Beau Lamarre-Condon’s Lilie James ‘murder conversation’ day before allegedly killing Sydney couple: court

Beau Lamarre-Condon told a colleague he thought Lilie James’ killer was “stupid” for getting caught carrying out the brutal crime on CCTV the day before the former officer allegedly killed a couple, a jury has been told.

The former police officer disguised himself as an Uber Eats rider before allegedly killing Mr Baird and his new partner Luke Davies at the journalist’s Paddington home in Sydney in February 2024.

The 31-year-old has pleaded not guilty, and is arguing self-defence as he fights the murder allegations before a jury trial in the NSW Supreme Court.

A former colleague of Mr Lamarre-Condon’s said on Friday he did not think the exchange about Ms James was out of the ordinary at the time, but on reflection he now finds it “concerning”.

Ben Higginson, a former NSW Police officer, told the jury he told Mr Lamarre-Condon during a shift they worked together on February 18, 2024, that he had worked on the Lilie James murder investigation.

Paul Thijssen brutally murdered his ex-girlfriend Ms James with a hammer inside St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD in October 2023.

Mr Higginson said “it hurt a lot” to tell Mr Lamarre-Condon about the case, and that the former officer said he thought Thijssen was “stupid”.

“He thought Paul was stupid for doing it on CCTV, and asked me if he hadn’t murdered Lilie James and committed suicide, would he have got away with it,” Mr Higginson said.

“How was he speaking about this?” the prosecutor asked.

“Pretty blase,” Mr Higginson replied.

Mr Lamarre-Condon allegedly asked him what avenues police look for in suspicious deaths in murders during the conversation.

When Mr Higginson saw news days later that his colleague was a suspect in the disappearance of Mr Baird and Mr Davies, he told a detective about the “murder conversation” they’d had during their shift.

“Yeah, (I told the detective about) the shifts I had with him, which were concerning conversations now,” Mr Higginson said.

He spoke of needing to “keep (himself) together” at work before writing a statement for the police.

Mr Higginson said the conversation wasn’t really out of the ordinary, as it was common for officers to talk about work and “educate” each other about certain investigative skills.

Mr Lamarre-Condon nodded as his former colleague said he was not sure how another chat about phone tracking came up on another occasion, but that it “wouldn’t be unusual to talk about current investigations or past investigations, on how you were able to obtain information and so on”.

Alleged killer’s ‘side hustle’

Mr Higginson also recalled speaking with Mr Lamarre-Condon about his “side hustle” on another occasion

“Apparently he goes to France…buys Hermes bags…resells them there,” Mr Higginson said.

He told the court that another time, Mr Lamarre-Condon told him he wanted to buy a property in Bali.

‘Get out’: Qantas host’s triple-0 call

Mr Davies’ triple-0 call was played to the jury on Friday, with a female voice stating that the call had “disconnected” but a male caller said, “Eff off or get out”.

Authorities tried to call Mr Davies back, the jury was told, but he did not answer.

“Hi, you’ve reached Luke, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you,” Mr Davies’ voicemail, played to the court, said.

It is alleged Mr Lamarre-Condon shot Mr Davies through the bedroom door as he tried to call for help, with court documents stating blood samples taken from Mr Baird’s bedroom revealed Mr Davies’ DNA was the major contributor.

Mr Lamarre-Condon’s legal team in turn allege he acted in self-defence, and that he called triple-0 himself and Mr Davies shot himself during a struggle.

NSW Police Senior Sergeant Bronwyn Lansley, the lead investigator who examined Mr Baird’s home in 2024, agreed during cross-examination earlier this week that no bullet, or mark indicating an impact from a bullet, was found in the bedroom.

She said testing could not rule out Mr Davies’ as the “major contributor” to DNA found on Mr Lamarre-Condon’s gun.

Cop’s holiday vid year before alleged killings

Mr Lamarre-Condon briefly dated Mr Baird, with a video he made of a trip away they took together about a year before the alleged murders now released by the court.

In it, the pair eat McDonald’s and walk through the countryside, with Mr Baird making a fire and toasting a marshmallow later in the compilation.

The former officer sent the video to his friend, Alexandra Scobie, who is also a police officer.

It was tendered to the court by Mr Lamarre-Condon’s barrister, John Stratton SC, on Thursday.

Ms Scobie agreed with prosecutors that Mr Lamarre-Condon clipped a series of small videos together and it appeared he had sent her two different versions to gauge her input.

“Did the accused tell you whether or not Jesse had any input in this video?” prosecutor Caitlin Diggins asked.

“Not that I can recall,” Ms Scobie answered.

The trial continues.