Search for missing campers revealed 2,100 bone fragments

Police recovered more than 2,000 bone fragments during their search for the remains of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay, a jury has been told.

Photos of the remains were presented to Melbourne Supreme Court on Wednesday, as airline pilot Greg Lynn stands trial for the couple's murders.

He is accused of killing Mr Hill and Ms Clay in March 2020 while they were camping in Victoria's Wonnangatta Valley, then burning their remains in bushland.

The 57-year-old has pleaded not guilty to both counts of murder.

More than 2,100 bone fragments were recovered by police from two sites in Victoria's High Country, forensic anthropologist Dr Soren Blau told the jury.

One of the sites was Bucks Camp, where the couple disappeared from, while the second site was on the Union Spur Trail, east of the valley.

Dr. Blau analyzed the fragments and was able to confirm the original skeleton position of approximately 600 bones.

They included skull fragments found at Bucks Camp, which Dr. Blau said showed signs of trauma at the time of death.

When asked if this trauma could have come from a gunshot, Dr. Blau told the jury that she did not have the expertise to reach that conclusion.

But she said the skull fragments showed “radiopacity” when examined under X-rays, which was a sign that metal might be present.

Defense lawyer Dermot Dann told the jury a fight broke out at Bucks Camp after Mr Hill took a gun from Lynn's vehicle.

He claimed Ms Clay was accidentally shot by Mr Hill and the older man then moved towards Lynn with a knife and was accidentally stabbed in the chest as Lynn defended herself.

Prosecutors dispute those claims, alleging that Lynn intentionally killed the couple after Mr. Hill threatened to send police drone footage showing Lynn hunting deer near the camp.

Lynn later admitted dumping and burning the couple's bodies at Union Spur in what Mr Dann described as a “series of terrible choices”.

Dr. Blau told the jury that most of the bone fragments were located at Union Spur, inside a fallen tree trunk.

The majority of the fragments had been burned and were extremely deteriorated, so she could not determine the age, gender of the people or the date of their death.

But the anthropologist was able to confirm that there were the remains of two people since two fragments came from the same part of one person's forearm.

The trial continues.