They sat through weeks of evidence in Victoria’s highest-profile murder case in recent memory.
In the trial of the missing campers, the jury heard testimony from residents of Victoria’s High Country, Carol Clay and Russell Hill’s families, a variety of police scientists, IT specialists, and, of course, the accused Greg Lynn.
When it came time to deliver their judgments, they found Lynn guilty of killing Ms. Clay but not guilty of killing Mr. Hill.
However, there were many things the jury was not allowed to hear, including police errors, covert recordings, and a lavish scheme to transport the jury in a military helicopter.
Additionally, the jury was not informed of Lynn’s ex-wife’s 25-year-ago self-inflicted overdose death. Investigations, a coroner later discovered, did not turn up any suspicious activity or evidence of other people’s involvement.
The prosecution nearly had Greg Lynn’s murder charges dropped.
Just weeks before the trial for the missing campers began, Justice Michael Croucher rendered a decision that might have destroyed the prosecution’s case.
The judge decided early in 2024 that the prosecution could not present evidence to the jury suggesting that Lynn’s “incriminating conduct” suggested a murderous deed.
The suspected second killing at the campsite and the extensive cover-up to conceal and dispose of Mr. Hill and Ms. Clay’s bodies were among the incriminating acts.
Rather, the judge ruled that prosecutors could only utilize the evidence of incriminating conduct to establish that Lynn had committed an illegal homicide, like manslaughter.
Prosecutors sought to claim that Lynn’s post-mortem acts were so “next level” that they demonstrated his murderous intent, despite the fact that they had neither solid forensic evidence nor eyewitness accounts of the deadly camping struggle.
Justice Croucher’s decision, according to senior prosecutor John Dickie at the time, meant that “the prosecution couldn’t proceed in relation to the two charges of murder”.
The Crown was left with two choices. Either drop the murder charges and go after Lynn for manslaughter, or go to the Court of Appeal to contest Justice Croucher’s decision.
“The grounds of appeal will be essentially that Your Honour was wrong,” said Mr Dickie.
A few weeks later, the prosecution’s case was revived and Lynn’s murder trial was set in motion when the Court of Appeal concurred with them.
The Melanie Lynn and Greg covert recordings
The secret recordings of Lynn were obtained from devices hidden in his Caroline Springs house and Nissan Patrol four-wheel drive, but Justice Croucher refused to allow the prosecutors to play them.
The judge stated that there was a “danger of unfair prejudice by rank speculation” and deemed the material to be irrelevant.
The jury witnessed Lynn take the stand and provide evidence in a composed and well-reasoned manner throughout the trial.
But the tapes that were kept hidden gave a different picture of him.
Eight months or so after the deadly fight, he was driving alone and ruminating to himself.
Separate passages of his thoughts from hours of transcripts surfaced during pre-trial proceedings:
Following her exposure to a radio news report concerning Mr. Hill and Ms. Clay in May 2021, Lynn was heard to say:
A week or so prior to Lynn’s arrest in late November 2021, he and his spouse Melanie were watching a 60 Minutes segment on the campers who went missing.
It included an artist’s rendition of the automobile and a picture of an unknown car.
An audio recording showed Ms. Lynn laughing hysterically and at a high pitch.
In an attempt to provide the jury with more proof of Lynn’s cover-up, the prosecution sought to play the recording, but Justice Croucher rejected their request.
The judge said, “It might be said that she’s cackling like a hyena.”
Ms. Lynn started crying as she heard her voice reverberating across the courtroom while she was seated in the public gallery.
In a previous decision, Justice Croucher stated that Ms. Lynn was heard expressing more things on the tape when the piece was on 60 Minutes.
“Mrs. Lynn joked about Mrs. Lynn having to hide things, how Mrs. Clay did not like camping, and how she got ‘dunked’ on her head after someone got mad with her,” the judge stated.
Greg Lynn later admitted to authorities that he had concealed the campers’ killings from his spouse and that she was unaware of his involvement prior to his detention.
Judge Croucher previously ruled that Ms. Lynn was heard stating other items on the tape during the 60 Minutes segment.
“Mrs Lynn joked about Mr. Lynn having to hide things, how Mrs. Clay did not like camping, and how she got ‘dunked’ on her head after someone got mad with her,” the ruling stated.
Following his arrest, Greg Lynn admitted to authorities that he had concealed the campers’ murders from his spouse, who was unaware of his involvement.
‘Oppressive’ police questioning
Two police officers visited Lynn’s home on July 14, 2020, to inquire about his whereabouts during the period when Mr. Hill and Ms. Clay vanished.
Detective Senior Constable Abbey Justin recorded the conversation covertly.
Our agency is the police. “How are you doing?” inquired Lynn’s coworker Brett Florence.
“Oh, excellent,” he answered.
Yes, buddy, you’re not having any problems at all. Sergeant Florence said, “We’re looking into the disappearance of the elderly couple up in the Onnagata region.
Prosecutors claim that after inviting the officers into his home, Lynn lied multiple times about his whereabouts in the Onnagata Valley.
Because Justice Croucher determined that the officers had obtained the evidence illegally, it was never presented to the jury.
Although the police maintained that Lynn was only a “person of interest” at that point, the judge decided that the cops had a reasonable suspicion that Lynn was a homicide suspect and ought to have advised him of his rights.
Judge Croucher stated that investigators had created “misleading notes” regarding Lynn’s position as a “person of interest” and accused the police of attempting to trick him at his residence.
“This practice needs to end,” Judge Croucher declared. Even while sincere errors can happen, police reports ought to be as precise as they reasonably can be, and, above all, they must be intended to be truthful.”
Lynn was taken into custody about 16 months after the police had visited his home.
Sergeant Florence was one of the officers present, and it was “freezing” outside when he interviewed Lynn and his partner Daniel Passingham at the Sale police station.
Lynn informed the police that he would conduct a “no comment” interview.
For three days, he persisted in that attitude, but the detectives would not accept a no.
The judge characterized their behavior during nine hours of interviews over four days as a “withering barrage of oppressive and improper inducements”.
After being pushed to the brink, Lynn finally broke and admitted to covering up the couple’s death, moving their bodies, and trying to destroy what was left of them.
Although Lynn’s female attorney was not present, according to Justice Croucher, she had instructed him over the phone to remain silent.
“I wouldn’t say she’s the expert,” Detective Florence remarked regarding the attorney. “It’d be like a flight attendant telling the captain something.”
Detective Florence stated in a another conversation: “[Show me why I should be telling you, Greg Lynn, see ya, mate. I’m so, very sorry, and here are your keys.”
Leading Senior Constable Passingham snapped back, fed up with Lynn’s “no comment” responses, saying, “You might as well just tell lies.”
Lynn was attempted to be further coerced by Leading Senior Constable Passingham, who stated, “Our word to the court is favourable.”
Lynn withered after three and a half days.
“So in the interests of the inevitable and just getting it resolved now, I’m going to ignore my solicitor’s advice and tell you what happened right from the start,” he stated.
At first, Justice Croucher declared the entire police interview inadmissible on the grounds that the respondents had given false information. Eventually, it was agreed that the jury would only hear the parts of the interview in which Lynn gave the police his version of the story and cooperated with them.
Justice Croucher stated last year that Victoria Police had not promised to discipline the officers.
Since then, Passingham, the lead senior constable, has left the service.
“I’m only demonstrating to you how to pose the questions.”
In addition to the five-week trial, there were numerous pre-trial hearings and other legal talks held during the time the jury was not in session.
The majority of the time, discussions and disagreements were civil and professional. There might occasionally be jokes or cryptic allusions to famous musicians or athletes.
“Should Jake Fraser-McGurk have been in the Australian Twenty20 team?” Judge Croucher ruminated. “I just reckon he’s so talented.”
After the trial’s twenty-first day, though, Judge Croucher was not amused, calling prosecutor Daniel Porceddu out for breaking the rules during the Crown’s final statements.
Essentially, Mr. Porceddu presented the jury with some allegations regarding Greg Lynn that were not presented to the defendant during his testimony.
“You have to ask him for his reaction if you’re going to argue with the jury about whatever he said or did. That’s the fundamental guideline,” the court informed Mr. Porceddu.
According to the judge, Mr. Porceddu appeared to have “chickened out” at some points during Lynn’s cross-examination.
However, Mr. Porceddu maintained that the accusations were implied.
But the judge made remarks about one of Lynn’s accusations for which he later issued an apology.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Porceddu informed the jury that Lynn had made up a narrative that Russell Hill had told him in an effort to suggest that Mr. Hill was unstable emotionally because he was mourning a family member’s loss.
In 1994, a hunter unintentionally shot and killed the relative. However, the prosecutor claimed that Lynn made up that he had been informed that the death had happened recently.
“He’s going to change the story slightly to make it a little bit more raw?” Justice Croucher enquired.
The argument is that, according to Mr. Porceddu.
“Really, that’s just frog shit,” the judge shot back.
Afterwards, Mr. Porceddu was shown more accusations by Justice Croucher, which he claimed ought to have been made directly to Lynn.
The judge remarked, “I’m just showing you how to ask the questions.”
The judge expressed regret for his remarks to Mr. Porceddu at the conclusion of the session.
“I ought not to have sworn earlier. Yes, I did. I apologize as well,” he stated.
Plans for a High Country chopper trip
The lead Crown prosecutor for the case was replaced by the Office of Public Prosecutions several weeks before to the start of the trial.
Mr. Porceddu, a recreational ultra-marathon runner, was brought in to take John Dickie’s place.
Mr. Porceddu also brought some fresh concepts.
One involved bringing the jury, judge, and attorneys to Bucks Camp, the scene of the deadly altercation. After that, they would go to Union Spur Track, the location where the bodies were disposed of.
Mr. Porceddu stated that a helicopter would be the most practical means of transportation due to the trip’s distance from Melbourne, its challenging terrain, and the need to do it in a single day.
A Chinook from the Australian Defence Force, though, not just any old chopper.
“One doesn’t understand the vastness of this area unless one sets foot on it,” he stated.
Judge Croucher had a few inquiries. What was the duration of the helicopter ride? Was there room for everyone on board? Who would take control of the plane?
Attorney Dermot Dann KC stood up for Lynn.
He said, “I take it Mr. Lynn is not required to fly the plane,” which made a lot of people in the courtroom giggle.
Lynn even cracked a sardonic smile at the one-liner.
The helicopter concept was shelved because of the logistical costs, with the OPP (and ultimately taxpayers) expected to bear the cost.
The jury was ultimately forced to watch crime scene videos on big screens in the courtroom and on their iPads.
