On Thursday morning, Lynn took the jury through a map he drew for police of the campsite layout. He described the location of his car and Russell Hill’s car, where the elderly pair’s toilet tent was, and the spot where Carol Clay was standing “when she was shot in the head and she died”.
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Lynn said he only saw Clay out of his peripheral vision just before she was shot.
He had previously told police that he and Hill were struggling over Lynn’s shotgun when it accidentally fired and struck Clay, killing her.
“At the time of the discharge I was struggling with Russell Hill for control of the shotgun … all I could say was that she was down low,” Lynn told the jury.
“To be low, she would have had to be crouching or kneeling or getting up after falling over. I got the impression she was getting up.”
Earlier, the trial had heard Lynn told police that soon after Clay was shot dead, Hill ran at him with a black-handled kitchen knife and died when he fell on the knife during a struggle.
Dermot Dann, KC, right, arriving at the Supreme Court.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Lynn told the court on Thursday he wore gloves as part of the clean-up because “the scene was horrendous”.
He said in his job as a pilot he often helped cabin crew clean up after a flight, and gloves were often sitting in his car.
Lynn’s wife Melanie and son Geordie were in the packed courtroom on Thursday, along with Carol Clay’s daughter and sister, and Russell Hill’s three daughters.
Upstairs, more than 65 people squeezed into the public gallery, with many standing to catch a glimpse of proceedings.
After a short break just before midday, Lynn returned to the court and took final questions from his barrister Dermot Dann, KC.
“Did you have any reason to murder Mr Hill?” Dann asked.
“No,” Lynn responded.
“Did you have any reason to murder Ms Clay?” Dann asked.
“No,” Lynn said.
“Do you understand, in not coming forward and doing what you did with the bodies … that people would regard your actions as despicable?” Dann asked.
“It was despicable. All I can say to the families is that I am very sorry for your suffering.”
The court heard that Lynn had offered to plead guilty to destroying the evidence, but that he was not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
“I am innocent of murder. I haven’t killed anyone,” Lynn said.
Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu put to Lynn that as a pilot, he was trained to think rationally, methodically and calmly in a crisis, but that Lynn now wanted the jury to believe he was “panicked” after the deaths.
“A better result is always achieved without panic,” Lynn replied. “I had never been faced with two dead people before.”
Porceddu told the court that Lynn still had the presence of mind to go to some effort to clean up the scene.
The jury had previously heard Lynn had removed the firearm, packed up his own campsite, taken Hill and Clay’s phones and removed the knife from Hill’s chest.
“These are signs of a very calm person?” Porceddu asked Lynn.
“No, I was a panicked person. I’ve been trained to remain calm. I can manage stress,” Lynn said.
Lynn also revealed why he didn’t call police after the deaths of the two campers.
“I feared that I would be blamed for it,” he said. “It would be devastating for everything that was important for me.”
A new podcast from 9News, The Age and 9Podcasts will follow the court case as it unfolds. The Missing Campers Trial is the first podcast to follow a jury trial in real time in Victoria. It’s presented by Nine reporter Penelope Liersch and Age reporter Erin Pearson.
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