Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn accused of murder of campers in Victoria’s Wonnangatta Valley cash problem

An ex-Jetstar pilot accused of murdering secret lover campers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, is running out of cash to fund his defence.

Greg Lynn appeared via video link in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Thursday where his barrister Dermot Dann, KC, revealed Lynn would not likely be able to afford to pay his legal team by the time he goes on trial in February.

The 56-year-old has been in custody since November 2021 – some 20 months after he allegedly murdered the couple in the Wonnangatta Valley, in Victoria’s High Country.

Carol Clay (left) was allegedly shot dead by Lynn before Russell Hill (right) was stabbed to death

Police allege Carol Clay was shot while standing toward the rear of this vehicle, which was damaged by fire after the alleged crime

The court heard Lynn had been privately funding Mr Dann, who is recognised in legal circles as one of the best defence barristers in Australia. 

However, it remains unclear whether Mr Dann will continue to represent Lynn when he eventually goes on trial next year. 

It is understood Lynn had hoped to obtain funds off the back of his Caroline Springs property, which has become the subject of a separate court battle believed to be between his wife and Victoria Police. 

‘Every avenue was and is still being pursued in respect to an alternative course to fund the matter privately, it’s just that we are dealing with various entities that are presenting somewhat of a roadblock,’ Mr Dann said.

The court heard Lynn’s prospects of being granted Victorian Legal Aid funding were also under a cloud while he continued to hold substantial assets, albeit tied up under proceedings linked to the Confiscation Act. 

Mr Dann said an order made in the Supreme Court in December declared Lynn was still linked financially to the family home, which had potential to ruin any application for government assistance. 

Lynn is due back in court on October 16 where Mr Dann is expected to try and have his client’s record of interview scrapped from the brief of evidence amid claims Victorian homicide detectives obtained it unlawfully.

The contents of that interview are now subject to a court-imposed gag order. 

A previous hearing was told Victorian homicide detectives had compiled a whopping 773-page brief of evidence against Lynn.

Many of those pages contain the contents of Lynn’s nine-plus hour interview, which was recorded at Sale police station directly after his arrest in November 2021. 

Mr Dann committed to representing Lynn in October whether he had funding in place or not. 

‘Even if funding remains a difficulty, I am indicating to the court that I’d be prepared to continue with pre-trial in that October period even in the event that that difficulty remained. Perhaps I shouldn’t, but I am, even if that difficulty remains,’ he said. 

Greg Lynn, pictured in court last year, was grilled by police for four days

Police made thousands of recordings of Greg Lynn (right) in the 11 months before his arrest in Victoria’s high country. Almost 300 relevant recordings came after the airing of a 60 Minutes special on the missing campers 

Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann, KC (pictured left leaving court last year) plans to fight the admissibility of his client’s record of interview with police. 

Mr Dann has long argued his client’s interview should be ruled inadmissible from any murder trial.

‘There are 15 items of evidence that we are going to make application for exclusion, including the record of interview and basically everything that flows thereafter,’ he told the court in May. 

Mr Dann said the outcome could result in an interlocutory appeal, which could ultimately render the trial against Lynn unnecessary. 

While the contents of what exactly was discussed by police with Lynn cannot be revealed, Mr Dann described it during a preliminary hearing last year as ‘explosive’. 

‘It’s just that these items of evidence are potentially game changing in terms of the way the trial will be conducted by the prosecution,’ he told the court then.

Police allege Lynn blasted Ms Clay in the head with a shotgun after getting into an angry confrontation with Mr Hill over the use of his drone in the national park, which is illegal. 

Lynn was arrested at the intersection of Doolans Plains Road and Moroka Road, Arbuckle – some seven hours after he was heard by police on secret listening devices talking to himself in a ‘depressed state’.