Lynn’s Series of Unfortunate Events is fiction, prosecutors say

Porceddu told the court Tuesday that while prosecutors had no motive in the two alleged murders, they believed Hill was the first to die, and Lynn immediately began devising an elaborate plan to “obliterate any evidence” that would support that.

“It is common sense to assume that there must have been a difference of opinion regarding the events at the campsite,” he said.

“The prosecution argues that Mr. Hill was killed first, in part because Clay is unlikely to have posed a threat to Lynn beyond witnessing what they believe would have been the killing of Hill first.

“She was eliminated because she was a witness.”

The Crown alleges that in the wake of these deaths, Lynn began a complex, calculated and protracted series of actions to cover up the manner of death and his involvement at the scene, including the suppression of forensic evidence.

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Porceddu said Lynn also didn’t call for help, cleaned up and burned Bucks Camp, staged a robbery scene, took money from Hill’s wallet, took the phones and the drone and left. He later returned to the bodies and finally set them on fire in November 2021.

Porceddu said the burning of bodies was so extreme that it could only be done after a murder.

“If they (the deaths) were accidental or unintentional, why would you take such an extreme and unusual step as burning the bodies of Mr. Hill and Mrs. Clay? “The burning of their remains is so disproportionate to the… random killings.”

Porceddu said there are several other reasons why Lynn’s version of events cannot be true.

These included claims that Hill was “fumbling” in the dark in Lynn’s car to recover a Barathrum Arms shotgun, not an American Ruger rifle. Lynn told police he was filmed by Hill’s drone as it flew near the camp. Lynn told police he was alerted to the search for Hill when an elderly man knocked over a soda bottle in his car while music was allegedly playing from the four-wheel-drive vehicle.

“If you’re going to confiscate a gun from someone you’re not on the best of terms with… to end up reporting it to the police… don’t you think you’d make sure that person wasn’t left with another gun?” Porceddu said.

Porceddu said Lynn’s explanation that Hill fired warning shots into the air as Lynn ran to hide from Hill’s Toyota LandCruiser before they began fighting for the gun was also incorrect.

The prosecutor said there was a guy rope attached to the LandCruiser’s bull bar that could have obstructed it.

Porceddu said Lynn repeatedly switched during the police interview between Hill, who had Lynn’s rifle and shotgun, and his testimony in the interview.

“At certain moments the defendant, a man who you would think of as very careful and methodical, focuses on details,” Porceddu told the jury.

“The rope just ruins the whole account. We encourage you to read the defendant’s testimony for what it is – a carefully constructed fiction developed over a year and eight months.”

Porceddu said the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lynn murdered Hill and Clay.

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But he said it was entirely up to the jury to reject Lynn’s version of events.

“According to the defendant, this unfortunate series of events began with one thing – Hill’s hostility towards him because he was a deer hunter. He comes up with a version of events that Hill is the aggressor and he is the victim of the campsite fight,” Porceddu said.

“According to the defendant, over the course of … 24 hours, Mr. Hill apparently went from heartfelt rage to murderous rage.”

On Tuesday afternoon, defense attorney Dermot Dann, KC, began his closing argument to the jury.

Dann said he would walk the jury through 17 “weak points” in the prosecution’s case that the defense team disagrees with.

These include the failure to present any evidence of Hill’s involvement with firearms, Hill’s mental health condition and the death of a family member following an accidental hunting accident in 1995.

Dann also pointed to issues with the prosecution’s evidence, including “half-baked theories,” which he said included witness testimony about the “vacuum theory” – involving blood being drawn back into the barrel of the gun – and reconstructive examinations conducted by police.

The defense attorney said he was aware that over the last four weeks the jury had been faced with the sad reality that two people had lost their lives.

However, he said, Lynn was found not guilty and told jurors they were looking at an innocent man.

“The first thing we’ve seen over the last four weeks is the prosecution’s case stumbling and stumbling out of the problematic category it started in and into the clearly misguided category of hopelessness,” Dann said.

“The series of extremely desperate and unfortunate tactical maneuvers by the prosecution that culminated in today’s closing argument were so desperate that they repeatedly violated that principle – a well-established principle in this court, the principle of fairness.”

Dann will continue his closing remarks on Wednesday.

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 real-time jury trial in Victoria. It is presented by Nine reporter Penelope Liersch and Age reporter Erin Pearson.