September 12th 2024.
For almost two years, Carol Clay's family and friends were consumed with anxiety as they desperately searched for the missing grandmother. She had mysteriously disappeared while camping in the remote Victorian wilderness. Her daughter, Emma Davies, longed to search for her in the days following her March 2020 disappearance, but her efforts were hindered by the strict COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time.
"I was unable to go to the location where my mother was last seen alive," Davies shared with the Supreme Court in Melbourne today. "I yearned to put my hands in the dirt, my feet in the river, where my mum was lost, in hopes of finding some answers."
However, there was one person who knew exactly where Clay was. Greg Lynn, the perpetrator responsible for her disappearance, had shot her in the head and then moved her body along with her lover, Russell Hill, to a remote bush track. He returned seven months later to burn their remains into over 2000 pieces of bone. It wasn't until 20 months after their disappearance that Lynn finally revealed the location of their bodies.
Clay's sister, Jillian Walker, spoke about the devastating impact of Lynn's actions during the court proceedings. She expressed that learning how Lynn had destroyed her sister's remains was even more unbearable than the news of her 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 then burned," Walker said through tears. "It was all done with malicious intent, with no regard for the gravity of his actions. It was not just a bad decision, it was pure evil and unconscionable."
During Lynn's murder trial, it was revealed that Clay's death was the result of a heated argument over Hill's use of a drone. Davies described this explanation as "horrific" and "incomprehensible". "There was no valid reason for her death, it was senseless and pointless. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," she added.
In court, Davies refused to utter Lynn's name, instead referring to him as "he" or "him". "He stole my mother from me. He took her life, her dignity, and her privacy," she stated. "He destroyed her, burning her beyond recognition."
Lynn, who maintains his innocence, coldly stared at Clay's grieving loved ones as they shared the impact of his heinous crime. In June, he was found guilty of Clay's murder by a jury, but not guilty of killing her secret lover, Hill. However, he did admit to destroying their remains.
The 57-year-old is currently appealing his guilty verdict and his lawyers are fighting to delay his sentencing through a rare legal maneuver. Prosecutor Daniel Porceddu is seeking a life sentence for Lynn, arguing that he committed a "cold-blooded and callous" murder of a vulnerable elderly woman. Porceddu stated that Lynn's motivation for Clay's murder was to eliminate the only witness to Hill's death.
"If Mrs. Clay had been able to live, she would have been able to identify the offender," Porceddu noted. He also emphasized that Lynn deserves the harshest punishment for his attempts to destroy all evidence, including the bodies, which only added to the suffering of Clay's loved ones.
As the hearing before Justice Michael Croucher continues, Lynn's defense team will have the opportunity to present their submissions. The impact of Lynn's actions on Clay's family and friends is immeasurable, and they are hopeful that justice will be served for their beloved Carol Clay.
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