Pilot’s murder case ‘unravelling’: defence
Written by admin on June 12, 2024
Lawyers acting for the man accused of murdering an elderly couple camping in the remote wilderness have urged his jury to find him not guilty, arguing the prosecution case rests on “half-baked theories”.
Gregory Stuart Lynn, 57, will return to the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday as the fifth week of his double-murder trial enters its final stages.
The former Jetstar captain has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Russell Hill and Carol Clay, saying the pair both died in tragic accidents not of his choosing.
But prosecutors allege Mr Lynn likely murdered Mr Hill first, probably after a dispute with the 74-year-old, before shooting Mrs Clay, 73, in the head as a witness to the first slaying, on March 20, 2020.
Beginning his closing address on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Lynn’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, said the prosecution had failed to disprove any of his client’s account of the deaths despite two and a half years to do so.
Mr Dann told the jury he would take them through 17 “low-lights” of the prosecution case, including an opportunistic approach to evidence and “half-baked” theories.
“That is how desperate this prosecution case has become – outside the rules, making things up … all on this big stage,” he said.
“It just smacks of a prosecution case that’s just gone off the rails.”
He told the jury the prosecution had failed to ask several expert witnesses about their efforts to test his client’s case, leaving it up to the defence to “bring that information to light”.
He said, in the second half of his address, he would demonstrate how each expert witness supported Mr Lynn’s account of two accidental deaths.
Earlier on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu urged the jury to find Mr Lynn’s account was a “fanciful” fabrication that did not make sense.
“We urge you to see the accused’s account for what it is. A carefully constructed fiction developed over one year, eight months,” he said.
Mr Porceddu said he was not able to provide a motive or mechanism for the deaths, other than skull fragments suggesting Mrs Clay was shot at Bucks Camp, because Mr Lynn had “deliberately obliterated any forensic evidence”.
Mr Porceddu suggested this was “completely disproportionate” to other explanations, including accidental death or unintentional killings, the “only reasonable” conclusion the jury could reach is murder.
Also on Tuesday, Justice Michael Croucher told the jury that once the closing addresses were completed, he would commence giving the jury their “charge” before sending them out to reach a verdict.
“That will probably be, at the earliest, on Thursday sometime, perhaps Friday,” he said.
The trial continues.
