Next step in missing camper killer Greg Lynn's appeal bid
Found guilty at trial in 2024 of murdering 73-year-old Carol Clay, Lynn, aged 58, is expected to have his sentence and conviction appeal heard on October 31.
Lynn's lawyers will argue the 32-year sentence - and 24-year non-parole period - were manifestly excessive.
His defence team will also argue he has suffered a 'substantial miscarriage of justice'.
Ms Clay and her childhood sweetheart, 74-year-old Russell Hill, disappeared while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley, about 180km northeast of Melbourne, in March 2020.
In 2024, Lynn was found guilty by a jury of murdering Mrs Clay, who he shot in the head, and acquitted by the same jury of the murder of Mr Hill.
Lynn, a former Jetstar pilot, has maintained his innocence.
In a letter read to the court at sentencing, Lynn said: 'Your Honour I am disappointed and perplexed by the jury's verdict as I have not killed anyone and will be appealing'.
'Due to current community sentiment I understand my apology will likely be rejected by most. I don't ask for forgiveness I'm simply sorry for what I have done.'
Lynn apologised for his 'selfish and callous' efforts to burn Ms Clay's and Mr Hill's remains, saying he had reasons at the time.
In appeal, his lawyers will contest five key points in an attempt to overturn the conviction, or get a reduced sentence.
Documents filed by his lawyers show criticism of the Crown Prosecutor will be a central argument. Lynn's lawyers will argue prosecutor Daniel Porceddu breached fairness rules by not putting key statements to Lynn while he was in the witness box.
Evidence from a police ballistics expert represented a 'serious departure' from fair trial rules too, Lynn's lawyers believe.
The last two grounds of appeal against Lynn's conviction relate to how the jury reached its verdict, arguing they travelled down an 'impermissible pathway' in their deliberations and that the verdict is 'unsafe and satisfactory'.
Lynn will further argue his 32-year sentence — seven years above the standard sentence of 25 — is 'manifestly excessive'.
'The long-term future of that guilty verdict must be seen as being in great doubt,' barrister Dermot Dann KC said at Lynn's first court appearance following the split verdict.
In a related hearing in another court, Mr Dann also mentioned his view that media reports of unrelated matters involving Lynn may have 'poisoned the well of justice'.
Mr Hill and Ms Clay went missing in March 2020. Lynn was questioned for four days and charged in November 2021.
Police only found Mr Hill and Ms Clay's remains about two years after Lynn's arrest.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
12 minutes ago
- News.com.au
A social media threat to Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin will go unpunished after an AFL investigation
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin opted against the AFL taking any further action after the league's Integrity Unit investigated an online threat made in the wake of the Demons last quarter capitulation against St Kilda on Sunday. Two goals in the final 60 seconds to Saint Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, including one after the siren, sealed the biggest three-quarter-time comeback in AFL history and consigned the Demons to a famous defeat. As he was conducting his post-match press conference, a post from an anonymous account on X included an image of a ute in a car park and a chilling caption. 'I'm currently waiting outside Simon Goodwin's car: Don't fret, Melbourne fans you won't need to worry any further,' the post read. It came after a Collingwood member was banned from the AFL, and MCG, for five years after posting a message on the ground's anti-social behaviour hotline about Carlton coach Michael Voss. Melbourne made the AFL Integrity Unit aware of the post but confirmed on Monday there would be no further action, confirming the car in the photo did not belong to Goodwin and it wasn't taken in the Marvel Stadium car park. 'The AFL Integrity Unit has investigated the reported tweet regarding Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin post-game,' the league said in a statement. 'The image posted was not Goodwin's car, nor was it from Marvel Stadium. 'Goodwin has been consulted and does not wish to take the matter further, and there is currently no further action from Victoria Police. 'The AFL is currently working with the platform 'X' to help identify the owner of the account.' Melbourne captain Max Gawn defended Goodwin, who is now in the spotlight after the loss, and said the players were to blame to the chaotic finish. He also said Goodwin, the 2021 premiership winning coach who is contracted for another season, had hit support. 'He's my favourite coach and he's a premiership coach, Gawn said. 'I find him extremely smart tactically and, in the end, he's had us 50-points up against St Kilda, a team that we were down by 50 [points] in Alice Springs. He's in it with us, but the last quarter is not solely on him,' Gawn said.
News.com.au
23 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Defence and prosecution deliver closing arguments in Janelle Fletcher child sexual abuse trial
The final arguments in the trial of a music teacher accused of sexually abusing a teen girl have circled around a movie night kiss captured in a photo booth and a series of emotionally charged emails. Janelle Colville Fletcher, 40, is contesting allegations that she groomed and sexually abused the underage girl some years ago and appeared again on Monday at the South Australian District Court before Judge Joanne Fuller. The prosecution, led by Chris Allen, allege Ms Fletcher abused the girl in various locations and also that she communicated with her and another teenage girl to make them amenable to sexual activity. Some of the alleged offending happened when the two girls and Ms Fletcher were alone together in a room, the prosecution said, with the teacher allegedly performing a lap dance on a chair. She then allegedly 'dared' the two girls to kiss each other and asked if they would 'date' each other. That same night, Mr Allen said, Ms Fletcher then spent time alone with one of the girls and touched her genital area. The alleged grooming and abuse of the girl then went on for months at various locations, the prosecution said, including the home of Ms Fletcher and in Ms Fletcher's car. Alongside oral evidence from the alleged victims, the prosecution presented a series of texts, emails and photographs to support its case, including a photo of Ms Fletcher and the girl kissing at a cinema photo booth. In his closing address, Mr Allen said the 'objective evidence' of the photo booth kiss showed an 'unlawful sexual act'. He argued further that the 'sheer volume' of photos of Ms Fletcher and the girl together suggested a sexual relationship. 'They look like girlfriends (in the photographs) … in a relationship between girlfriends,' Mr Allen said. In her testimony from last week, Ms Fletcher said the photo booth kiss was a 'pretend kiss' she did not want or mean to happen. 'It was meant to be a pretend kiss like we had done previously where our lips don't actually touch, and in that particular photo we got close and she did sort of pull me in and the photo went off, yeah,' Ms Fletcher said. There is dispute between the defence and prosecution about the correct sequence order of photos from the booth. The prosecution says the correct sequence runs from top to bottom in the order of one, two, three and then four. In 'photo 4', Ms Fletcher appears happy and the prosecution argues this shows she was happy to kiss the girl and not shocked or upset by it. Ms Fletcher and her defence team, led by Andrew Culshaw, claim that photo was taken before the kiss and should not be seen as approval of the act, with the correct sequence of photos running one, two, four and then three. Mr Culshaw also argued the photo did not show child sexual abuse because the girl had turned 17 at the time of the photo, and so she was therefore not a child when the kiss happened. The defence argued Ms Fletcher was also no longer in a position of authority at the time. 'What Your Honour has, in my submission, is evidence of a kiss at a time when it was legal,' Mr Culshaw said. The prosecution also argued that a series of emotionally expressive emails from Ms Fletcher to the girl revealed the 'true nature' of the relationship between them. In one email, Ms Fletcher told the girl 'I want something serious not something short term'. In others, she said 'my feelings for you are not lust but love' and 'right now, we can't be open. Right now we will have to continue as we are in secret …' Ms Fletcher had earlier argued the emails showed non-sexual 'love' for the girl, but Mr Allen dismissed that argument on Monday as 'absurd'. 'This is not 'I love you' in some sort of Catholic way,' Mr Allen said. Mr Culshaw, in his closing address, acknowledged under questioning from Judge Fuller that the emails appeared 'terrible' on a first or literal reading in that they seemed to suggest the pair had been in a sexual relationship. But he argued a deeper reading of the emails fit with Ms Fletcher's testimony. She claimed last week that they were written to keep the girl happy and guide her away to a more age-appropriate relationship. 'These emails are consistent with a relatively young teacher, in her early 30s, who had got herself in too deep … and so was trying to deal with the situation and extricate herself from it,' Mr Culshaw said. Ms Fletcher holds a PhD in music education. She told the court that she was heterosexual and believed in the Catholic faith. She was still legally married to a man, though the pair had separated, she told the court. The judge-alone trial continues.
News.com.au
31 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Child allegedly hit, kicked, dragged by hair, called ‘disrespectful c**t' by ex-MKR star, court told
A My Kitchen Rules star allegedly subjected a child to a torrent of vile abuse – including an occasion where he allegedly dragged and choked her over a dispute about tomato sauce. Anthony Michael Mu pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including assault occasioning bodily harm, common assault and observations in breach of privacy, at the start of his hearing at Richlands Magistrates Court on Monday. Members of his family and supporters turned up wearing badges that read 'False allegations destroy lives'. Mr Mu and his wife, Claudean Uamaki-Mu, both appeared on the Channel 7 reality cooking show in 2023. The pair have been in and out of court for more than a year on abuse-related allegations, with Ms Uamaki-Mu pleading guilty to six charges of common assault in May. She walked from court with no convictions recorded, along with a 12-month good behaviour bond and $1000 recognisance. On the first day of Mr Mu's trial, a woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – told the court about several assaults she alleged Mr Mu subjected her to years ago. At the time, she was a child under the age of 18. One allegedly involved her being beaten with a metal spatula on her hands, arm and knuckles. On another occasion, the woman said she was allegedly 'tackled' through a wall by Mr Mu after she 'rolled her eyes' at him and was set upon by Mr Mu during a birthday party before allegedly being pushed down stairs. The woman said that when she was an adult, Mr Mu went to get McDonald's for dinner. The court was told the woman 'sighed' after Mr Mu said he forgot her tomato sauce for her meal, leading to him getting 'irate' and calling her a 'disrespectful c**t'. Mr Mu allegedly threw a burger at the back of her head, grabbed her hair and screamed at her to 'get the f**k up'. 'I couldn't quite stand because he had the back of my hair in his hands. I slipped and fell … he dragged me by my hair,' she said. 'I believe he was still calling me a 'disrespectful c**t'.' The woman said she felt her hair was being pulled out but did not see any clumps of hair on the floor, aside from feeling 'a lot of pain'. 'I remember he pulled me up to my feet by my hair. He then choked me on the wall,' she continued. 'I was hyperventilating when this was happening. 'It was no more than 30 seconds to a minute.' During cross-examination by defence barrister Stephen Kissick, the woman denied that she was lying about the alleged assaults for either publicity or financial gain. Mr Kissick asked if she had been 'reminded' about the alleged abuse during conversations with people she was still in touch with. 'No, we didn't need reminding,' the woman said. She rejected suggestions that she had been laughing and joking about the allegations before appearing teary and 'hyperventilating' when she went to visit police. Mr Kissick put to the woman the allegations in her statement were a 'complete game' against Mr Mu and Ms Uamaki-Mu, but the woman rejected this. Mr Kissick asked her: 'You're prepared to say anything against these people, aren't you?' The woman replied: 'No, only the truth.'
