Stefan Bradley
MORE than 5000 covert audio recordings were made of the man accused of murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay, which led to his arrest after police believed he would take his own life, according to new information made public on Monday.
Caroline Springs man Greg Lynn, 55, has been charged for allegedly murdering 75-year-old Russell Hill and 73-year-old Carol Clay.
He denies killing the couple and intends to plead not guilty.
The five-day committal hearings began last week to determine if there is enough evidence to take the case to a criminal trial in the Supreme Court.
Monday’s hearing began with Magistrate Brett Sonnett approving a requested suppression order into evidence previously described as “explosive” or “game-changing” for the potential criminal trial.
Three witnesses gave evidence on Monday. First was Leading Senior Constable and ballistics expert Paul Griffiths.
Constable Griffiths told the court about a possible scenario he tested on request of investigators, which was whether Lynn and Mr Hill had a physical altercation over Lynn’s gun, which may have gone off accidently, hitting one of the mirrors on Lynn’s Toyota Land Cruiser, and then Ms Clay, who was near the back of the vehicle.
Constable Griffiths tested three scenarios based on if Ms Clay, who was about 160 centimetres, was standing, “semi-crouching” (or stooping), or crouching. This scenario forms part of a police theory that Lynn got into a dispute with Mr Hill over a drone he was flying.
Constable Griffith told the court that based on the testing he conducted, this scenario was plausible if Ms Clay was standing, while the other two scenarios were much less likely, but couldn’t be ruled out.
Constable Griffith conducted two trajectory determination exercises to test this scenario. These tests were based on a number of assumptions and variables. They were also limited by a lack of physical evidence from the alleged crime.
Lynn’s lawyer, Dermot Dann KC, questioned the first test, saying that it was conducted with a different firearm to the one that Lynn has been accused of using. Constable Griffith said the exercises he conducted didn’t require the exact same weapon – the first tests he conducted on February 23 2022 were with a 12-gauge shotgun.
A second test on May 11 2022 saw shots fired through vehicle mirrors at two different angles – 75 and 47 degrees – to test for projectile deflection. Thirteen of the 14 shots showed no deflection. Constable Griffiths said this testing did not change his conclusions from the previous tests.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Daniel Passingham, was the next witness, and told the court that on September 28 2021, a listening device was played in Lynn’s home. A listening device had also been placed in Lynn’s vehicle, and his phone was tapped.
More than 5000 recordings had been saved to the database.
Before Lynn’s arrest, Constable Passingham said he’d listened to about 3150 recordings, which ranged from one-minute to half an hour in length. Police have alleged that Lynn spoke to himself in the recordings, and had made reference to Mr Hill and Ms Clay.
The hearing continues at 1.30pm today.
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