The trial of former NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has opened in Sydney, with prosecutors alleging he disguised himself as an Uber Eats rider before shooting Jesse Baird and Luke Davies at a Paddington home.
Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder. His trial is expected to last up to 12 weeks.
The Crown alleges he spent about 20 minutes outside Baird’s share house on February 19, 2024, wearing a motorcycle helmet and carrying a paper bag. Prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, said he was “steeling himself for what he was about to do”.
Prosecutors allege Lamarre-Condon used his police-issued Glock pistol to kill Baird, a former Network Ten producer and presenter, and Davies, a Qantas flight attendant who had become Baird’s boyfriend.
The court heard that the first gunshot was recorded by a neighbouring property at 9.49am and 33 seconds. A second followed four seconds later, with a third heard at 9.50am and 28 seconds.
The prosecution case is that Lamarre-Condon had developed an “obsessive and jealous infatuation” with Baird after their casual relationship ended. It alleges Baird’s killing was planned, while Davies was shot to remove a witness.
Prosecutors claim Lamarre-Condon bought a surfboard bag two days before the alleged murders to use for Baird’s body. They also allege he bought another bag on February 19 and two more two days later after discovering the first bags were too small.
The Crown has shown the jury compilations drawn from 14,000 hours of CCTV footage recorded at 200 locations. The footage allegedly includes Lamarre-Condon buying a large surfboard cover at a sports store in Westfield Miranda on February 17.
The prosecution says he asked a friend whether the friend would fit inside the bag before deciding to buy a larger one. The friend has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Defence barrister John Stratton, SC, does not dispute that Lamarre-Condon wore the Uber Eats disguise or was inside the house when the men died from gunshot wounds. But he told jurors his client went there to collect belongings and believed nobody would be home.
The defence says Lamarre-Condon wore the disguise so he could pretend to be a delivery driver if someone unexpectedly answered the door. It alleges he was surprised by Baird after entering the property, and that the two men struggled before the gun discharged twice.
According to the defence case, the weapon was thrown into the lounge room. Lamarre-Condon then picked up a phone and began calling Triple Zero, while Davies, who was holding a knife, grabbed the gun during another struggle and accidentally shot himself.
The Crown alleges instead that Baird was shot twice in the kitchen, including once through the temple, and that Davies was shot through a bedroom door after calling Triple Zero.
Evidence of alleged fixation on Jesse Baird
The jury has heard evidence about Lamarre-Condon’s conduct before the deaths, including an allegation that he used his position as a police officer to obtain CCTV footage of Baird on a date with another man in May 2023.
Lamarre-Condon is also charged with aggravated break and enter over an alleged incident at Baird’s home in August 2023. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge, while the defence says he entered using a key Baird had given him.
Baird reported that incident at the time, saying he had woken shortly before midnight to find a man standing over his bed. Police later photographed a bobby pin in the lock.
Witnesses have described social media posts that appeared to suggest Lamarre-Condon and Baird were in a relationship. One professional acquaintance said the posts were intended to imply they were “together and to back off, basically”.
The court heard that Lamarre-Condon posted an image of flowers with a caption suggesting Baird had sent them while he was in Melbourne. When Baird asked for an explanation, text messages showed Lamarre-Condon claimed the flowers had been a gift for his mother from his stepfather.
Another witness said Lamarre-Condon admitted staging the photograph and had used her phone to send Baird a false Instagram message claiming he had cancer. Baird later sent him a message saying: “I would appreciate it if you could refrain from contacting me.”
A close friend also told the court that Lamarre-Condon had once asked her: “What would you do if I told you I killed somebody? Would you help me hide the body?” She said he laughed it off and told her: “Don’t worry, I didn’t do that, but I did do something crazy”.
She further alleged that he had watched Baird from outside his home, using his mother’s car and wearing a black hoodie. She said he told her he had seen Baird with other men, followed him until he left the property and then entered using a key.
The defence accepts that Lamarre-Condon disposed of the bodies in surfboard bags near Bungonia, close to Goulburn, after the deaths. Mr Stratton said his client panicked because he knew the circumstances “looked bad”.
He argued that leaving the bodies near a Greek monastery, after an unsuccessful attempt to sink them in a dam, reflected a man overwhelmed by the situation rather than someone who believed he was guilty of murder.
The trial continues.
