Police found a label for the erectile dysfunction pill Viagra belonging to elderly camper Russell Hill in the toilet bin of his secret lover Carol Clay, a court heard.
Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to the murders of secret lovers Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in the region’s Wonnanangatta Valley. alpina of Victoria, in March 2020.
Wednesday’s revelations came a day after Hill’s wife, Robyn, told jurors that he had once been hospitalized for “an enlarged penis that wouldn’t go down.”
Senior Detective Amy Frost was tasked with investigating the couple’s disappearance in March 2020.
Part of that initial investigation saw her attending the homes of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay in the days after Mrs Hill reported her husband missing.
Constable Frost told the court he attended Ms Clay’s home in Pakenham to look for clues that could explain how or why the couple had disappeared.
Under cross-examination by Lynn’s lawyer, Dermot Dann, KC, the court heard that the detective found a “destroyed Viagra medication in the name of Russell Hill in the bin in Carol Clay’s bathroom.”
Carol Clay and Russell Hill had been in a secret relationship for years. When police searched her home they found traces of Mr Hill’s erectile dysfunction pills.
Greg Lynn claims Russell Hill killed Carol Clay after stealing her shotgun
“It wasn’t a box… it was a sticker that goes on the front of the medication and it was torn into little pieces,” Agent Frost said.
The court heard Clay’s family had been at the Pakenham home when they made the discovery.
“The purpose of attending Carol Clay’s home was to locate any evidence or information that could help us locate both Carol and Russell,” the detective said.
The court heard police found a variety of medications belonging to Mr Hill in his recovered Landcruiser.
Among them was a box of antidepressants, which on Wednesday Hill told the jury that her husband had been drinking since an incident in the 1970s in which he was taken to the hospital.
“I have to say that when he went to hospital his penis was very enlarged and it wouldn’t go down and that was apparently part of the depression,” Ms Hill told the jury.
Crime scene photograph of Russell Hill’s vehicle. His beloved radio is surrounded. Mrs. Clay’s belongings can be seen in the passenger seat.
Carol Clay had had a secret but loving relationship with Russell Hill.
The jury heard that Hill had mentioned suffering from depression in the days before Lynn claimed she killed him in self-defense.
Last week, the jury heard evidence from a camper who claimed Hill confided in him that he had struggled with retirement.
“I’m retired now and that really screwed me up,” Hill told the stranger.
The court heard Hill had bought her husband a new box of antidepressants along with cans of bourbon and coke and a bottle of Bundaberg rum for the trip.
Images of that alcohol still packaged in Hill’s Esky were shown to the court on Wednesday.
As were other images of Lynn entering the remote wilderness captured by CCTV cameras in the area.
More information was provided on Wednesday about the romantic relationship Hill had enjoyed with his secret lover.
Clay’s friend Louise Heib told the court that Hill had been her friend’s first love, but that Hill had been unwilling to commit.
“Carol told me that they were originally together as a couple when they were much younger, but when Carol started getting serious about the relationship when they were younger, they broke up and it devastated her,” he said.
Heib said the couple’s relationship “rekindled” years later.
The broken passenger side mirror of Russell Hill’s vehicle is circled. Police believe he was blown away in the same explosion that killed Carol Clay.
The burnt remains of Mr Hill’s shop.
The jury previously heard that Mr Hill’s wife and three children had found out about their secret relationship in the early 2000s, when he assured them he would end it.
Although Clay divorced her husband in anticipation of continuing her relationship with Hill, he backed out and instead continued seeing her secretly until the time of her death.
Mrs. Heib claimed that Mrs. Clay told her that Mr. Hill could not leave his wife “because she was not well.”
Her friend told the court she supported Clay’s relationship with Hill.
“I told him everyone deserves love, so do it,” she said.
“But I didn’t tell anyone else about their relationship because it’s her news and it’s not like she needed my approval, but I told her to do it.”
Ms. Heib stated that Ms. Clay “liked the situation” she had with Mr. Hill.
—I don’t think that worried her. “She was quite independent,” she stated.
The court heard Ms Clay confided to her friend that she liked to go camping and hiking with Mr Hill.
“When he came back from camp, he would tell me about the beautiful hikes they took and show me pictures on his phone of the hikes they took,” Ms. Heib said.
The court heard Hill drove a very organized vehicle during his adventures in the bush.
“Carol had been assigned a certain location and she was not allowed to pass through that location,” Mrs. Heib said.
“Everything was assigned and in its place.”
Russell Hill’s wife Robyn told the jury about her husband’s secret affair with Carol Clay.
The campers had noted that Russell Hill’s vehicle was a customized camping machine.
The court heard that Mrs Clay, a stalwart of the Country Women’s Association, acted as cook on their trips and supplied them with the food they would eat while in the remote bush.
‘She loved the country side of things. “She was just free and she didn’t have to worry about putting (her lipstick) on or putting on makeup,” Ms. Heib said.
The court heard Ms Clay excitedly told her friend about any upcoming trips with Mr Hill.
On the day he ventured out on his final journey, the court heard Clay called his friend from the road.
“She seemed excited to be on the road and go camping,” Mrs. Heib said.
Opening the trial last week, Dann told the jury that Hill stole Lynn’s shotgun after becoming enraged that Lynn was playing loud music the night he was murdered.
“He approached Mr. Hill to attempt to retrieve the gun and take control of the weapon. “Mr. Hill fired the gun into the air and Mr. Lynn initially took cover in the back of his car,” Mr. Dann said. .
Lynn would later tell police that he was “very scared” 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 grab the firearm from Mr Hill, the gun went off and Ms Clay was hit in the head.
“The next thing Mr. Hill advances toward him with a knife and yells ‘she’s dead,'” Mr. Dann said.
‘A fight developed over the knife. Mr. Lynn tries to defend himself (they are engaged in this fight) and as part of that fight the two men fall to the ground and the knife passes through Mr. Hill’s chest.
The court heard that Hill and Lynn had argued earlier that day about Lynn hunting deer so close to other campers.
The trial continues.
