Beau Lamarre-Condon allegedly used his position as a NSW Police officer to obtain CCTV of former partner Jesse Baird while he was on a date with another man, a Sydney court has heard.
The footage, from the Royal Hotel in Paddington on May 19, 2023, was shown as the former officer’s double-murder trial continued in the NSW Supreme Court. Lamarre-Condon, 31, denies murdering Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, in February 2024.
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon told the venue he was investigating an assault in order to access the recordings. An assistant venue manager wrote in an email the following day: “Police came looking for footage about someone that was in the venue and had a fight up the road.”
Baird had ended his relationship with Lamarre-Condon for the first time the previous month, the court heard.
Police later obtained more than 14,000 hours of CCTV from 200 locations during their investigation. Jurors were shown compilations of that material, including footage from a sports shop at Westfield Miranda two days before the alleged killings.
In the recording, Lamarre-Condon is seen buying a large surfboard cover with a friend. The Crown says he asked whether the friend would fit inside one of the bags. After being told “probably not”, he allegedly replied: “I’ll grab this one instead, it should be big enough.”
A receipt for the $85 cover, which Lamarre-Condon paid for in cash, was also tendered. Prosecutors allege the purchase formed part of preparations for Baird’s murder and that he later bought further bags after discovering the first two were too small.
Other exhibits included a photograph of Lamarre-Condon’s police-issued handgun, which prosecutors allege was used to shoot the two men, and an image of a bobby pin in the front-door lock of Baird’s Paddington home.
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon broke into the property in August 2023 and stole Baird’s phone and wallet. He denies that charge, while his defence says he had been given a key by Baird, a former AFL umpire and Network Ten presenter and producer.
CCTV shown in Beau Lamarre-Condon murder trial
The jury was shown footage of Lamarre-Condon leaving his Balmain home at 5.01am on the day of the alleged murders before switching from his grey Tesla to a hired Mazda in Kensington.
He was later recorded getting out of the Mazda in Baird’s street wearing a dark T-shirt. After 9am, he appeared in a high-visibility top, black trousers with a reflective strip and a motorcycle helmet, carrying an Uber Eats bag.
Three gunshots recorded by a neighbouring property in Paddington between 9.49am and 9.50am were played to the jury for a second time.
There is no dispute that Lamarre-Condon was at Baird’s home when the men died or that he was disguised as a delivery driver. The defence maintains he went there to collect belongings after their break-up and was surprised by Baird, triggering a struggle in which his gun discharged twice.
The defence case is that Davies then picked up the weapon and accidentally shot himself during a second struggle. Lamarre-Condon’s barrister, John Stratton SC, told jurors the accused had not planned to kill or harm anyone and had acted in self-defence.
The prosecution alleges Lamarre-Condon shot Baird after an “obsessive and jealous infatuation” intensified when their relationship ended permanently in November 2023. It says Davies was shot as he called Triple Zero for help, because Lamarre-Condon wanted to remove a witness.
A witness known in court as Alex Carrol also said Lamarre-Condon asked during a FaceTime call on November 23, 2023, whether someone she knew could “get me a gun”. Another witness, Anne May, said she saw him make a gun gesture during the call.
The trial continues.
