A former partner of Beau Lamarre-Condon told the Supreme Court in Sydney that Jesse Baird had become “petrified” of the former police officer in the months before he was allegedly killed.
Lamarre-Condon is on trial accused of murdering Mr Baird, 26, and his partner Luke Davies, 29, at Mr Baird’s home in Paddington in February 2024.
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon became obsessed with Mr Baird after their on-and-off relationship ended in November and planned the alleged double murder. The defence argues the deaths occurred after Lamarre-Condon acted in self-defence.
A witness who had previously been in a relationship with Mr Baird, and later became his friend, said he had never heard him so frightened.
“I’ve never heard him so scared,” the witness told the court, later agreeing that Mr Baird had described Lamarre-Condon’s behaviour as stalking.
The witness said Mr Baird was reluctant to report the alleged conduct because Lamarre-Condon was still an active police officer.
“(Baird) kept repeating to me: ‘He has a gun’,” the witness recalled through tears.
Mr Baird was also worried Lamarre-Condon could make a false allegation against him and damage his career, the court heard. He needed a blue card to work with Channel 10 and the AFL, the witness said.
Colleagues described changes in Jesse Baird’s behaviour
A fellow Channel 10 producer told the court Mr Baird appeared agitated at work in November 2023 and was not behaving as usual.
“He was usually happy … he just wasn’t himself,” she said.
The producer said Mr Baird had spoken to her and other colleagues about his difficulties with Lamarre-Condon, describing the former officer’s conduct as “a bit stalkerish”.
She also told the court Mr Baird believed Lamarre-Condon had blocked men, particularly gay men, on social media while he was sleeping.
On another occasion, Mr Baird told her Lamarre-Condon had walked past him while he was having breakfast near his home in Paddington, despite living “nowhere near” the area.
Mr Baird later accepted a redundancy package from Channel 10 but remained in contact with former colleagues. He met them on February 12, shortly before his alleged murder.
“(He) spoke about Luke, he was really, really happy,” the producer said, holding back tears as she confirmed it was the last time she saw him.
Former partner describes alleged social media messages
Another former partner of Mr Baird told the court he had known Lamarre-Condon after connecting with him on social media and going to dinner in 2023.
He said they had not remained in contact, and that he began speaking to Mr Baird in October. The pair started casually dating while Lamarre-Condon allegedly posted videos of Mr Baird to his Instagram Close Friends story.
The court heard Mr Baird believed the witness was among several people Lamarre-Condon had blocked on his social media accounts in November.
After Mr Baird and the witness had breakfast near his home on November 18, Lamarre-Condon allegedly messaged Mr Baird: “I can see you and (the witness) having breakfast in Paddington.”
Lamarre-Condon then allegedly contacted the witness on Instagram, warning him that Mr Baird was “gaslighting … dozens of men”.
“Jesse led me on … (saying) it was going to be a relationship,” the message allegedly said.
“He literally destroyed me and it took a while to recover.
“Be very grateful and trust your gut.”
The witness and Mr Baird later began to distance themselves as the witness travelled for work. Lamarre-Condon denies the murder allegations, and the trial continues.
