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Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Beau Lamarre-Condon’s criminal trial in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney.
Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the deaths of Jesse Baird, 26, a former TV presenter, and Luke Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant, in Paddington on February 19, 2024. His case is that he acted in self-defence, the 15-person jury has been told.
The former NSW police officer has also pleaded not guilty to an aggravated charge of breaking into Baird’s home six months earlier on August 17, 2023, and stealing his mobile phone and wallet.
Lamarre-Condon started giving evidence on Thursday and returns to the witness box today. He denied breaking into Baird’s home and said he used a key the TV presenter left for him in the letterbox, but admitted he put a bobby pin in the front door lock.
He said he wanted to take Baird’s phone outside while he was sleeping to check if he was in a relationship with another man, and “if he was to wake up and come outside, he would see the bobby pin [and] not be under the impression that it was me going through his phone”.
He has yet to give evidence about the day Baird and Davies died of gunshot wounds from his police-issued Glock pistol.
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon developed an obsessive and jealous infatuation with Baird that escalated when Baird ended their casual romantic relationship in November 2023.
The defence case is that the accused went to Baird’s home disguised as an Uber Eats delivery rider to collect some of his belongings and that his gun went off twice during a struggle with Baird, wounding him fatally, and that Davies shot himself during a second struggle.
There is no dispute that he cleaned Baird’s share house and disposed of the men’s bodies.
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.
Lamarre-Condon has told the court that he signed his firearm out of Miranda police station on February 16, 2024, three days before the alleged murders, ahead of a “user-pays” work shift on February 18 that was the “pro-Palestine march in the Domain”.
He said that after picking up his gun he went to get his car washed in Zetland.
“The Crown did not play this footage,” he said. “I got my car washed. My gun was in my backpack. I just found it interesting that that footage was not played to the jury.”
He said this showed that he had his gun with him while he was off-duty, and if he had gone to Baird’s home in this day to collect his belongings he would have been in the same position because he had his gun with him.
Beau Lamarre-Condon is being asked about evidence a friend has given that he fired his police gun twice at Royal National Park in Sydney’s south before the alleged murders in February 2024.
He said he was suicidal at this time because of work-related trauma and was planning on returning to this location to take his own life.
“I started taking my stepdad’s medication,” he said. “I was hoping that this medication would make me feel better.”
The friend has testified that Lamarre-Condon shot his service pistol twice into bushland and asked him how loud the gunshots were.
Beau Lamarre-Condon has returned to the witness box. He is asked about what he meant when he said he had a romantic relationship with Jesse Baird.
“We were not exclusive,” he said. “I was still seeing people at various times throughout my relationship with Jesse.”
He said that what he meant when he said they had a “romantic, intimate relationship” was that they did things that couples did, including having dinners and seeing each other regularly.
During his evidence on Thursday, Lamarre-Condon denied claims by a former friend, dubbed Elizabeth Kennedy in the proceedings, that he took a photo of Baird in bed with another man from outside his window.
The accused said he went to Baird’s home after their first breakup in April 2023 and he tapped on the bedroom window to get Baird’s attention, and he saw Baird having sex with another man.
He said he did not take a photo and left immediately.
“I kind of froze in a bit of a shock, and I maybe stood there for like five seconds. I did not stay and watch like a little creep.”
Lamarre-Condon told the court on Thursday that Baird used to leave a key in the letterbox of his home for him to let himself in because the TV presenter worked longer hours than him.
“So he gave me permission to obviously enter his house, stay at his house, and wait for him to return from work,” he said.
He also said that Baird had a front door key cut for him in November 2023, before their final breakup. It was a red key, he said.
The accused admitted during his evidence on Thursday that he asked a friend to send a message to Baird after their final breakup. The message claimed Lamarre-Condon had cancer.
The court has heard he had minor day surgery for an unrelated condition in February 2024, two days after the alleged murders, and it did not relate to cancer.
Lamarre-Condon testified that he saw a naturopathic doctor in late October or early November 2023 to find out about a “natural tablet” trial to help treat PTSD.
“Whilst I was there I had a lump on my left shoulder that had come up quite quickly out of nowhere and I did ask this female doctor what she thought it was,” he said.
Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to breaking into Baird’s home six months before the alleged murders, on August 17, 2023, and stealing his phone and wallet.
He told the court on Thursday that Baird had invited him over and left a key for him in the letterbox of his Paddington share house, and he used the key to enter the home after 10pm.
The Crown alleges Baird and Lamarre-Condon were not dating at this time, but the accused told the court their relationship had resumed around late June after a break-up in April.
Lamarre-Condon said he put a bobby pin in the lock, later photographed by police when Baird reported the incident, because he wanted to take Baird’s phone outside to look through it.
Beau Lamarre-Condon gave evidence on Thursday about when he met Jesse Baird and his account of their breakups in April and November 2023.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Beau Lamarre-Condon’s criminal trial in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney.
Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the deaths of Jesse Baird, 26, a former TV presenter, and Luke Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant, in Paddington on February 19, 2024. His case is that he acted in self-defence, the 15-person jury has been told.
The former NSW police officer has also pleaded not guilty to an aggravated charge of breaking into Baird’s home six months earlier on August 17, 2023, and stealing his mobile phone and wallet.
