source : the age
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Beau Lamarre-Condon’s double murder trial in the NSW Supreme Court.
The former police officer has pleaded not guilty to murdering Sydney couple Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, in the eastern suburbs on February 19, 2024.
He has also pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated breaking and entering into Baird’s Paddington home in August 2023 and stealing a mobile phone and wallet belonging to Baird.
A 15-person jury was empanelled on Monday for the trial, which is expected to run for up to 12 weeks. In the event all 15 jurors are still present at the end of the trial, a ballot will be conducted to reduce their number to 12.
Yesterday, Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, started delivering his opening address to the jury. This sets out the Crown’s case and is not evidence, but it is a guide to the evidence the prosecution expects to call in the months ahead.
Lamarre-Condon is entitled to the presumption of innocence and his barrister John Stratton, SC, will deliver an opening address on Tuesday after Hatfield finishes his remarks.
During his opening yesterday, Hatfield alleged that Lamarre-Condon developed an “an obsessive and jealous infatuation” with Baird after a short relationship that started in late 2022 and was ended for the first time by Baird in April 2023.
After a brief resumption of their relationship later that year, it was “firmly and irretrievably ended” by Baird in November 2023, the Crown says.
The Crown case is that the murder of Baird was premeditated but that he killed Davies, Baird’s new boyfriend, to eliminate a witness to his crime.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
The Crown also alleges that Lamarre-Condon was seen outside Baird’s Paddington home shortly before the alleged double murder dressed in a disguise.
“He can be seen walking [on Baird’s street] at around 9.10am, at that point disguised as an Uber Eats delivery driver,” Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, said on Monday.
“He was wearing a motorcycle helmet, high-visibility clothing, and carrying an Uber Eats paper bag with something in it. He was carrying somewhere his NSW police service … semi-automatic pistol.”
The Crown says Baird “firmly and irretrievably ended” the casual relationship with Lamarre-Condon in mid-November 2023.
“All communication effectively stopped from Jesse Baird from this point, when he indicated that he did not want the accused to contact him any more,” Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, said in his opening address on Monday.
“Despite this being made clear, you will hear that the accused’s infatuation and obsessive conduct continued and, tragically, escalated.”
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon took a number of steps to prepare for the murder of Jesse Baird in January 2024. The alleged preparatory steps included:
- Stealing NSW Police training bullets and shooting them in a national park with a friend, “experimenting with ways he could conceal the sound of gun shots”.
- Asking police colleagues involved in investigative work how mobile phone location records could be concealed.
- Hiring a car in a relative’s name and parking it in a “staging area”.
- Buying a surfboard bag to hold Baird’s body and checking that it would be large enough to fit a person in it.
- Pretending to return his service weapon to a police gun safe after a work shift the day before the killings.
In his opening address on Monday, Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, set out a timeline of alleged events. This is not evidence but is a guide to the prosecution’s case against Lamarre-Condon.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in 2024.
- Late 2022: The accused and Jesse Baird meet and start a casual relationship.
- April 2023: Baird sends the accused a “sympathetic” message saying he isn’t ready for a relationship.
- May 19, 2023: The accused allegedly uses his authority as a police officer to obtain CCTV footage of Jesse Baird on a date with a man in Paddington.
- June 24, 2023: The accused allegedly shows up uninvited to another meeting Baird had with the man from the date and a second man.
- August 17, 2023: The accused allegedly breaks into Baird’s home and steals his mobile phone and wallet while Baird is home. Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to this charge.
- September 2023: The accused and Jesse Baird resume their relationship.
- November 2023: The pair break up for the final time after Baird allegedly discovers the accused had accessed his phone to delete messages and block people; and had posted a photograph on Instagram that falsely gave the impression Baird had sent him flowers.
- New Year’s Eve 2023/January 2024: Jesse Baird meets Luke Davies and their relationship develops quickly. They post photos of themselves on social media, making their relationship “Insta-official” around the end of January.
- February 17, 2024: Lamarre-Condon visits a sports store at Miranda Westfield with a friend to buy a surfboard cover. CCTV captures the accused examining the sizes of surfboard covers.
- February 19, 2024: The accused allegedly shoots dead Jesse Baird and Luke Davies at Baird’s share-house in Paddington using his police-issued firearm.
- February 21, 2024: A groundskeeper finds items related to the alleged killings in a bin at Cronulla Bowls Club.
- February 22, 2024: The accused becomes aware the police investigation into the double murder is “closing in on him”.
- February 23, 2024: The accused hands himself into Bondi police station. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Beau Lamarre-Condon’s double murder trial in the NSW Supreme Court.
The former police officer has pleaded not guilty to murdering Sydney couple Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, in the eastern suburbs on February 19, 2024.
He has also pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated breaking and entering into Baird’s Paddington home in August 2023 and stealing a mobile phone and wallet belonging to Baird.
