Detectiveswill return to the rugged wilderness where two elderly campers were allegedly shot, stabbed and left to the unforgiving environment.
The search is the last entry on what has been a long ‘to do’ list for one of Victoria Police’s most experienced cops.
Detective acting-Sergeant Brett Florence on Wednesday revealed there was unfinished business in the harsh bush terrain where the fractured remains of secret lover campers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, were found.
Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn, 56, was on Wednesday committed to stand trial over the couple’s alleged murder in the Victorian High Country in March 2020.
Detective Sergeant Brett Florence will take a short break before returning to finish what he began in April 2020
Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has pleaded not guilty to killing the secret lover campers
Police allege Greg Lynn shot dead Carl Clay (left) before stabbing to death Russell Hill (right)
Covid restrictions and harsh weather conditions meant police left the mountains before they were satisfied all they could do had been done in the homicide investigations.
For 20 long months the disappearance of the campers captivated the Australian public while behind the scenes police worked to track down the suspected killer.
Outside courtroom 12 in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, a candid Brett Florence told Daily Mail Australia he was looking forward to taking a break after the day’s proceedings.
The Missing Person’s Squad detective had been working the case from the moment it landed on his desk in April 2020 – just weeks after the lovers vanished.
‘I’m taking two weeks off to build my race car,’ he said. ‘That’s what I love to do.’
The strain of the investigation was evident across his face, but it’s not as if this was the detective’s first big job.
Sergeant Florence has been a police officer working the mean streets of Melbourne for 35 years.
In just a few moments time, the detective would be forced again to enter the witness box where just days earlier he had been under siege by Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann, KC.
Mr Dann is regarded as one of Australia’s best criminal barristers and has been defending accused crooks for almost as long as Sergeant Florence has been locking them up.
The KC has represented everyone from ‘Australia’s most hated man’ Richard Pusey to wife killer Borce Ristevski.
He even managed to get Katia Pyliotis’s conviction for the brutal murder of a lonely widower, which earned her 19 years in jail, quashed on appeal.
Mr Dann repeatedly questioned Sergeant Florence about whether he and his colleague, Senior Constable Daniel Passingham, had followed the rule book when it came to interviewing his client in November 2021.
Victoria Police and forensic teams search for the remains of Russell Hill and Carol Clay in bushland north of Dargo on November 30, 2021. They are expected to return again over the coming weeks
Detective acting-Sergeant Brett Florence was deployed to the crime scene (pictured) weeks after the campers went missing after police initially believed they had just got lost
Detective acting-Sergeant Brett Florence (left) and Senior Constable Daniel Passingham (right) leave court after being grilled by Greg Lynn’s barrister
Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann, KC (pictured on Wednesday) lugs a suitcase out of court stuffed with folders of information on the case
The contents of Lynn’s nine-hour and 18-minute interview – conducted over a four day period by the two detectives – cannot be revealed due to a court-imposed gag order.
But what can be published is that both of the officers were pressed about their knowledge of the law – particularly an accused man’s right to silence.
Special Operations Group officers had descended from the sky to arrest Lynn, who was armed with a rifle, after police got spooked he may have been on his way into the bush to kill himself.
The court heard Lynn was not provided access to a lawyer until the next day when he spoke to a female solicitor for an hour and a quarter. He carried out his police interview without her.
Under siege by Lynn’s barrister, Sergeant Florence repeated time and time again he had done nothing but seek the truth from Lynn.
It was something he repeated again outside court on Wednesday.
The fact Sergeant Florence and Senior Constable Passingham were able to locate the remains of the campers at all was a significant achievement.
Sergeant Florence and his team wanted to spare the families of Mr Hill and Ms Clay the agony of a loved one gone missing.
An intense legal stoush over the admissibility of Lynn’s record of interview will kick off on February 9, allowing Sergeant Florence just two short weeks to recharge his batteries before being tossed back into the fray.
Before a Supreme Court of Victoria judge, the conduct of the two officers will be vigorously scrutinised by Mr Dann.
Detective acting-Sergeant Brett Florence (left) leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday with colleague Senior Constable Daniel Passingham. The pair were pivotal in the recovery of the bodies of Russell Hill and Carol Clay
Senior Constable Daniel Passingham (pictured with the remains of Mr Hill’s campsite) went on a media campaign in the weeks before Lynn was arrested
Mr Dann suggested some of the scrutiny will also focus on just how long before Lynn’s arrest he had been identified as a ‘suspect’.
Sergeant Florence had knocked on Lynn’s door just months after the campers went missing, he told the court.
What Lynn said that day was secretly recorded and makes up part of the near 800-page police brief.
Under the law, a person suspected of committing a crime must be issued with a caution before answering any questions police might have for them.
Sergeant Florence maintained in court on Wednesday Lynn had simply been a ‘person of interest’ at the time and therefore did not require that caution.
Lynn would become an official suspect shortly after.
The disappearance of Mr Hill and Ms Clay had made little more than regional news at the time as Australia was plunged into hard lockdown for the first time amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sergeant Florence revealed in court that a loner known as ‘The Button Man’ had been the first person of interest on his list.
He had been flagged in a news report, which referred to him as ‘an oddball’ who earned his name for using deer antlers to make buttons – which he then used as large ear piercings.
Sergeant Florence told the court the man was promptly ruled out as a person of interest.
On May 28, Sergeant Florence and a colleague travelled into the High Country to ask some questions of the locals.
CCTV images of vehicles captured entering and leaving Mount Hotham became crucial tools in identifying those who had been there when the campers had been. Greg Lynn is alleged to be driving this vehicle above
The pair scoured the townships of Bright and Harrietville for CCTV cameras that may have captured any persons of interest. None were found.
In a 16-page statement tendered to the court, Sergeant Florence revealed their fortunes changed upon visiting the resort atop of Mount Hotham – a popular ski location in the winter months.
CCTV cameras there ran 24 hours a day all year long.
A warrant to view what they had captured was secured on June 3, and 12 vehicles were subsequently identified as being in the right place at the right time.
Phone records showed Mr Hill had allegedly travelled past the cameras between 9.40am and 9.50am on the day police believe he was murdered.
Sergeant Florence tracked down each and every one of the targeted vehicles only to find their owners all had plausible stories, the court heard.
On July 14, Lynn gave the detective a detailed plot of where he had entered and exited the mountains in March.
He assumed the campers had already been found, he told Sergeant Florence, the court heard.
On leaving Lynn’s Caroline Springs home, in Melbourne’s west, Sergeant Florence noticed Lynn’s blue Nissan Patrol was now beige in colour.
When asked about the paint job, Lynn claimed it had been part of a ‘Covid project’ with his sons.
Sergeant Florence spoke to a weed sprayer about a month later who had come across the campers on the day they went missing.
Robert Williams had described Mr Hill as a ‘grump’ who had buzzed other campers with his drone, the committal hearing heard.
A witness claimed Russell Hill (above) had buzzed him with his drone in the hours before he would allegedly be murdered
Other witnesses told Sergeant Florence they had seen what they believed was Mr Hill’s Landcruiser park in a camp right-up close to a blue Nissan Patrol.
Sergeant Florence headed back up the mountain in November to check out a campsite known as ‘Buck’s Camp’ and returned with three bags of debris recovered from the burnt out remains of Mr Hill’s campsite.
On December 1 warrants were issued over the coming days to bug Lynn’s phones, car and home.
Over the coming weeks and months detectives would carry out searches of camping sites Lynn visited in the hope of finding the remains of Mr Hill and Ms Clay.
Two shovels found in an area where Mr Hill’s phone last ‘pinged’ from a tower were found to be a red herring.
On May 27, 2021 – six months before Lynn’s eventual arrest – all covert listening devices were shut down, the court heard.
They would not be reactivated until September 22.
With the secret bugs back in action, Sergeant Florence helped put together a media release with the help of Mr Hill’s daughters and Ms Clay’s sister.
The resulting story on October 14 would appear on Channel 7’s nightly news bulletin.
Sergeant Florence backed up the media campaign just 10 days later with a special report on Channel 9’s 60 Minutes.
A further report appeared on the program the following month.
At court Monday, Leading Senior Constable Passingham revealed Lynn had discussed the program with his flight attendant wife Melanie on November 13, 2021 – six days after the program aired.
He was arrested just two weeks later amid fears he was about to suicide.
The remains of Mr Hill and Ms Clay were found just days later.
Lynn has pleaded not guilty to killing Mr Hill and Ms Clay.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk