Victoria police allege a man accused of murdering two campers returned to the crime scene months later and attempted to burn their bodies.
Greg Lynn, a former airline pilot, is charged with murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, who went missing in March 2020 while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley east of Melbourne.
Lynn, 56, faced the Melbourne magistrates court on Tuesday for a committal hearing, which will determine whether there is enough evidence for him to stand trial.
A redacted version of the police summary of evidence was released to the media on Tuesday afternoon.
Magistrate Brett Sonnet cautioned the media that while the summary gave an overview of the police case, it did not comprise all their evidence, and much of the summary was contested by Lynn.
Lynn is not required to enter a plea until the end of the committal hearing but Sonnet said it was expected he would plead not guilty.
In the summary, police allege Lynn had a confrontation with Hill and/or Clay on the night of 20 March 2020 which led to him killing them.
“The circumstances of their deaths and the accused’s behaviour afterwards are consistent with the accused having intended to cause death or at least cause each of them really serious injury,” police said in the summary.
“The accused contaminated and staged the crime scene, intentionally destroyed evidence within the crime scene, and removed evidence from the crime scene before transporting and disposing of the bodies and mobile devices to further conceal his involvement and distance himself from the crimes.
“In May 2020 and/or November 2020, the accused returned to the bodies of Hill and Clay, where he further tampered with the human remains to dispose of the deceased. This involved burning, dispersing and partially interring them.”
The remains of Hill and Clay were discovered after Lynn was arrested in November 2021.
Recording devices were used by police to gather further evidence, the summary states, including of Lynn allegedly talking to himself about the deaths of Hill and Clay at home and while camping.
It is alleged that after he killed the couple, Lynn placed camping items including a BBQ gas bottle belonging to them inside their tent. He then set fire to their camp, allegedly to conceal the crime, police say.
He is alleged to have then packed up his own camp and fled with the bodies in his box trailer – disposing of them as he left the area. This trailer was later sold by Lynn and has not been recovered, police allege.
Lynn is alleged to have taken the pair’s mobile phones, cash from Clay’s purse, Hill’s drone and the keys to his car. Some of these items were never recovered.
Police also say that Lynn’s car was the only vehicle seen on an automatic number plate recognition camera travelling near the crime scene at the same time as Hill’s phone pinged a mobile phone tower.
Lynn was a keen hunter, police said, and eight firearms including semi-automatic handguns and rifles were seized from his house in Caroline Springs after his arrest.
He is alleged to have painted his car and removed a distinctive awning after the murder to avoid being identified, police say.
Earlier on Tuesday, the court heard police had floated a scenario that Clay may have been accidentally shot in the head while Hill wrestled with Lynn for control of a shotgun.
The committal hearing will continue on Friday when Sonnet will hear an application by Lynn’s lawyer, Dermot Dann KC, for a suppression order.
