Found Deceased Australia - Russell Hill, 74, & Carol Clay, 72, Wonnangatta Valley, 20 Mar 2020 #6 *charges*

[JudgeJudi]

The Age reported at 1:12pm

Three men told the court they saw campers RH and CC alive on the day police allege the pair were killed.

DJ, who gave evidence from NSW with the assistance of a Serbian interpreter, said he was camping in the remote Wonnangatta Valley with a friend when he came across an older couple in a white Toyota LandCruiser utility on March 19, 2020.

He was in the area to camp and hunt when he and his friend, GM, noticed the LandCruiser pull into a camping spot where a blue Nissan and newer white ute were already parked next to each other. He said he saw Hill and Clay the following day but did not speak to them as they were about 100 metres away.

Hill and Clay last communicated with a friend via high-frequency radio on March 20, 2020, with police alleging GL murdered the pair later that day.

Their burnt-out campsite, including the ute, was discovered days later.

DJ’s friend, GM, told the court that they thought the pair looked like grandparents going for a drive when they first saw them. GM said he thought it was strange the ute – matching the description of the one police believe was being driven by Hill – parked so close to the two vehicles already parked there because there was plenty of other spare parking spots.

So according to DJ and GM there were 2 other vehicles parked at the site plus RH.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Hunters recall seeing elderly campers before alleged High Country murder

Two men hunting in Victoria’s High Country say they saw campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay alive the day before police allege the older couple were killed by former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn.

www.theage.com.au

A weed sprayer working in the Wonnangatta Valley on the day of the alleged murder has told police he saw Hill driving through the valley that day, describing the man as “a grumpy old bugger” who seemed to be on a mission to get to his campsite.

Robert Williams told court he was in the remote part of Victoria’s High Country, working to control wild blackberries on March 20, 2020, when he saw a man he believed to be Hill and a passenger travelling in a LandCruiser utility just before lunchtime.

Williams said while many campers stopped to chat to him as he worked, this particular vehicle didn’t stop and travelled past him at speed.

“[The driver] looked very grumpy to me, and I thought he might have even been having an argument. He just seemed to be zooming in a hurry to get to his camp,” Williams said.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I wonder if the alleged grumpiness and rushing to get to the camp site was because they'd found out that "their" river side spot had been taken ?

 

[Kemug]

Russell might not have actually been grumpy - you should see me with my "resting b itch" face on!

 

[SouthAussie]

The Age reported at 1:12pm

Three men told the court they saw campers RH and CC alive on the day police allege the pair were killed.

DJ, who gave evidence from NSW with the assistance of a Serbian interpreter, said he was camping in the remote Wonnangatta Valley with a friend when he came across an older couple in a white Toyota LandCruiser utility on March 19, 2020.

He was in the area to camp and hunt when he and his friend, GM, noticed the LandCruiser pull into a camping spot where a blue Nissan and newer white ute were already parked next to each other. He said he saw Hill and Clay the following day but did not speak to them as they were about 100 metres away.

Hill and Clay last communicated with a friend via high-frequency radio on March 20, 2020, with police alleging GL murdered the pair later that day.

Their burnt-out campsite, including the ute, was discovered days later.

DJ’s friend, GM, told the court that they thought the pair looked like grandparents going for a drive when they first saw them. GM said he thought it was strange the ute – matching the description of the one police believe was being driven by Hill – parked so close to the two vehicles already parked there because there was plenty of other spare parking spots.

So according to DJ and GM there were 2 other vehicles parked at the site plus RH.

That's a bit confusing. I thought Russell told his friend in his last transmission on 20th March that he had to go and set up camp?

Sounds like Russell and Carol were in the area the prior day. Did they move camping places between the 19th March and the 20th March?

 

[JudgeJudi]

He had to finish setting up camp. I've never read or heard that they moved to a different campsite. I'm confused about a number of things and still working on a post.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

This latest Guardian one seems to make me even more confused.

Russell Hill seen ‘grumpy’ at Victorian campsite days before he and Carol Clay allegedly murdered, court told

Witness also tells committal hearing for Greg Lynn, the man charged with their murders, that he saw a drone flying over site

www.theguardian.com

A “grumpy old bugger” believed to be Russell Hill was seen speeding into a campsite in remote bushland in Victoria’s high country days before he was allegedly murdered, a court has heard.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

And most people don't have a "smiling face" all the time.

Imagine how your jaw might hurt if you kept up a smile like a ventriloquists dummy "all the time"

Not to mention how strange it would look.

 

[JBowie]

This latest Guardian one seems to make me even more confused.

Russell Hill seen ‘grumpy’ at Victorian campsite days before he and Carol Clay allegedly murdered, court told

Witness also tells committal hearing for Greg Lynn, the man charged with their murders, that he saw a drone flying over site

www.theguardian.com

A “grumpy old bugger” believed to be Russell Hill was seen speeding into a campsite in remote bushland in Victoria’s high country days before he was allegedly murdered, a court has heard.

Williams told the court that about four hours later he noticed a drone being flown in the area that appeared to be filming him and flying over other campsites.

He agreed with Lynn’s lawyer, Dermot Dann KC, that he considered flying a drone over campers to be rude.

Do we know who was flying the drone?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Grumpy or not, drone or not, their is no excuse for murdering them.

 

[JBowie]

And most people don't have a "smiling face" all the time.

Imagine how your jaw might hurt if you kept up a smile like a ventriloquists dummy "all the time"

Not to mention how strange it would look.

Hill had a mouth with down-turned lip corners. Such people can look grumpy/sad even when they aren't.

 

[Doesitmakesense]

The Age reported at 1:12pm

Three men told the court they saw campers RH and CC alive on the day police allege the pair were killed.

DJ, who gave evidence from NSW with the assistance of a Serbian interpreter, said he was camping in the remote Wonnangatta Valley with a friend when he came across an older couple in a white Toyota LandCruiser utility on March 19, 2020.

He was in the area to camp and hunt when he and his friend, GM, noticed the LandCruiser pull into a camping spot where a blue Nissan and newer white ute were already parked next to each other. He said he saw Hill and Clay the following day but did not speak to them as they were about 100 metres away.

Hill and Clay last communicated with a friend via high-frequency radio on March 20, 2020, with police alleging GL murdered the pair later that day.

Their burnt-out campsite, including the ute, was discovered days later.

DJ’s friend, GM, told the court that they thought the pair looked like grandparents going for a drive when they first saw them. GM said he thought it was strange the ute – matching the description of the one police believe was being driven by Hill – parked so close to the two vehicles already parked there because there was plenty of other spare parking spots.

So according to DJ and GM there were 2 other vehicles parked at the site plus RH.

I will be interested to find out who the other camper was alongside GL

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Witnesses tell of 'grumpy' driver, gunshot and drone as committal hearing begins in case of missing campers

Russell Hill and Carol Clay went missing from the remote Wonnangatta Valley in 2020. A committal hearing is underway to test whether there is enough evidence for the case against the man charged with their murders to proceed to trial.

www.abc.net.au

Earlier in the hearing, two campers described seeing an elderly couple in a white ute travelling through the Wonnangatta Valley on March 19, 2020.

Speaking through a Serbian translator, one of the campers said he had tried to overtake the white ute carrying an older man and woman, before it pulled into a campsite where there was already another car.

"One of the vehicles was a blue Nissan Patrol … other one was a white ute of a newer generation, I couldn't see the brand," he said.

He told the court there was a man leaning up against the blue vehicle but he did not get a close look at him.

His friend told the court he also saw the white ute pull into the campsite, close to the other car.

 

[Awakening]

I don’t understand this. If he was following Hill and Clay in their car, then whose white Land Cruiser did he see parked next to the blue Nissan patrol?

 

[Awakening]

Was GL possibly camping with someone else?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

https://www.9news.com.au/national/missing-victorian-campers-gunshot-heard-near-dead-couples-campsite-courts-hears/675d9141-f388-4fbd-a1b3-168c108e253a.

It wasn't uncommon for campers to stop and chat to Robert Williams as he sprayed blackberries along tracks in the Victorian alpine region.
When a LandCruiser sped toward him just before lunch on a Friday in March 2020, he stepped to the side of the track ready for a friendly conversation.

But the "grumpy old bugger" in his 70s "put his foot down, (and) zoomed past" without even waving.

When news came later that Melbourne couple Russell Hill and Carol Clay had been reported missing, Williams immediately recognised the grumpy man and his "decked out" LandCruiser.

Two days earlier Williams had stopped and spoken to a man in his 50s.

The "creepy fella" was sweating, dressed in a single, shorts and gators, as he got out of a white Prado and asked for the best spot to camp, Williams said.

He later saw the Prado parked at a campsite, backed into the bush with only the bull bar sticking out.

"I thought it looked like he was hiding," he said.

It's in that spot that he saw the missing campers head, Williams later told police.

But he wasn't sure if the creepy man was still there.

 

[JudgeJudi]

I’ve just watched the 60 Minutes High Country Mystery show again.

RH was in contact with the radio club from 6:00-6:30 and spoke to his best mate, Rob Ashlin, for half an hour of that time. He hadn’t finished setting up camp by the time of that call, had yet to cook dinner and eat, and was yet to fly the drone according to the blackberry sprayer. That doesn't leave a lot of time to fly the drone as sunset was at 7:24. The drone was fairly new and he was certainly no expert at using it according to one of his daughters.

A contract musterer, Lachlan Cullican, was engaged to search the area on horseback and he encountered the blackberry sprayer who claimed he saw RH and CC driving by on Friday and that a drone had been flying. LC said that to his knowledge the worker was the last person who saw them. The worker said RH flew his drone over his camp that night but Greg Kelly, former detective/fire forensics expert, asked LC how the worker knew it was RH’s drone. LC said the worker was adamant that it was RH’s drone. The drone was fairly new and he was certainly no expert at using it.

At 2pm the following day a passerby saw the burnt out campsite and took a photo of it but didn’t pass on this information to LE for over a week.

I can’t believe if the worker was the murderer that he would have hung around for more than a week. The police would definitely have interviewed him. I want to know where this man’s campsite was and what sort of vehicle he owned.

Sometimes it helps to read one's own posts more than once. I was still confused about how many vehicles were parked at the campsite until I re-read one of mine that said that DJ was in the area to camp and hunt when he and his friend, GM, noticed the LandCruiser pull into a camping spot where a blue Nissan and newer white ute were already parked next to each other. If there were 2 other vehicles parked at the campsite, why didn’t either of them see or hear anything that night, or did one only park there briefly.

I hope the Prosecutor has plenty of experience because he’s going to need it as he’s up against Dann, QC.

See the next post for the link.

ETA: I don't understand how someone could have said the burnt-out campsite, including the ute, was discovered days later when we know a passerby saw it the following day at 2pm.

 

[JudgeJudi]

If you're new here, you might like to watch this. It's definitely worth watching.

 

[Motomike]

I wish Brumby Jack and Motomike were here.

I'm here, just reading the mail as they say. If I think there is anything important to clear up I will do my best, but for now I want to sit back and let the experts do what they do in court.

 

[Bats]

Intriguing that Robert Williams ( the blackberry spayer) seems to be pointing out a 'new' person that he believes was acting suspiciously! Driver of a white Prado, who was also there alone (by the sound of it).
This plot is not getting thinner that's for sure!