Will Greg Lynn face new charge

Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has been acquitted of the allegation he murdered Russell Hill, but there’s an alternative charge prosecutors could now choose to lay.

For more than a month, the 57-year-old faced trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court after denying he was responsible for the couple’s deaths on March 20, 2020.

On Tuesday, he was found not guilty of the murder of Russell Hill, and guilty of the murder of Carol Clay.

In the witness box during his trial, Mr Lynn said he deserved to be punished for his actions to conceal his involvement, labelling them “despicable”.

“All I can say to the families is that ah, I am very sorry for your suffering that I caused … I should be punished for what I did.”

He said he’d offered to plead guilty to the lesser charge of destruction of evidence, after confirming he had burned the couple’s campsite and dumped their bodies in bushland.

“I am guilty (of that offence),” he told the jury.

Mr Lynn said he’d taken these steps to conceal his involvement after fearing he would be wrongly blamed, he said he believed the bodies would be found.

“I wanted to disappear, I wanted all trace of what had happened to, ah, be gone with me,” he said.

“The object was not to make them disappear but for me to disappear.”

He claimed he only decided to return and burn their bodies after police knocked on his door and he realised his plan was “unravelling”.

In an interview with police, played to the jury during his trial, Mr Lynn said he returned to burn the bodies on November 18, 2020, after a Covid-19 lockdown had ended.

He told the officers that he lifted a few branches where he had dumped and covered the bodies to confirm they were still there before using about two litres of kerosene to ignite the fire, which he stoked from sunset to sunrise.

“Yes, it was my intention to get rid of the evidence because I clearly had failed to make myself disappear,” he said.

“I didn’t want to have to do it. It was a horrific thing, I was sick several times.”

Mr Lynn told the court during his evidence there was “nothing left” afterwards, and used a dustpan to scoop up ash and “throw it around” in the nearby bushland.

Mr Dann earlier flagged the crown “had the potential” to charge his client with destruction of evidence.

“We raised with the prosecution last year …and we got no response,” he said.

“It’s a matter for the prosecution whether they’d ever wish to pursue that charge. They can. They have that ability in the future.”

At the time, Justice Michael Croucher said he’d “never seen it prosecuted” previously.

Delivering his closing address, Mr Dann argued his client’s account of two accidental deaths was “totally inconsistent” with murder, suggesting what was left was an “overwhelming case” for the alternative charge.

“They’ve got the wrong charge. They’ve overcharged him. He should be charged with destruction of evidence,” he said.

“He’s offered to plead guilty to that charge. This all could have been avoided.”

Mr Lynn was charged with two counts of murder following four days of questioning at Sale Police Station in November 2021.

The jury was told he assisted police with recovering the couple’s burnt and fragmented remains.

The destruction of evidence offence carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and/ or a $99,000 fine.