It's pitch dark on an alpine road in Victoria's high country in late November 2017.

After some drinks at the pub, local tradie Bryce Airs starts making the one kilometre walk home that night. It's a walk he'd made many times before.

Minutes later a car approaches from behind, with no headlights.

Suddenly there is an almightly flash and Mr Airs is hit. The car drives away, leaving the man for dead, crawling in the dark.

A passerby finds Mr Airs severely injured on the side of the road. His last words are: "I've been struck by lightning." Two hours later, he is dead in the back of an ambulance.