The daughter of Russell Hill is planning on suing the former Jetstar pilot who was acquitted of the camper’s murder.
Greg Lynn, 57, had pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to the murders of Mr Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, in the Wonnangatta Valley, in Victoria’s Alpine region, on March 20, 2020.
A jury of 12 unanimously found Lynn murdered Ms Clay in cold blood before attempting to cover his tracks by burning and destroying the evidence.
However they acquitted him over the murder of Mr Hill, paving the way for a Supreme Court of Victoria appeal that could see Lynn sent back to trial or set free altogether.
Mr Hill’s daughter, Debbie Hill, has since told The Age she is planning to sue Lynn so the evidence that was deemed inadmissible in the criminal trial could be heard before a civil court.
‘We’re owed the truth. I firmly believe the jury could not convict him of the murder of Dad because so much evidence was not put to them,’ she told the publication.
She later appeared on 3AW and said she wasn’t interested in any financial benefit from a civil case, but just wanted ‘justice for dad’.
‘(Lynn) wasn’t being truthful earlier (in his police interview) and we would have liked that to be told to the jury so they could decide for themselves,’ she said.
In a letter to the court, Lynn apologised to the families of Mr Hill and Ms Clay, but maintained his innocence and said he would be appealing his conviction.
‘I don’t believe that (apology) was genuine,’ Debbie said.
‘It was just a statement he made to appease the jury. I didn’t feel any heartfelt genuineness in that at all.’
Debbie added she and her relatives were ‘shocked’ to find out evidence could be withheld from a jury.
‘We didn’t know that could happen. We thought the jury would hear all the evidence,’ she said.
Debbie is now hoping a lawyer will be able to help her bring forward a case in the civil court.
‘I’m not at all interested in that (the money). We want justice for dad,’ she said.
Lynn was last week sentenced to 32 years in jail for the murder of Ms Clay, with a non-parole period of 24 years.
The disgraced pilot had banked on convincing the jury the campers had died as a result of a tragic accident.
After his arrest, Lynn told police that Ms Clay was accidentally killed when his shotgun discharged as he and Mr Hill struggled for control over the weapon following a dispute.
Mr Hill then fell on his own knife while attacking Lynn in a rage, Lynn said.
Lynn said he panicked and sought to hide his involvement, returning to where he’d dumped their remains to incinerate them months later.
Mr Hill and Ms Clay were teenage sweethearts who had secretly rekindled their relationship later in life.