Convicted high country murderer Greg Lynn once escaped police custody and was subject to intervention orders obtained by his former partner before her 1999 death, it can now be revealed.
A suppression order first made in January 2023 lapsed on Wednesday, after media fought for it to be overturned in the wake of the former Jetstar pilot’s conviction for the March 2020 murder of Carol Clay, 73, at a remote Victorian campsite.
The order had previously prohibited media from reporting on Lynn’s criminal history, including any interactions with police in relation to his first wife, Lisa, who was found dead outside her home, north of Melbourne.
A coroner determined Lisa Lynn died after consuming a quantity of drugs and alcohol, and no one was charged in relation to her death.
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On two occasions, Greg Lynn breached the intervention order Lisa Lynn obtained by attending her Mount Macedon home and then having a heated phone call with her.
She complained to police and Lynn was asked to return a personal organiser he had taken from the family home. Officers took him to where he said it was located but instead of returning it to police, he just kept walking to the train station.
Lynn was subsequently charged with two counts of breaching the intervention order and escaping police.
He pleaded guilty to the offences in the magistrates court in May 1999, and was given a good behaviour bond without conviction.
During a pre-trial hearing in May 2024, prosecutors told the court they wanted Lisa Lynn’s parents to give evidence about her relationship before she died.
The mother gave a statement about travelling from Tasmania to Victoria to visit her daughter when she was trying to leave Lynn.
“As far as I’m concerned, Greg is responsible for my daughter’s death via mental torture inflicted by him, she lived in fear of him,” the court was told.
“Lisa had documented numerous instances … of the abuse.”
Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu alleged Lisa Lynn was subjected to frequent physical and mental abuse at the hands of the former pilot.
He told the court Lynn “exploded into a fit of uncontrollable rage when out in Macedon for dinner”, targeting a man at the venue before redirecting his rage at his wife.
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Lynn’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, said that was all “hearsay” and argued that none of this material should be permitted to be aired before the jury.
The jury in Lynn’s trial was not told about his prior dealings with police.
He has always denied murdering Clay and another camper, Russell Hill, 74, in 2020, claiming their deaths were an accident.
The jury convicted him of Clay’s murder in June 2024, but he was acquitted over Hill’s death.
He is fighting his conviction and his 32-year jail term in the Victorian court of appeal, with a decision yet to be handed down.
In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org