Police secretly recorded accused missing campers’ killer Gregory Lynn and his wife speaking about the search for Russell Hill and Carol Clay.
A Supreme Court jury has been told the couple watched a 60 Minutes episode about the disappearance of Hill, 74, and Clay, 73, which aired in November 2021.
Gregory Lynn’s son Geordie and wife Melanie outside court last month.Credit: Wayne Taylor
A clip was played to the jury in which a journalist reported police had eliminated every vehicle which was in the Wonnangatta Valley at the time the pair vanished except for a dark blue Nissan Patrol, described as the “strongest lead” in the hunt for clues.
The program included a picture, captured on a roadside camera, of the car and trailer police were seeking to identify.
The court heard Melanie Lynn commented to her husband that the footage “really looked like his car and trailer”.
Days later, Lynn was captured on CCTV removing a black awning from the passenger side of his Nissan Patrol.
Traffic camera footage of Lynn’s Nissan Patrol shown on 60 Minutes.Credit: Victoria Police
Detective Senior Constable Brett Florence said a listening device had been placed in the couple’s home and the TV program was aired as part of a police strategy.
“As part of our media strategies, and in trying to elicit information, the 60 Minutes program was used. Just like many other programs that are used, it was just one of the avenues, the tools,” he said.