Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Rule. This is life and Crimes. Sadly, I'm
Speaker 1: not around at the minute because i am away on
Speaker 1: assignment or on holidays or hiding out or something. But
Speaker 1: I'm not here, and that means that the current court
Speaker 1: hearing involving the woongatter case, that is the disappearance of
Speaker 1: the campus Russell Hill and Carol Clay and the subsequent
Speaker 1: charges laid against Greg Lynn, that case is kicking off
Speaker 1: in my absence because I'm not here to talk about it.
Speaker 1: The most excellent Herald Sun reporter Laura Placella is over
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 2: Laura.
Speaker 3: Thanks Andrew. I've previously covered this high profile case during
Speaker 3: my time as a court reporter, and I'm joined by
Speaker 3: one of my colleagues, Miles Priest, who will be covering
Speaker 3: the trial that is now underway in the Supreme Court.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Miles for making time for us
Speaker 3: after what I'm sure was a very long day in court.
Speaker 2: Yeah good, bit tired, but it was great to finally
Speaker 2: hear some detail on this case.
Speaker 3: So tell our listeners what's your.
Speaker 2: Role at the herald'sun So I'm a court reporter. I've
Speaker 2: been in that role for over two years now and
Speaker 2: I've been with the paper for about three.
Speaker 3: Years, and it's my understanding that you're going to be
Speaker 3: like the eyes and ears for us in the courtroom.
Speaker 3: How long is this trial expected to run for?
Speaker 2: That's right, So I'll be covering this case for the
Speaker 2: Herald's sun. I'll be in there every day. It's expected
Speaker 2: to run four to six weeks, and I'll be filing
Speaker 2: daily court reports both online and the newspaper, in addition
Speaker 2: to doing these weekly episodes with you, Laura.
Speaker 3: Sounds like we'll be in it for the long haul.
Speaker 3: Now that it's in front of a jury, it's the
Speaker 3: first time we can talk about it. Just tell us
Speaker 3: why we couldn't really talk about it previously, just.
Speaker 2: Because before it's put to a jury, we just have
Speaker 2: to be careful about what we report in case, you know,
Speaker 2: we tanked a jury with information that they're not necessarily
Speaker 2: going to be told in the trial. So it's just
Speaker 2: to ensure that mister Lynn gets a fair trial, everything
Speaker 2: run smoothly, that we really can only report what's been
Speaker 2: put before the jury.
Speaker 3: Well before we dive into what happened in court today,
Speaker 3: can you just remind our listeners about this case and
Speaker 3: give them a broad overview.
Speaker 2: Yep. Absolutely. So this case is really about three people,
Speaker 2: Russell Hill and Carol Clay. They were this elderly couple
Speaker 2: who were aged in their seventies. I mean they weren't
Speaker 2: actually a couple. They were childhood sweethearts who rekindled their
Speaker 2: relationship in two thousand and six and they secretly began
Speaker 2: seeing each other and they would go on these camping
Speaker 2: trips up to the high country to spend time together. Essentially,
Speaker 2: mister Lynn Greg Glenn is a former Jetstar pilot. He's
Speaker 2: aged fifty seven. He lives in Caroline Springs in Melbourne's
Speaker 2: western suburbs with his family. And he was also a
Speaker 2: keen hunter and outdoorsman, and yeah, he would go out
Speaker 2: and you know, spend time out in the bush.
Speaker 3: So when roughly did this all happen, It was at
Speaker 3: the heart of COVID, wasn't it.
Speaker 2: That's right. So, just to give a bit more background
Speaker 2: on the case, the two groups were camping. So this
Speaker 2: is mister Hill missus Clay at one camp site and
Speaker 2: mister Lynn at another campsite in the Wanagata Valley in
Speaker 2: Victoria's Alpine Country high country in March twenty twenty just
Speaker 2: before sort of COVID retrictions came in. So it's agreed
Speaker 2: that they were both camping next to each other, and
Speaker 2: prosecutors allege that mister Lynn went and murdered the other
Speaker 2: elderly campers and then he was charged with here. He
Speaker 2: was arrested in November twenty twenty one, about eighteen months
Speaker 2: after what's the alleged to have happened up there, and then
Speaker 2: he's been charged with their murders and then he's slowly
Speaker 2: been going through the courts and yeah, his trial started
Speaker 2: this week.
Speaker 3: Here we are. So now we know a little bit
Speaker 3: about the accused and the deceased. Can you tell us
Speaker 3: about everyone else in the courtroom? Who's who in the zoo?
Speaker 2: This trial has been held at the Victorian Supreme Court,
Speaker 2: which is a beautiful building in the center of Melbourne.
Speaker 2: Inside the court we've got a number of people. We've
Speaker 2: got the Judge Michael Croucher, or Justice Michael Croucher, and
Speaker 2: he's sitting at the bench, he's sitting above everyone else
Speaker 2: in front of him, sitting at the bar table. You've
Speaker 2: got the lawyers, so you've got Crown prosecutors. Daniel Portradiu
Speaker 2: and Catherine Hamill. Next to them are the defense barristers Dermott,
Speaker 2: dankc and Michael McGrath. On the side of the court
Speaker 2: sort of facing towards the bar table, but also a
Speaker 2: little bit higher than everyone else so they can get
Speaker 2: a good view is the jury box. So there's fifteen
Speaker 2: people sitting in the jury box, which includes three extras
Speaker 2: just in case any are unable to sit through the
Speaker 2: trial for whatever reason, maybe illness or something like that.
Speaker 2: And then at the end of the trial, three of
Speaker 2: them will be balloted off randomly, so there's twelve left
Speaker 2: to return a verdict. On the other side of the courtroom,
Speaker 2: again looking towards the jury box, is a section for
Speaker 2: the media, so there was more than I think seventeen
Speaker 2: or eighteen members of the media were in court today.
Speaker 2: And then at the back of the courtroom you've got
Speaker 2: the accused man, Greg Lynn, who's in the dock, and
Speaker 2: the dock is sort of raised a little bit. Upstairs,
Speaker 2: you've got the public gallery, which is where everyone else sits,
Speaker 2: and that was absolutely packed today. I couldn't say exactly
Speaker 2: how many were up there, but it was pretty much
Speaker 2: standing room only. I think I did see a few
Speaker 2: people who were forced to stand during the openings, and
Speaker 2: that's where family members of both mister Lynn and mister
Speaker 2: Hill and Missus Clay were seated. I spotted mister Lynn's
Speaker 2: wife up there and one of Missus Clay's daughters.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you for painting such a great picture for
Speaker 3: us of what actually happens in the court and who's
Speaker 3: sitting where in terms of the facts themselves, or rather
Speaker 3: we should say the allegations. The jury have now heard
Speaker 3: from the prosecutor and the defense barrister who have summarized
Speaker 3: their cases with their openings. But to break it down,
Speaker 3: can you tell us what is actually agreed between these
Speaker 3: two parties?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely so. What wasn't in dispute is that Greg
Speaker 2: Lynn left his Caroline Springs home in March twenty twenty
Speaker 2: on a camping trip to the wan Agada Valley. He
Speaker 2: was driving a niss And Patrol, dark colored Nissing Patrol,
Speaker 2: he was towing a trailer, his license to carry a firearm,
Speaker 2: and he was a keen hunter. He interacted with several
Speaker 2: witnesses up in an area called Bucks Camp, and they're
Speaker 2: expected to give evidence at this trial about his movements
Speaker 2: in the area. And there was no dispute that Russell
Speaker 2: Hill and Carroll Clay were also camping in the area
Speaker 2: around the same time, and they were also on a
Speaker 2: sort of camping trip. That's what's not in dispute. Really.
Speaker 2: What is in disput I mean there is a lot
Speaker 2: in dispute is what happened the events of March twenty,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: So what do the prosecution allege happened that day in
Speaker 3: the high Country? What is the crux of their case.
Speaker 2: So the prosecution allege mister Lynn murdered mister Hill and
Speaker 2: missus Clay in the Wanagader Valley on the evening of
Speaker 2: March twenty, twenty twenty. They can't say what the exact
Speaker 2: circumstances that led to those killings were, but they believe
Speaker 2: there was a confrontation between mister Lynn and mister Hill,
Speaker 2: likely related to the usage of mister Hill's drone. They
Speaker 2: alleging that mister Hill was killed first. That's because they
Speaker 2: say missus Clay was very unlikely to have provoked a
Speaker 2: violent confrontation. The prosecution can't say how mister Hill was killed,
Speaker 2: but they allege missus Clay was shot in the head,
Speaker 2: and then they say mister Linn went to cover up
Speaker 2: the murders by destroying evidence, taking their bodies, stumping them
Speaker 2: the bush, and returning at a later date as well
Speaker 2: to ensure those remains hadn't been discovered, and also burning
Speaker 2: those remains.
Speaker 3: So what did the defense allege happened? It seems like
Speaker 3: the case has become one of murder or mishap.
Speaker 2: That's right. So Dermot Dan k C. In his opening
Speaker 2: address to the jury said this case was about two accidental,
Speaker 2: tragic deaths that were not of mister Lynn's making nor
Speaker 2: of his choosing. So that's really outlining the defense case.
Speaker 2: The couple did die accidentally, but mister Limb was not
Speaker 2: responsible their deaths, and he certainly was not responsible for
Speaker 2: their murders or manslaughter. So in his opening address, mister
Speaker 2: Dan said, mister Lynn went over to mister Hill's campsite
Speaker 2: sometime on March twenty, twenty twenty, and this is the
Speaker 2: account mister Lynn has given police, and so this is
Speaker 2: what they're using as their defense. He says, mister lin
Speaker 2: went over to mister Hill's campsite and asked him about
Speaker 2: his drone. In the conversation that followed, mister Hill voiced
Speaker 2: his concern his issues with deer hunting and being carried
Speaker 2: out in the area. And of course we know mister
Speaker 2: Lynn was a deer hunter and mister Hill had actually
Speaker 2: earlier told mister Lynn about someone close to him being
Speaker 2: killed in a deer hunting accident. Now, after dinner time,
Speaker 2: this is what mister Lynn claims. He says mister Hill
Speaker 2: accuses him of hunting too close to the campsite and
Speaker 2: saying he's filmed him on his drone and he's going
Speaker 2: to be taking that footage to police. Now, mister Len
Speaker 2: is annoyed by this, and he returns to his campsite
Speaker 2: and he turns up his car stereo and opens his door.
Speaker 2: And this is to annoy the other campsite, mister Hill
Speaker 2: and missus Clay at the other campsite. Now, he claims,
Speaker 2: around nine or ten pm, he's sitting around his campsite
Speaker 2: when he hears the noise around his car and he
Speaker 2: sees mister Hill walking away from his car carrying his shotgun,
Speaker 2: mister Lynne's shotgun and a magazine of ammunition. Mister Lynn
Speaker 2: says he follows mister Hill and asks him to give
Speaker 2: it back. He aledges mister Hill then told him to
Speaker 2: f off, and when he caught up to him, he
Speaker 2: still tries to get it back, he says. Mister Hill
Speaker 2: loses his temper and fires the gun into the air.
Speaker 2: Mister Lynn says he then jumps for cover. He decides,
Speaker 2: you know, the safest thing to do is try and
Speaker 2: get this gun back. He tries to grab the gun
Speaker 2: and then there's a struggle between the two men. As
Speaker 2: they fight over the gun. He claims his fingers were
Speaker 2: not on the trigger. The gun accidentally goes off. It
Speaker 2: strikes missus Clay in the head and she's killed pretty
Speaker 2: much straight away. So he takes the weapon back to
Speaker 2: his his own camp site just to make sure it's
Speaker 2: out of harm's weight. While that's happening, he sees mister
Speaker 2: Hill run towards him holding a knife, screaming she's dead.
Speaker 2: Then there's a struggle between the two men, and during
Speaker 2: that struggle, the men fall to the ground and the
Speaker 2: blade goes into mister Hill's chest and kills him.
Speaker 3: So what happened after that, according to mister Lynn.
Speaker 2: So, mister Dan said his client was left with this
Speaker 2: terrible sort of scene where two people are dead and
Speaker 2: he doesn't know what to do, and he says he
Speaker 2: makes this terrible choice to conceal what had happened, so
Speaker 2: that involved taking items and putting them in the tent.
Speaker 2: This is mister Hill and missus Clay's tent and burning it,
Speaker 2: and then he takes their bodies. He takes items from
Speaker 2: the car as well, which include cash, bank cards, mister
Speaker 2: Hill's drone, and then he takes their bodies and puts
Speaker 2: them in the trailer on the back of his car,
Speaker 2: and then he drives to an area called Union Spur Track,
Speaker 2: which is where he then dumps the bodies. Mister Lynn
Speaker 2: then returns home and after that point the state is
Speaker 2: plunged into lockdown. This is during the early stages of
Speaker 2: COVID nineteen. As we all well remember, in May twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: he went back after lockdown just to check where the
Speaker 2: bodies were and to make sure they hadn't been found.
Speaker 2: He then also returns in November twenty twenty, in what
Speaker 2: mister Dan described as another terrible action and which mister
Speaker 2: Lynn himself tells police there was no excuse. He burns
Speaker 2: the bodies whatever remains were left. He describes being physically
Speaker 2: sick while he was depositing some of the remnants of
Speaker 2: what was left of the fire into another spots. Dan
Speaker 2: says after his arrest, his client is very forthcoming to
Speaker 2: police and gives all that information about where they would
Speaker 2: find the remains. And on the defense case, he says
Speaker 2: he was being completely truthful and accurate and telling about
Speaker 2: the circumstances about how these two people died.
Speaker 3: So we had the prosecution and defense openings today. Did
Speaker 3: we hear from any witnesses?
Speaker 2: We did hear from a couple of witnesses. So the
Speaker 2: first one was a park's ranger also who works up
Speaker 2: in the Alpin National Park, and he was shown maps
Speaker 2: and different photographs of the area and he was setting
Speaker 2: the scene and describing different areas to the jury. And
Speaker 2: then we had another guy up and his name was
Speaker 2: Blair Anson, and he arrived at the Alpine National Park
Speaker 2: on March eleven, twenty twenty, so this is about nine
Speaker 2: days before the alleged murders. He was going deer hunting
Speaker 2: with some mates. He was camping nearby mister Hill, So
Speaker 2: mister Hill was on a separate camping trip before he
Speaker 2: was allegedly murdered, and they were camping near each other,
Speaker 2: and they spoke to each other. They had some interactions
Speaker 2: with mister Hill, and he just spoke a little bit
Speaker 2: about those interactions. He said mister Hill asked him if
Speaker 2: he could a fly's drone, and mister Anson said, you know,
Speaker 2: that's the problem. He also described him gave a bit
Speaker 2: about how he found him to be. He said he
Speaker 2: was a knock about sort of guy who was friendly
Speaker 2: and very approachable. He did describe one interesting interaction between
Speaker 2: the two despite that happening. He said he saw mister
Speaker 2: Hill chopping up some snowgums, so those beautiful eucalyptus trees
Speaker 2: up in the high country with a chainsaw and was
Speaker 2: aware that it was illegal. He says, he asked him
Speaker 2: if he cared about parks in sort of relation to
Speaker 2: Park's Victoria Rangers and mister Hill, the court heard replied,
Speaker 2: I don't give an f and mister Anson just said
Speaker 2: it's stuck in his head. He thought it was a
Speaker 2: bit peculiar to hear this Oldish man reply in such
Speaker 2: a way. So yeah, it was just sort of an
Speaker 2: interesting description of this interaction that was had up in
Speaker 2: the high country a few days before.
Speaker 3: So how many more witnesses are we expected to hear
Speaker 3: from over the course of the trial and what can
Speaker 3: we expect over the next few weeks.
Speaker 2: So more than one hundred winnesses could be called. Not
Speaker 2: necessarily all of them will be called, but when a
Speaker 2: witness list was read out to the jury yesterday we
Speaker 2: heard more than one hundred names, and so that includes
Speaker 2: other campers, police family and forensic officers, park rangers, all
Speaker 2: sorts of people. We don't know exactly who's going to
Speaker 2: be up each day and we haven't been given a
Speaker 2: witness list, but either way, it's shaping up to be
Speaker 2: a very compelling trial.
Speaker 3: Well, thanks Miles. Andrew will be back this Saturday for
Speaker 3: his regular show, and we'll be back next week with
Speaker 3: another bonus episode outlining all the latest in this trial.
Speaker 3: But Miles will be in called every day, so be
Speaker 3: sure to check the Herald Sun website and the paper
Speaker 3: for his daily updates. Thanks so much for your time today, Miles.
Speaker 1: Thanks Laura, thanks for listening. Life in Crimes is a
Speaker 1: Sunday Herald Sun production for True Crime Australia. Our producer
Speaker 1: is Johnty Burton. For my columns, features and go to
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