Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has apologised to the families of secret lover campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay after entering the witness box to defend his ‘despicable’ behaviour.
Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to the murders of Mr Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in the Wonnangatta Valley, in Victoria’s Alpine region, on March 20, 2020.
On Thursday, Lynn entered the witness box to tell the jury in his 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 the evidence.
‘It was despicable,’ Lynn conceded.
‘All I can say to the families is that I am very sorry for all of your suffering that I’ve caused … yes I should be punished for it. For what I did.’
The jury heard Lynn had offered to plead guilty to the destruction of evidence before going on trial, but it had been rejected by the prosecution.
Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn enters the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday
A diagram compiled by Greg Lynn showing police the open doors of his Nissan Patrol in relation to Russell Hill’s camp
‘I am innocent of murder,’ he said. ‘I am innocent (of manslaughter too). I haven’t killed anyone.’
Dressed neatly in a suit and dark-rimmed spectacles, the former pilot spoke in a cool and calm manner as he took the jury through the bloody details of what police allege was cold blooded murder.
The jury heard Lynn claimed the couple died after Mr Hill stole his shotgun and the pair engaged 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 for himself and scare me off.’
The jury heard Lynn had been sitting near his campfire by the river when he saw Mr Hill take his shotgun and load the magazine.
The doors of Lynn’s Nissan Patrol had been left wide open to ‘liberate all the music’ from his car stereo, which in the pilot’s own words was done in a ‘childish effort’ to annoy Mr Hill after a previous run-in with him.
The 12 Gauge ‘Barathrum Arms’ Model S/P 12 Semi-Automatic Shotgun used to kill Carol Clay
The deadly struggle allegedly happened at the front of Russell Hill’s Landcruiser (pictured)
Lynn created a sketch of the scene to help jurors work out how he claimed Mr Hill gained access to his Nissan Patrol to steal his shotgun.
The image showed a depiction of Lynn’s 4WD with all of its doors open, allowing Mr Hill to take Lynn’s shotgun from the rear and ammunition clip from the front.
Lynn claimed Mr Hill accidentally shot Ms Clay through the head as he attempted to wrestle the shotgun away from him.
Pressed upon the bullbar of Mr Hill’s Landcruiser, Lynn claimed Mr Hill pulled the trigger, blasting off the side mirror and hitting Ms Clay directly in the head.
Mr Hill died moments later after falling on his own knife during another struggle, Lynn claimed.
Standing before the jury, and about 100 other members of the public who crammed into the courtroom, Lynn painted himself as a caring a respectful airline captain who would go to the effort to help cleaning crews tidy his aircraft after landing.
Asked about a pair of Jetstar-branded gloves he owned, Lynn claimed he would often keep them after helping out.
‘After duty at work when flying the cabin crew have to clean the plane. It’s not a thorough clean, they just go through and pick-up papers, tidy up the seatbelts and rearrange all of the paperwork in the back of the seat pockets,’ he said.
‘Most of the pilots just take off and leave the cabin crew to do that, but I always grab some gloves, go through and help them clean up.’
Carol Clay was shot through the head while Russell Hill was impaled by his own knife, Greg Lynn claimed
The side mirror was destroyed with the same shot that killed Carol Clay, Greg Lynn told the jury
The jury heard Lynn had placed a laser sight on the shotgun which killed Carol Clay to ensure he could focus on the heart and lungs of the deer he enjoyed stalking.
Lynn suggested had he wanted to kill Ms Clay, he would not have blasted off the side mirror of Mr Hill’s Landcruiser in the process.
‘Well the whole point of having a laser sighting on the shotgun … is so that you can put the dot of the laser on the target and you are certain that the round will hit that target,’ Lynn said.
‘So the slug went through the mirror, if I had done what the police have said I’ve done … if someone had shot Carol Clay with the laser sight on, the laser would have illuminated on the mirror not on Carol Clay.’
Lynn described in gruesome detail the bloody aftermath of the alleged crime scene, which he has admitted to going to great lengths to destroy and clean.
‘The scene was horrendous,’ Lynn said.
‘There was blood splatter on the hitching rails and the tray base of the Toyota Landcruiser. There was some on the inside of the canopy.
‘I wiped all of that off … the solar panels … they had blood and other material on them and over the camp furniture.
‘Some of those pieces were covered in a lot of tissue and blood. There was a very large pool of blood on the ground in between the Landcruiser and the tent where Carol Clay was.’
Lynn is in the process of being cross-examined by the prosecution Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu, who closed the prosecution case on Wednesday, before Lynn began giving his version of events.
The trial continues.