Australia - Russell Hill & Carol Clay Murdered While Camping - Wonnangatta Valley, 2020 #7


A hearing into the alleged murders of two campers in the Victorian High Country has revealed police made more than 5,000 covert recordings of the accused man during their investigation.
...
Leading Detective Constable Daniel Passingham from the Missing Persons Squad told the court he was asked to monitor police recordings of the accused.

Detective Passingham told the court he personally listened to more than 3,000 recordings of Mr Lynn.

He said he had access to "5,287 recordings" that were between one minute and 30 minutes taken from Mr Lynn's car.

Detective Passingham said that was the number of recordings made by the time of his arrest in November 2021.
 
I wonder if GL had a suspicion that he was being bugged, and put on a bit of a show.

Ie maybe he said stuff like. "if only he hadn't grabbed the gun" or "he just wouldn't let it go, I had to defend myself"
I would not be surprised if this was the case. He knew he was on LE radar and had a long time to come up with a game plan IMO
 

Remains of missing campers Russell Hill, Carol Clay discovered in ‘fragments’, court told​


bodies dont decompose into fragments, they become skeletons, did he go back with a sledge hammer!!!:eek:

It's alleged RH&CC's remains were burnt at some point:



Bones exposed to intense heat become brittle brittle as they lose their moisture. A slegehammer wouldn't be necessary, a shovel probably IMO.

Here's an excerpt from a famous case where fire was used to destroy remains:

Dennis Nilsen - Wikipedia

"When the bonfire had been reduced to ashes and cinders, Nilsen used a rake to search the debris for any recognisable bones. Noting a skull was still intact, he smashed it to pieces with his rake."
 
It's alleged RH&CC's remains were burnt at some point:



Bones exposed to intense heat become brittle brittle as they lose their moisture. A slegehammer wouldn't be necessary, a shovel probably IMO.

Here's an excerpt from a famous case where fire was used to destroy remains:

Dennis Nilsen - Wikipedia

"When the bonfire had been reduced to ashes and cinders, Nilsen used a rake to search the debris for any recognisable bones. Noting a skull was still intact, he smashed it to pieces with his rake."
Curious of the size of the fragments, location if it be at campsite or where they ended up. Agreed with extreme heat drawing the moisture out of the bone leaving it brittle or fragments from the firearm slug used as it enters the body, slams into bone causing it to shatter and fragment.
 
100% agree that GL was likely "acting" when he was talking to himself.

He is a very smart individual and knew that if he was being recorded, this type of stuff would be very helpful to him. He is no fool.

I also believe there are many lies that he has told to Police with snippets of truth among the lies. He has only told the truths that help his version of the story, but this is why it is difficult for Police to paint the full picture of what really happened. Things don't add up with what he has told them.

Since Russell and Carol were murdered, this man has gone to extreme lengths to cover this up. Burning and smashing bones up in small fragments shows that he did not want the cause of deaths to be known. Burning the drone, throwing away keys, painting his car, disposing of the trailer ++. This does not smell one bit accidental to me.

Step 1 is for the judge to agree there is enough evidence for this to go to trial. I think this is a slam dunk yes.

The defence plan will be to muddy the waters as much as they can to confuse the jury later IMO.

GL deserves to spend the rest of his days behind bars in my version of "his book".
 
Curious of the size of the fragments, location if it be at campsite or where they ended up. Agreed with extreme heat drawing the moisture out of the bone leaving it brittle or fragments from the firearm slug used as it enters the body, slams into bone causing it to shatter and fragment.
The fragment of skull that was found much later in the investigation at the camp site was DNA matched to CC. That is being alleged to be the result of a gunshot.

IMO it's reasonable to assume it was quite small to be initially missed by both GL and LE.
 

Remains of missing campers Russell Hill, Carol Clay discovered in ‘fragments’, court told​


bodies dont decompose into fragments, they become skeletons, did he go back with a sledge hammer!!!:eek:

Unsure if I am allowed to say due to suppression etc. But no bearbear you are right they did not become fragmented on their own.
 

A hearing into the alleged murders of two campers in the Victorian High Country has revealed police made more than 5,000 covert recordings of the accused man during their investigation.
...
Leading Detective Constable Daniel Passingham from the Missing Persons Squad told the court he was asked to monitor police recordings of the accused.

Detective Passingham told the court he personally listened to more than 3,000 recordings of Mr Lynn.

He said he had access to "5,287 recordings" that were between one minute and 30 minutes taken from Mr Lynn's car.

Detective Passingham said that was the number of recordings made by the time of his arrest in November 2021.
I feel very sorry for that policeman having to listen to all those recordings.
 
It’s pretty obvious why Dann, KC described GL’s interview as ‘explosive’.

At the conclusion of his interview, GL allegedly:
* Provided them with a detailed 'mud map' describing the location of where he dumped the bodies.
* Showed them where he disposed of both mobile phones, into the river.
* Told detectives it was where he had burned the drone.
* Also dumped RH’s car keys there.
* Police went straight to the area the day after his interview and located the remains, some jewellery and dentures.

Further to the above:

* It’s alleged CC, who was standing near RH’s car, was fatally struck in the head shot while standing or crouching near the passenger side mirror of RH’s car.
* A piece of human skull, linked by DNA to CC.
* A piece of lead was located near where the couple’s tent had been set up. Forensic testing to determine whether the lead was related to firearms and ammunition seized from hiss home is ongoing.

FACT
* His car and trailer was captured by automatic number plate recognition cameras leaving the area around the time they disappeared.
* A witness heard a car doing the 30 point turn at the Myrtleford gate in the middle of the night.
* He was the only person who didn’t contact the police that he had been in Wonnangatta that day.
* At various points over the coming months, he referred to their deaths while talking to himself.
* His wife had been caught on tape watching the 60 Minutes program about the missing campers. Hmmmm.
* Made comments of his time coming to an end and that his wife had three boys to look after her.
* Mentioned while driving alone in his vehicle that his 'book had been written'.
* He is licenced and registered as owning 9 firearms, but only 8 have been reported as being seized by police

Well, it might not have been written then, but perhaps it was today – the book of Revelations.

The police found the Ghurka knife in his home and it had blood on it. If he disposed of the trailer, mobile phones, drone and car keys, there would be absolutely no reason to keep the knife. I now think they were both shot, but will have to wait to learn more.

I hope I’ve got all this right and am happy if anyone wants me to make alterations or add more to our very own “brief of evidence”. :)

It’s 2:50am and I MUST get some sleep. Night, night.

ETA: I just brushed my teeth and remembered one more thing which I've added to FACT.
Nice precis of the salient points, Judi. Thank you.
I am puzzled that police went to the place where the remains of Mr Hill and Ms Clay were recovered but do not appear to have recovered any of the items dumped at Rose River Rd.
Has any news outlet reported when Mr Lynn claimed to have dumped the items at Rose River? When one looks at the map, it seems out of the way in terms of a return to his home the next day or day after. Perhaps I'm wrong.
Police believe the trailer was sold on gumtree - but have not recovered it. I'm surprised that they have not located the purchaser by scouring Mr Lynn's phone or PC.
 
Police believe the trailer was sold on gumtree - but have not recovered it. I'm surprised that they have not located the purchaser by scouring Mr Lynn's phone or PC.

Seeing as Lynn has apparently confessed a lot of detail, what puzzles me is why police have been unable to track down the trailer sale transaction. Gumtree's backups/archives should have revealed any such ad.

Methinks he's destroyed/dumped that trailer, but I'm not sure why he would not fess up to that, too. A very weird individual all round, IMO.
 
I wonder if GL had a suspicion that he was being bugged, and put on a bit of a show.

Ie maybe he said stuff like. "if only he hadn't grabbed the gun" or "he just wouldn't let it go, I had to defend myself"
I'm not so sure. You may well be correct, but if he was "putting on a show", why did he say anything at all? Or why didn't he say things like "I think maybe they suspect me of that disappearance, I don't know why." And "I'd never do something like that - as if!"
 
People have been commenting about the scene of the altercation. It seems that one hypothesis police are working with, is that, "The court also heard forensic officers investigating Hill and Clay’s deaths were asked to examine whether it was plausible for Clay to have been shot in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun while Hill and Lynn wrestled over the weapon near the bonnet of Hill’s ute in the Wonnangatta Valley on March 20, 2020. ... This included examining three scenarios where Clay could have been standing, semi crouched or crouching at the rear of the utility when a bullet travelled through the passenger side mirror and struck her head."
The Guardian provides a similar report:
"Leading Sen Con Paul Griffiths tested whether it was possible that if two men wrestled at the bonnet of a Toyota Landcruiser for control of a shotgun, and the muzzle of the weapon was pointed towards the rear, that it could accidentally discharge, firing a shot through the passenger side rear mirror, and striking a person in the head who was positioned near the rear passenger side wheel of the vehicle."
As these photos show, the passenger side mirror was missing, in photos taken of the scene shortly after the disappearance of Mr Hill and Ms Clay - but the driver's side mirror is intact, as per an aerial photo.
It's odd the vehicle was returned to promptly, given it has forensic value. And it must be an incredibly lucky shot to manage to hit the mirror but not cause any damage to the side of vehicle, as shot spreads out. Not impossible, though. It also raises the question of exactly where the struggle occurred. The reports say, at the bonnet. As can be seen, given the height of the vehicle, it is unlikely to have been on the Driver's side, and even at the very front - but there is not a lot of room there due to the toilet. So, the struggle would, it seems, be likely to be at the front drivers corner and running back to the mirror.
Query: were parts of the mirror fond in the burned tent? They do not appear to be on the ground. And no mention has been made of fragments being later discovered.
If this scenario is correct, then the proposition that Mr Hill took the firearm from Mr Lynn's vehicle, seems improbable (how did he know it was there?) but that Mr Lynn took the firearm across to Mr Hill and Ms Clay's camp site. This is likely why Mr Lynn was charged with murder. The other issue is discussion has turned around the idea that a shotgun was used. Has that been established? Police announced that a bullet was recovered - not shot. And being struct with shot, especially in the head tends to make a bit of a mess. The bone fragment found, presumably near the read wheel, attests to that.
Apologies for this long post.

RH-Ute-LHS-HiRes-circle.jpgRH-Ute-LHS-LoRes-above-circle.jpg
 
I'm not so sure. You may well be correct, but if he was "putting on a show", why did he say anything at all? Or why didn't he say things like "I think maybe they suspect me of that disappearance, I don't know why." And "I'd never do something like that - as if!"
We should remember that a lot of the conversations would be along the lines of:
I must remember to feed the cat
I have to buy some milk and bread
[Insert name of politician] is a , fraud, etc
That curry I had last night gave me the trots.
I.E. boring, mind numbingly tedious and banal.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
157
Guests online
936
Total visitors
1,093

Forum statistics

Threads
589,935
Messages
17,927,879
Members
228,005
Latest member
vigilandy
Back
Top