Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn’s conviction for murdering a woman in 2020 has been overturned.
The 59-year-old was jailed for 32 years in October last year for what Justice Michael Croucher called the “violent, brutal, horrific” murder of Carol Clay in 2020.
On Thursday, Victorian Court of Appeal President Justice Karin Emerton said there had been a series of “serious irregularities” during the initial trial.
Lynn’s conviction was set aside and a new trial has been ordered.
The case
In March 2020, 73-year-old Carol Clay and 74-year-old Russell Hill went on a camping trip in Victoria’s Alpine region.
Two days after they left, another camper found Hill’s car at a campsite that had been burned out. In the following months, the couple were declared missing, and presumed dead.
Following a 20-month investigation, police arrested Lynn.
During police interviews, Lynn said his gun accidentally discharged during a confrontation with Hill, fatally shooting Clay in the head.
Lynn said Hill then charged at him with a knife, and when the two men fell to the ground, the knife accidentally stabbed Hill in the chest.
Following their deaths, Lynn said he panicked, and burned the campsite and moved the bodies to a remote location, where he later returned to burn their bodies.
Police charged Lynn with murder. At the time, he said: “I’ve made some poor decisions. But murder, as I understand it, I’m innocent of.”
Trial
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At trial, the prosecution argued Lynn murdered Hill following a dispute, possibly over the use of a drone.
They argued Lynn then shot and killed Clay to eliminate her as a witness to the murder.
Lynn denied these claims, maintaining both deaths were accidents.
Lynn’s lawyers argued that because both deaths had been accidental, he could not be found guilty of murder.
Following a five week trial, a jury found Lynn guilty of murdering Clay, but acquitted him of killing Hill.
In Australia, juries are not required to provide reasons for their verdicts, and jury members cannot speak to the media, so we cannot know how this decision was reached.
Lynn was sentenced to 32 years in jail. During his sentencing remarks, Justice Croucher said: “This was just a terrible thing to do, hence my conclusion that this is a very grave murder.”
Lynn then launched an appeal against both the conviction and the sentence, arguing prosecutors had breached fairness rules during the trial.
Appeal
During an appeal hearing in October, the Herald Sun reported Lynn’s lawyers argued the state prosecutor misled the jury by launching a “sustained attack” on Lynn, without putting questions to him or giving him the opportunity to defend the accusations, which the law requires.
On Thursday, Justice Emerton said she agreed there were a “number of serious irregularities” in the trial that “gave rise to a substantial miscarriage of justice.”
Lynn will now face a retrial over the murder of Clay. He will not be tried again for Hill’s death.
