open to “release all the music” from her car stereo, which, in the driver’s own words, was done in a “childish effort” to annoy Mr. Hill after a previous confrontation with him.
The Model S/P 12 ‘Barathrum Arms’ 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun used to kill Carol Clay
The deadly fight allegedly occurred in the front of Russell Hill’s Landcruiser (pictured)
Lynn created a sketch of the scene to help jurors discover how he claimed Hill gained access to his Nissan Patrol to steal his shotgun.
The image showed a depiction of Lynn’s 4×4 with all the doors open, allowing Mr Hill to take Lynn’s shotgun from the rear and the ammunition magazine from the front.
Lynn claimed that Mr. Hill accidentally shot Ms. Clay in the head while trying to grab the shotgun from her.
Pressed on the bar of Mr Hill’s Landcruiser, Lynn claimed Mr Hill pulled the trigger, exploding the side mirror and hitting Mrs Clay directly in the head.
Hill died moments later after falling on his own knife during another fight, Lynn claimed.
Standing before the jury and about 100 other members of the public who packed the courtroom, Lynn described himself as a caring and respectful airline captain who went out of his way to help the cleaning staff tidy up his plane after landing.
When asked about a pair of Jetstar brand gloves she had, Lynn stated that she often kept them after helping.
‘After work, during the flight, the cabin crew has to clean the plane. “It’s not a deep cleaning, they just go through and collect papers, fix the seat belts and reorganize all the paperwork in the back of the seat pockets,” he said.
“Most pilots just take off and let the cabin crew do that, but I always take some gloves, check them and help them clean.”
Carol Clay was shot in the head while Russell Hill was impaled by his own knife, Greg Lynn claimed.
The side mirror was destroyed by the same shot that killed Carol Clay, Greg Lynn told jurors.
The jury heard that Lynn had attached a laser sight to the shotgun that killed Carol Clay to ensure it could focus on the heart and lungs of the deer he enjoyed stalking.
Lynn suggested that if he had wanted to kill Ms Clay, he would not have smashed the side mirror of Mr Hill’s Landcruiser in the process.
“Well, the whole point of having a laser sight on the shotgun… is so you can put the laser dot on the target and be sure that the bullet will hit that target,” Lynn said.
‘Then the bullet went through the mirror, if I had done what the police said I did…if someone had shot Carol Clay with the laser sight on, the laser would have shone on the mirror and not on Carol Clay.’
Lynn described in gruesome detail the bloody aftermath of the alleged crime scene, which he admitted to having gone to great lengths to destroy and clean up.
“The scene was horrible,” Lynn said.
‘There were blood spatters on the hitch rails and the base of the tray of the Toyota Landcruiser. There was something inside the canopy.
‘I cleaned all that up…the solar panels…they had blood and other materials on them and on the camp furniture.
‘Some of those pieces were covered in a lot of tissue and blood. There was a large pool of blood on the ground between the Landcruiser and the store where Carol Clay was.
Lynn is in the process of being cross-examined by Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu, who closed the prosecution’s case on Wednesday, before Lynn began giving his side of the story.
The trial continues.
