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Airline pilot Greg Lynn faces life behind bars after jurors found he killed one camper but not another.
The 57-year-old, who faced a five-week trial in the Victorian Supreme Court for the double murder in 2020, took to the witness stand to tell his story in recent weeks.
Russell Hill and Carol Clay disappeared from the Wonnangatta Valley, part of Victoria’s Alpine region, while camping together.
Lynn claimed the two deaths were accidental, but admitted to burning the crime scene and disposing of their bodies.
Forty-nine witnesses were called during the trial, including national park rangers, weed sprayers, campers, deer hunters, police forensics and ballistics experts and the families of Hill, 74, and Clay, 73.
Hill was married and the two were having a secret relationship when they disappeared.
Lynn, Hill, and Clay were the only people left at Bucks Camp tonight, March 20, 2020.
Lynn said he was deer hunting when he returned to threats from Hill that he had drone footage of Lynn hunting too close to the campsite to turn him into the police.
Later that evening, he said Mr. Hill took a shotgun and ammunition from Lynn’s car.
Lynn claims he went to get his gun from Hill, who fired several warning shots before pointing the gun at Lynn.
Lynn and Hill were struggling for the gun, Lynn claims, when another shot went off and struck the side of Hill’s mirror, which ricocheted and entered Clay’s head.
Later, gunshot fragments were found, proving that Clay had been shot to death.
Hill then lunged at Lynn with a knife, the pilot claimed, and a second fight ensued.
Lynn said he was trying to defend himself when the knife went into Hill’s chest, and the jury was not shown evidence of how Hill died.
Lynn admitted to burning the couple’s campsite, putting their bodies in a trailer and driving to Union Spur Track, where he unloaded their bodies and covered them with sticks.
He returned twice, including in November 2020 when he set fire to the remains of Hill and Clay.
He was arrested a year later, where he told his story to police and led investigators to the couple’s bodies, which were found to be broken into 2,100 bone fragments.
Lynn has pleaded not guilty to murder and admitted to jurors that his actions to cover up the crime, including repainting his 4WD used to dispose of the bodies, were “despicable”.
He has offered to plead guilty to the tampering with evidence charges before the trial, his defense attorney said.
But prosecutors said Lynn’s story was a fabrication and his behavior after the murders proved he intended to kill the couple.
Twelve jurors began deliberating their two verdicts on June 17, returning to court more than a week later with their verdict.
“Good afternoon, we the jury have reached a verdict, thank you,” the jury’s note read.
Asked for a verdict in Hill’s murder, the foreman of the jury told the court on Tuesday that he was “not guilty”.
When asked about Clay’s murder, the presenter replied “guilty”.
Lin, dressed in a suit and blue sweater, remained silent as the two verdicts were read aloud, raising his eyebrows upon learning his fate.
Judge Michael Croucher thanked the jurors for their service as he discharged the 12 jurors.
“I expect it’s a difficult process,” he said.
Lynn waved to her son Geordie, who was sitting in front of him in the courtroom after the jury left the court.
He spoke to his lawyers before being escorted from court, accompanied by custody officers, and will be sentenced at a later date.
The maximum penalty for murder is life imprisonment.
Lynn will return to court on July 19 to determine where the dates will be set.
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