Greg Lynn: Jury is asked blistering question by ex-Jetstar pilot’s lawyer in secret lover campers murder trial

A jury charged with deciding the fate of former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn have been warned they have no evidence to convict him – and were asked: ‘Are you okay with that?’

Lynn, 57, pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to the murders of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in the Wonnangatta Valley, mountain region of the state on March 20, 2020.

On Wednesday, Lynn’s lawyer Dermot Dann KC sharply criticized the prosecution case.

Mr Dann told the jury they had no more evidence to work with to convince themselves beyond a reasonable doubt that Lynn was guilty of the murders.

Greg Lynn is charged with the two murders

‘There is no factual basis for the prosecution case. They have nothing, nothing, completely blank,” Mr Dann said.

‘There is no evidence… you are being asked to find a man guilty of murder.

‘In the prosecution case there is no factual basis whatsoever, no motive, there is just a completely blank story.

‘Are you okay with that? I mean, how is that possible?’

Mr Dann said that although his client admitted the crime of disposing of evidence, he could not be found guilty of murder based on the evidence presented at his trial.

‘In the prosecution case there is no factual basis whatsoever, no motive, there is just a completely blank story.

‘Are you okay with that? I mean, how is that possible?’

‘We are in a murder case. You are trying to fulfill your duty as jurors and are asked to convict a man. Well, you just can’t say, “Well, look, we don’t have any evidence, but let’s convict him anyway.” That’s not how it works,” Mr Dann said.

The jury heard claims that the prosecutor had not adequately challenged Mr Lynn’s statement when given the chance to cross-examine him last week.

“What was the challenge in Mr. Lynn’s story about Mr. Hill’s accidental death? Zero,” Mr. Dann said.

The prosecutor also did not ask questions about the knife Lynn claimed Hill tried to stab him with after accidentally shooting Ms. Clay.

“Is he being challenged on that evidence? No. Is he asked a single question about that evidence? No,” Mr Dann told the jury.

‘There’s just no challenge. Mr Lynn’s evidence is undisputed. Undisputed how Mr. Hill died.”

Lynn’s lawyer Dermot Dann, KC (left) attacked the prosecution case on Wednesday

L:ynn claims that Carol Clay was shot and killed by Russell Hill during a fight over his gun. Mr. Hill died moments later at the end of his own knife, Lynn said

Mr Dann said Lynn had no reason to kill the older campers.

‘(Prosecutor) Mr Porceddu during his cross-examination of Mr Lynn kept asking these questions about the fact that he is a pilot, you are trained to stay calm and deal with stressful situations… every time he had such question only made Mr Hill’s alleged murder increasingly unlikely,” he said.

“Why would that man you saw on the witness stand, this calm, collected man, what is he going to kill Mr. Hill for if there’s no apparent reason to do so?”

Mr Dann said the prosecution’s theory that Lynn killed the couple over a dispute over flying a drone had no evidence to support it.

‘That’s not a motive. That is not presented as a motive. The prosecution accepts that they know nothing about the motive when it comes to Mr Hill,” Dann said.

“So that’s why we say, ladies and gentlemen, that they have no case. There is no meat on the bones. There is nothing.’

Mr Dann described the prosecution case as hopeless.

“We have the rule of law that we try to respect in this court. It really is, as we said yesterday, just a hopeless case. This is an important matter, undoubtedly an important process. It seems like there are definitely a lot of people interested,” Mr Dann said.

“But the simple reality is – and if this ruffles feathers, it ruffles feathers – it’s a hopeless case.

“They don’t have a murder case on Charge 1. How can you find someone guilty in a complete factual vacuum?”

Greg Lynn faces life in prison if convicted of the murders

Lynn claims there was a deadly struggle at the front of this Landcruiser

Mr Dann claimed the prosecution had also failed to prove Lynn killed Ms Clay.

“We say there are the same fundamental problems with the prosecution case,” Mr Dann said.

The jury heard that Lynn had been sitting by his campfire by the river when he saw Mr Hill take out his shotgun and load the magazine.

The doors of Lynn’s Nissan Patrol were wide open to release “all the music” from his car radio, which the pilot said was done in a “childish attempt” to irritate Mr Hill after a previous run-in with him.

Lynn claimed Mr Hill accidentally shot Ms Clay in the head when he tried to wrestle the shotgun away from him.

Lynn pressed the bull bar of Mr Hill’s Landcruiser and claimed Mr Hill pulled the trigger, breaking 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.

The row is said to have been sparked by Mr Hill’s alleged aversion to deer hunting.

Mr Dann claimed the prosecution knew they would have been “very second-guessed” if they had confronted Mr Lynn on the witness stand.

‘They had their chance and what happened? If this is all so far-fetched and fanciful, this skilled operator here, Mr. Porceddu, would have cut (Lynn) into pieces. he would have gotten to the heart of the matter very quickly,” Mr Dann told the jury.

‘He didn’t ask him any questions. Why do you think that… he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere. He threw in the towel. It was all too difficult. You have to accept that these were the reasons why he did not confront Mr Lynn in the witness box.

‘You have to accept that he knew this trial would not help the prosecution case. You have to accept that he knew that the prosecution case would be far from secondary in that confrontation.”

Carol Clay was shot in the head. Lynn claims through her secret lover Russell Hill

The shotgun Lynn claims Russell Hill stole from his 4WD

Mr Dann said Mr Porceddu’s failure to put Lynn on the witness stand about his reasons for what he did after the alleged murders left Lynn’s evidence unchallenged.

‘Because his evidence remains undisputed. His evidence as to why he did those terrible things is undisputed. There is no challenge. What should you do? He is presumed innocent, he has given you the reasons, he has not been cross-examined,” Mr Dann said.

‘Unless you’re operating under the presumption of guilt or something, it’s all over in terms of that reasoning process… when you’re asked to convict for this so-called incriminating conduct, you have to accept that the whole exercise was avoided with Mr Lynn, because they would finish second.’

Mr Dann again lashed out at the prosecution, questioning the “human decency” in the way they provided information to the jury and not directly to Lynn.

‘It can’t be that they just forgot. They can’t be that shabby. It was unfair to Mr. Lynn because that’s what the rule is about. It’s about honesty. It is based on human decency that if you are going to accuse someone of something, you give them the opportunity to deal with the accusations,” Mr Dann said.

‘Human decency. Honesty. What happened to that when Mr Lynn gave his evidence?’

Mr Dann’s closing speech is expected to conclude on Wednesday afternoon, after which the jury will be directed by the judge about legal cases to consider before retiring to consider their verdict.