Beau Lamarre-Condon questioned a police colleague about two high-profile murder investigations the day before he allegedly killed Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, a court has heard.
Former police officer Ben Higginson told the court on Friday that he worked alongside Lamarre-Condon at an event in Sydney’s Domain on February 18, 2024.
During their conversation, Lamarre-Condon asked what work Mr Higginson had been doing. He was told that the former officer had worked on the murder investigation into 21-year-old Lilie James, who was bludgeoned to death at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney CBD on October 25, 2023.
Mr Higginson said Lamarre-Condon appeared very interested in the case. He told the court: “I gave him a fair bit of detail about how f***ed up it was, and then some of the things Thijssen had done.”
Paul Thijssen, 24, was accused of killing Ms James before taking his own life. Mr Higginson said he explained that investigators believed Thijssen had used Ms James’s phone to text her father and ask him to come to the school after the killing.
According to Mr Higginson, Lamarre-Condon questioned whether Thijssen would have escaped justice if he had not been captured on CCTV. The former officer said he replied that police relied on a major investigative effort as well as surveillance footage.
The discussion also turned to mobile phones. Mr Higginson told the court police could request information from a phone company showing a rough signal location, meaning that leaving a phone at home could make it appear that its owner was nearby.
Lamarre-Condon also asked about the disappearance and murder investigation involving Matthew Leveson, who was last seen leaving a Sydney nightclub in 2007. Mr Leveson’s remains were found in 2017, but no one has been convicted of his murder.
Mr Higginson said he told Lamarre-Condon that Michael Atkins, Mr Leveson’s boyfriend, had been seen on CCTV buying a tarpaulin at Bunnings after Mr Leveson disappeared. Mr Atkins was later tried and acquitted.
The pair discussed the use of cash rather than bank cards, with Mr Higginson explaining that police could obtain records of purchases and deposits and then use them to trace CCTV footage and speak to witnesses.
Asked about Lamarre-Condon’s manner during the conversation, Mr Higginson said he had considered Thijssen “stupid for doing it on CCTV” and was “pretty blase”.
