Beau Lamarre-Condon: First week of alleged double murderer’s trial

The trial of a former police officer who allegedly killed his ex-partner and his new boyfriend has concluded its first week of hearings.

Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, sat across from a 12-person jury in the Supreme Court of NSW as they heard evidence about the alleged murders of Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, at a home in Paddington on February 19, 2024.

The first week featured dozens of witnesses testifying before the court while hours of CCTV footage was played allegedly showing Lamarre-Condon’s movements on the fatal morning.

Murder and self-defence argued

Both the Crown and Lamarre-Condon’s defence agree Lamarre-Condon and Baird had been in an on-and-off relationship which came to a final end in November 2023.

They also agree Lamarre-Condon, dressed as an Uber Eats delivery rider complete with a black motorcycle helmet, waited outside Baird’s home until Baird’s housemates left for the day and entered the home armed with his police-issued firearm.

CCTV footage from a home across the street captured three gunshots ringing out in just under a minute.

The Crown argues the first shot struck Baird in the neck and the second through his head execution-style in the kitchen, while the third killed Davies.

Prosecuting barrister Brett Hatfield told the court a triple-0 call was made from Davies’ phone in the approximately 51 seconds between the second and third shots.

The Crown argues Lamarre-Condon had planned to kill Baird, having grown increasingly obsessed and allegedly stalking his ex-partner in the months after their separation, and was surprised to find Davies at the home but had to leave “no witnesses”.

His defence has argued he was trying to retrieve possessions he had left at Baird’s home and was confronted by Baird, armed with a knife, because of his disguise.

Lamarre-Condon’s barrister John Stratton told the court a scuffle then broke out which led to Baird being fatally shot twice and the gun flying into the living room.

Stratton said his client then called triple-0 but was interupted by Davies who had picked up the gun. A second scuffle ended with the 29-year-old shot dead.

Both sides agree Lamarre-Condon then spent the following days cleaning the crime scene and transporting the bodies of the couple in surfboard bags to a regional property in Bungonia, about 200km southwest.

While the Crown argues Lamarre-Condon had planned to hide the bodies, Stratton told the court he was instead “a man who panicked considerably and knew how the (alleged) crime may have been perceived”.

Hundreds of witnesses are expected to be called to testify for either side throughout the trial which is tipped to last for 12 weeks.

CCTV of fateful morning released

The Crown on Thursday played hours of CCTV footage obtained by police in the months-long investigation into the alleged murders.

The footage first shows Lamarre-Condon on February 16 taking a police firearm from a locker at Balmain Police Station. It is alleged that firearm is what killed both Baird and Davies.

A day later he was seen with a friend at Miranda Westfield buying a surfboard bag, and appears to compare the size of the bag to his friend before making the purchase.

It is alleged Lamarre-Condon had planned to use the bag to store Baird’s body, and later returned to the store for a second bag to store Davies’ body as well.

On February 18, the eve of the shooting, Lamarre-Condon was seen withdrawing cash before allegedly driving his mother to rent a SUV in Mascot.

Both vehicles then drove to Kensington where the hire car was left behind.

On the morning of the shooting, Lamarre-Condon was spotted on CCTV driving from his home in Balmain and stopping near the hire car.

He then swapped cars and drove the rest of the way to Paddington, driving past Baird’s home twice before briefly parking and driving away.

Police remain unsure as to where the car was eventually parked, but Lamarre-Condon appeared soon after dressed as an Uber Eats delivery person.

He was spotted on CCTV footage standing in his disguise just four doors down from Baird’s home, moving around the property but never out of sight of it.

After briefly walking down an alleyway, Lamarre-Condon appeared to bend over and check his Uber Eats delivery bag before walking towards the home.

The first gunshots were heard just seconds later.

Heartbreak for Baird’s family

Among the first witnesses to take the stand in the trial were Baird’s mother Helen and sister Kourtnee to recall the separation of Baird and Lamarre-Condon.

Helen was almost brought to tears while being questioned by Hatfield, remembering how she and her son used to speak regularly.

She said Baird told her he didn’t want to enter a serious relationship with Lamarre-Condon and didn’t want to see him again.

Helen also agreed the former police officer had become “obsessed” with her son.

Baird travelled to the family home in Victoria for the Christmas holidays that year and had an extensive talk with Kourtnee about his ex-boyfriend.

Kourtnee told the court her brother had grown “fearful” of Lamarre-Condon and sounded “very erratic ... shocked”.

“(Lamarre-Condon) was a NSW police officer, he had access to a weapon, a gun,” she said.

“(Baird) said that he would go on his phone and block contacts from (Baird’s) male friends.

“(Baird) caught the accused doing it.”

Baird began dating Davies early in 2024, debuting the burgeoning relationship with his family soon after at birthday party.

Helen said while it was “early days” the couple appeared “smitten with each other”.

“They were great together,” she said.

Lamarre-Condon’s obsession turned to stalking, court hears

During his opening statement Hatfield told the jury the prosecution will try to prove Lamarre-Condon had stalked Baird during the two previous times they had broken up.

He alleged Lamarre-Condon had “misused” his role as a police officer to obtain CCTV footage from a pub near Baird’s home in Paddington in March 2023.

The CCTV of Baird with another man was allegedly found on Lamarre-Condon’s electronic devices after he was arrested.

The Crown also argues he used a bobby pin to break into Baird’s home to steal his phone and wallet months later.

Baird told a friend the next morning he woke up to a “figure” standing above him, before chasing him out of the house.

Another friend testified Lamarre-Condon had left Baird “petrified” following their second break-up.

“I’ve never heard him so scared,” the witness told the court, later agreeing Baird told the witness Lamarre-Condon was “stalking” him.

The witness told the court Baird, a producer at Channel 10, was afraid to report the matter to police as Lamarre-Condon was an active police officer.

“(Baird) kept repeating to me: ‘He has a gun’,” the witness recalled, through tears.

“He was worried Beau might make a false allegation against him that could ruin his career because he needed a blue card to work with Channel 10 and the AFL.”

A colleague told the court Baird had described Lamarre-Condon’s behaviour as “a bit stalkerish”.

He also believed Lamarre-Condon had blocked men — particularly gay men — on social media while Baird was sleeping.

The witness later said Baird told her about Lamarre-Condon walking past him while he had breakfast near his home in Paddington, despite him living “nowhere near”.

Social media ploy revealed

Baird began casually dating another man soon after the break-up with Lamarre-Condon in November.

That man on Thursday testified Lamarre-Condon added him to his “Close Friends” list on Instagram soon after, despite only meeting him briefly earlier that year and rarely speaking afterward.

Stories only visible to the private list — which Baird was not on — showed Lamarre-Condon sharing videos of himself and his ex-partner at a concert with an emoji of hands making a heart symbol, despite the couple having broken up.

Another post featured a video of flowers captioned “when he’s in Melbourne but still sends you these” and coincided with Baird travelling to Melbourne for work.

The witness said about a week later he showed the posts to Baird, who then confronted Lamarre-Condon on November 16 asking: “What’s this about?”

He responded by saying a friend “was in Melbourne with his daughter last week and sent this to my mum with a cute note for her”, later adding: “I’m so confused ... what is this about.”

A long-term friend of Baird’s told the court he believed Lamarre-Condon adding Baird’s new partner to the private list and posting the stories was to make them “jealous”.

A day after the confrontation, the court heard Lamarre-Condon saw Baird and his new partner having breakfast at a cafe in Paddington and messaged Baird about it soon after.

He also sent a lengthy message to the new partner, saying he “would hate to see you get hurt the same way myself and multiple other guys have”.

Lamarre-Condon claimed Baird had “lead me on to believe it was going to be a relationship, meeting my family/friends, telling me all his family know about me”.

Lamarre Condon later urged Baird’s new boyfriend to “be very careful and trust your gut”.

Forensic examination of Lamarre-Condon’s electronic devices also allegedly uncovered an image of the man’s car, dated to a day after he sent the message.

Fake cancer diagnosis used as ‘last try’ to win Baird back

A childhood friend of Lamarre-Condon said he had admitted to the social media ploy while “spiraling” in lies trying to renew the relationship with Baird.

Lamarre-Condon’s friend of 17 years, Shea Davison, testified in court on Friday about the former police officer allegedly faking a cancer diagnosis trying to win sympathy from Baird.

The court heard Lamarre-Condon had used Davison’s Instagram account to message his ex-partner after Baird blocked him on the social media platform.

The message, written by Lamarre-Condon pretending to be Davison, claimed he had a tumour in his shoulder which could result in his arm needing to be amputated.

He went on to write that his erratic behaviour following their separation was due to him taking medications in preparation for chemotherapy or radiation before surgery.

The message said they had “thrown off” Lamarre-Condon’s hormones and helped explain how he had behaved.

“So far only (another friend) and I know about this ? he hasn’t even told his mum, and he doesn’t want to freak her out,” the message, purporting to be from Davison, read.

Davison told the court Lamarre-Condon “put a lot of pressure on me” to send the message from her phone.

“Hhe was so upset, he wore me down,” Davison told the court.

“It felt like guilt-tripping to me and using our friendship to get what he wanted out of that.”

The trial continues.