A nasty reaction to a bee sting that required hospitalization came to the rescue of detectives investigating Greg Lynn for the alleged murders of missing campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill.
On Tuesday afternoon, Lynn was found guilty of killing Clay, 73, but not guilty of murdering her secret lover, Mr. Hill, 74, after more than 10 days of jury deliberations.
It has since emerged that detectives faced an agonizing decision during their investigation into Lynn.
The former Jetstar pilot had been grounded during the Covid-19 pandemic, but was due to return to the skies in 2021.
Investigators faced the prospect of being forced to tell the airline why their pilot needed to be suspended from work, thus exposing the ongoing investigation into him.
This would have risked alerting him that something was wrong and potentially hampering his advantage if he sought legal advice.
But Lynn’s decision to take up beekeeping as a pandemic hobby solved the problem for them.
Greg Lynn (right) and his wife Melanie (left) took up beekeeping as a hobby to keep themselves busy during the Covid pandemic.
Greg Lynn was found guilty of killing Carol Clay, 73 (left), but not guilty of the murder of her secret lover Russell Hill, 74 (right).
Lynn suffered a nasty reaction to a bee sting that landed him in the hospital and delayed his return to work, the police reported. Herald of the sun reported.
This gave detectives the breathing room they needed to continue investigating him.
Lynn documented his new hobby on social media, sharing a photo of him and his wife Melanie smiling in their white beekeeping suits next to a beehive.
He appeared to proudly hold a glass of honey while his wife held up what looked like a brochure on beekeeping.
He also shared a photo of himself from his hospital bed with a mask on over his face.
The former Jetstar pilot was found guilty of the murder of Clay, 73, but not guilty of the murder of Hill, 74, in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday.
Lynn (pictured) also shared a photo of himself from his hospital bed with a mask placed over his face after suffering a nasty reaction to a bee sting.
The 57-year-old man had pleaded not guilty to murdering two campers in the Wonnangatta Valley in Victoria’s Alpine region on March 20, 2020.
The jury had been deliberating on murder charges against Lynn since June 14.
Lynn, dressed in a suit and blue sweater, remained silent as the two verdicts were read aloud, raising his eyebrows after learning his fate.
He greeted his son Geordie, who was sitting opposite him inside the courtroom, after the jury left the court.
He spoke to his lawyers before being escorted out of court flanked by custody officers and will be sentenced at a later date.
The maximum penalty for murder is life imprisonment.
Lynn will return to court on July 19 for a mention, when dates will be set.