By ERIKA ALLEN
THE jury in the trial of Gregory Stuart Lynn for the alleged double murder of Russell Hill and Carol Clay retired to consider its verdict last Friday.
Over two days last week, Justice Michael Croucher presented his final instructions to the jury, including that it cannot find Mr Lynn guilty of manslaughter. The only charges before the jury are for murder.
In the Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Croucher told jurors that if they were not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the murder charges, “any verdict of manslaughter in the alternative would be wrong”.
“The only charges before you are murder, and it’s for you to determine whether Mr Lynn is guilty or not guilty in relation to (Russell) Hill and whether Mr Lynn is guilty or not guilty in relation to (Carol) Clay,” His Honour said.
Mr Lynn pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Hill and Ms Clay at a campsite they were sharing in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.
Mr Lynn told the court last week he “should be punished” for destroying evidence, which he did by burning the campsite and dumping Mr Hill and Ms Clay’s bodies near Dargo, where he later returned to burn them.
When the prosecution summed up its arguments last week, Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu argued Mr Lynn murdered the campers because the only reason for the accused to cover up the deaths is that “he knew he had murdered them”.
In contrast, the defence, led by Dermot Dann KC, argued the pair’s deaths were tragic accidents that followed separate struggles between Mr Hill and Mr Lynn for control over a knife and Mr Lynn’s 12-gauge shotgun.
The ABC reported last week that Justice Croucher faulted at least two of the questions prosecutors asked of Mr Lynn when they cross-examined him on evidence he gave last week.
“There was simply no evidentiary basis for asking those questions and they should never have been asked,” the judge said of the questions, which related to Mr Lynn’s alleged shotgun use on the night of the campers’ deaths.
It was reported jurors were told to ignore those questions.
Justice Croucher also said the prosecution had breached “the basic rules of fairness” because Mr Porceddu did not directly put to Mr Lynn that he covered up the campers deaths because he murdered them.
“Had Mr Porceddu asked Mr Lynn these questions, Mr Lynn may well have been able to respond in a powerful and compelling way,” his honour said.
Justice Croucher said Mr Lynn was denied a response because of the prosecutor’s conduct.
His Honour continued, telling jurors they should use their heads and not their hearts, regardless of sympathy they may feel for the Mr Hill and Ms Clay.
“You must weigh the evidence logically and with an open mind, and not according to your passions or feelings or personal judgements about what is morally acceptable or morally unacceptable,” Justice Croucher said.
The jury returned to deliberate the verdict on Tuesday.
They will only deliberate on weekdays between 10am and 4pm.
