Jury discharged on first day of missing campers murder trial
By Erin Pearson
The jury of 14 empanelled for the Supreme Court trial of accused missing campers’ killer Gregory Lynn has been discharged, with the trial expected to restart early next week with a fresh jury.
Jurors were told on Friday morning there was a need for them to be dismissed before the trial had begun.
Russell Hill and Carol Clay.
They were sent away moments before opening statements were due to get under way in the case.
Justice Michael Croucher told the jury what had occurred was no one’s fault.
“It’s my melancholy duty to explain to you that you’ve now been formally discharged as a jury. I am not going to go into why,” Croucher said.
“It’s just for technical reasons. I can only thank you and apologise it’s turned out this way.”
Gregory Lynn leaves the Supreme Court.Credit: Joe Armao
It’s anticipated a new jury will be selected on Monday.
Lynn, 57, earlier pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the deaths of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, before the jury.
Daniel Porceddu is representing the prosecution and Dermot Dann, KC, is representing Lynn.
Lynn is accused of killing Hill and Clay at Wonnangatta Valley, in the state’s Alpine region, in March 2020.
The prosecution alleges all three were camping at Bucks Camp in the valley when the killings occurred.
Lynn sat silently during Friday’s brief hearing, dressed in a black suit and blue shirt, holding a yellow manila folder.
His wife Melanie and the loved ones of Hill and Clay were present in court.
The trial is expected to take between four and six weeks.
A new podcast from 9News, The Age and 9Podcasts will follow the court case as it unfolds. The Missing Campers Trial is the first podcast to follow a jury trial in real time in Victoria. It’s presented by Nine reporter Penelope Liersch and Age reporter Erin Pearson.