Slain camper Russell Hill hid his affair with childhood sweetheart Carol Clay by telling others they were first cousins, Mr Hill's wife says.
The deaths of Mr Hill, 74, and Ms Clay, 73, are the focus of a Victorian Supreme Court murder trial, with prosecutors claiming the secret lovers were unlawfully killed by Greg Lynn, a man who had camped near the pair.
Mr Lynn, 57, has pleaded not guilty and insists the deaths of Mr Hill and Ms Clay in Victoria's High Country on March 20, 2020, were tragic accidents.
Mr Hill's wife, Robyn Hill, said she married her husband in the late 1960s.
It was around that time she first met Ms Clay, the court heard.
"Is it also the case Russell told you that Carol Clay and he were first cousins?" Mr Lynn's barrister Dermot Dann asked during cross-examination.
"That's right," Ms Hill replied.
In the early 2000s, Ms Hill confirmed she thought it was "odd" that her husband and Ms Clay would go on walks together during holidays.
Mr Hill admitted his infidelity when a neighbour found out about the affair and threatened to tell his wife, the court heard.
Ms Hill said she then learned Ms Clay was not her husband's first cousin.
She thought the relationship had ended and did not know Ms Clay had joined Mr Hill on the March 2020 trip to the Wonnangatta Valley.
Ms Hill described packing her husband's anti-depressant medication and alcohol and giving him cash for lunch on the morning he headed off.
"He was happy … He liked going up there. It's a lovely place," she said.
Ms Hill said she used to check in on her husband's camping trips by tuning into daily high-frequency radio calls he participated in with friends.
During evidence, her voice cracked as she described the fear that set in when she turned on the radio and realised Mr Hill was not present on calls on March 21 and 22.
She spoke to friends and her daughter and contacted police a few days later.
"I rang triple-0," she said.
Camping items destroyed from 'extreme heat', court hears
Mr Lynn has pleaded not guilty to murder on the basis that Ms Clay was killed accidentally when a shotgun discharged as he and Mr Hill struggled over the weapon during a campsite dispute over a drone.
Mr Lynn's legal team argues a second struggle took place after the first death, and that a knife went through Mr Hill's chest as the pair fell to the ground.
Mr Lynn's lawyer Mr Dann asked Ms Hill about her husband's physical stature. She confirmed he once stood 188 centimetres tall, but said he had shrunk slightly by the time of his death.
She said Mr Hill worked as a logger who could handle the physical rigours of camping, but said "he walked slow and he would think slow" in his later years.
"I just thought he was getting old," she said.
Ms Hill said her husband inherited firearms from his father, but Mr Hill was not a gun user or hunter.
"I don't think he liked it. He never did it," she said.
On Tuesday, the court heard police first arrived at Bucks Camp on March 28, eight days after the alleged murders.
At the time, police did not know the missing campers were dead or that Mr Lynn attempted to destroy evidence by setting it alight.
Sergeant Matt Tanner said items at the site had been destroyed from "extreme heat" in a fire.
Sergeant Tanner said officers found burnt gas cylinders, a camping stove, cans of alcohol and a tablet computer. He said officers did not notice any blood or human remains at the scene.
Police also found the wallets of Mr Hill and Ms Clay in the footwells of Mr Hill's Toyota LandCruiser, and personal belongings including their bags, camping gear and food.
Sergeant Tanner's colleague made a five-minute crime scene video and police tape was placed behind the vehicle. The officers then left the scene, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, one of the 15-person jury panel was discharged after falling sick.
The remaining eight men and six women will continue to sit on the six-week trial until the evidence is concluded.
"It's better to carry on with 14 of you rather than wait to see what happens with her health," Justice Michael Croucher said.
Two further jurors will then be balloted off, leaving 12 members to deliver verdicts in Mr Lynn's case.
The trial continues.
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2024-05-21 07:00:34Z
CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDI0LTA1LTIxL3ZpY3Rvcmlhbi1jYW1wZXItcnVzc2VsbC1oaWxsLWNhcm9sLWNsYXktZ3JlZy1seW5uLW11cmRlci10cmlhbC8xMDM4NzQ1NzjSAShodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTAzODc0NTc4
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