For almost two years, Carol Clay’s family and friends were filled with immense anxiety as they tried to search for the missing grandmother.
She had vanished while camping in the remote Victorian wilderness and her daughter, Emma Davies, tried to search for her in the days after her March 2020 disappearance but couldn’t due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“I was unable to go to the location where my mother was last seen alive,” Ms Davies told the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Thursday, 12 September.
“I wanted to put my hands in the dirt, my feet in river, where my mum was lost, to get answers.”
But one man knew where Mrs Clay was.
After shooting her in the head, Greg Lynn had moved and concealed the bodies of Mrs Clay and her lover, Russell Hill, near a remote bush track.
He returned seven months later to burn their remains into more than 2000 bone fragments.
Lynn did not reveal where they were buried for 20 months.
Mrs Clay’s sister said hearing about how Lynn destroyed her remains was worse than learning of the 73-year-old’s death.
“This was my sister, my dear sister, who was shot, transported in a trailer like a lump of meat, buried for seven months, and burnt,” Jillian Walker told the court.
“This was all done with absolute intention … intention to hide a crime with no consideration for what he had done.
“It was not just a bad decision, it was evil, wicked and unconscionable.”
She said hearing Lynn’s story during his murder trial – that Mrs Clay’s death happened after an angry exchange over Mr Hill using a drone – was “horrific” and “incomprehensible”.
“There was no substantial reason for her being dead, it was senseless and pointless, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Ms Davies refused to say her mother’s killer’s name in court as the convicted murderer faced a pre-sentence hearing – only referring to Lynn as “he” or “him”.
“He stole my mother from me. He took her life, he took her dignity and he took her privacy,” she said.
“He destroyed my mother, he burned her beyond all possible recognition.”
Lynn, who continues to deny his murdered Mrs Clay, stared at each of his victim’s family and friends as they cried while telling the court of the impact of his crime.
He was found guilty of Mrs Clay’s murder by a jury in June, but not guilty of killing Russell Hill, at Bucks Camp on 20 March, 2020.
Lynn did, however, admit destroying the couple’s remains.
The 57-year-old is appealing the jury’s guilty verdict and his lawyers are working to have his sentence delayed pending an appeal using a rare legal move.
Prosecutor Daniel Porceddu called for Lynn to be handed a term of life in prison due to the “cold-blooded and callous” murder of a vulnerable elderly woman.
He said Lynn was motivated to kill Mrs Clay as she was the only witness to Mr Hill’s death.
“Had she have been able to live, Mrs Clay would’ve been able to identify the offender,” Mr Porceddu said.
The prosecutor said Lynn deserved the maximum prison term due to his attempts to obliterate all evidence, including the bodies, which exacerbated the anguish of Mrs Clay’s loved ones.
Lynn’s defence team will give their submissions later on Thursday, as the hearing before Justice Michael Croucher continues.
