Key points

• Gregory Lynn, 56, is accused of murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay in the Victorian High Country in 2020.
• A committal hearing to determine if the case should go to trial started in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
• Among the first people to give evidence were two hunters, who testified they saw Hill and Clay in the days before the alleged killing.

Two men hunting in Victoria’s High Country say they saw campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay alive the day before police allege the older couple were killed by a former Jetstar pilot.

Damir Jovar, who gave evidence from NSW with the assistance of a Serbian interpreter, said he was camping in the remote Wonnangatta Valley with a friend when he came across an older couple in a white Toyota Landcruiser on March 19, 2020.

Russell Hill and Carol ClayCredit:The Age

Jovar is one of a number of witnesses giving evidence this week after Gregory Lynn, 56, was charged with two counts of murder over the deaths of Hill, 74, and Clay, 73, who vanished while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020.

Jovar told the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court he was in the area to camp and hunt when he and his friend noticed the Landcruiser pull into a camping spot where a blue Nissan and newer white ute were already parked next to each other. Jovar said he saw Hill and Clay the following day but did not speak to them as they were about 100 metres away.

Hill and Clay last communicated with a friend via high-frequency radio on March 20, 2020, with police alleging Lynn murdered the pair later that day.

Their burnt-out campsite, including the ute, was discovered days later.

Lynn, from Caroline Springs, was arrested nearly two years later while he camped at Arbuckle Junction, also in the High Country, about 170 kilometres east of Melbourne.

Hill and Clay’s remains were later found in the rugged alpine area north of Dargo in late November 2021.

On Monday, Lynn appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court with a bundle of documents and took notes throughout the morning.

Greg Lynn.Credit:Facebook

Jovar’s friend, Goran Miljkovic – a deer hunter and licensed shooter – told magistrate Brett Sonnet he and Jovar thought the pair looked like grandparents going for a drive when they first spotted them.

“In the [side view] mirrors, I could see their faces,” Miljkovic said.

Miljkovic said he thought it was strange the ute – matching the description of the one police believe was being driven by Hill – parked so close to the two vehicles already parked there because there was plenty of other spare parking spots.

Jovar and Miljkovic were inflating a tyre on their vehicle the following day when they believe they saw the older couple returning from the graveyard inside the valley, the court heard.

Experts dig through soil during the search for missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay.Credit:Jason Edwards

Miljkovic also said it was common to hear gunshots in the Wonnangatta Valley at night, saying he assumed the noise came from poachers hunting stags for their antlers.

The hearing continues.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.

Most Viewed in National

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article