Beau Lamarre-Condon Trial: 000 Call, Texts Sent From Jesse Baird’s Phone & ‘Blasé’ Questions To Police Colleagues

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The jury in Beau Lamarre-Condon’s double murder trial has been shown the Triple Zero call, messages allegedly sent from Jesse Baird’s phone after his death, and heard evidence about questions the former police officer asked colleagues before the shootings.

Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of aggravated break and enter. He is accused of fatally shooting Baird, 26, and his partner Luke Davies, 29, with his police-issued pistol at Baird’s Paddington home on 19 February 2024.

His lawyers have raised self-defence, arguing the men died during two separate struggles involving the firearm.

Messages sent to Baird’s housemates

On Thursday, Baird’s housemate, identified in proceedings as Belinda Smith, gave evidence about messages received as the household prepared for him to move out.

The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon used Baird’s phone to impersonate him after the shootings, creating the impression he was alive and arranging to collect his belongings.

One message said he had hired an Airtasker to collect his things and might travel to Perth with friends before returning that weekend.

Another read: “Hey, so sorry, I won’t be able to make it tonight.”

It said he could not find an Allen key to dismantle his bed and asked whether the incoming housemate’s removalist could put it outside.

Smith told the court she returned home on the evening of 19 February and saw two surfboard bags beneath a blue tarpaulin, with red liquid underneath. She photographed them and sent the image to her other housemate.

She initially believed the liquid was rusty water from outdoor furniture. By the following day, the bags had been removed.

Prosecutors allege the bags contained the men’s bodies.

‘Blasé’: Lamarre-Condon’s questions to fellow police officers

On Friday, former police officer Ben Higginson gave evidence about a conversation with Lamarre-Condon the day before the shootings.

The court heard Lamarre-Condon asked about the investigation into Lilie James’s murder, including whether her killer could have avoided detection had he survived.

“He thought Paul Thijssen was stupid for doing it on CCTV,” Mr Higginson said.

Higginson recalled that the Lilie James murder was particularly tough for his colleagues. He was asked about lamarre-Condon’s demeanour while having these conversations – Higginson said it was “blasé”.

Earlier, police colleague Alexandra Scobie told the jury Lamarre-Condon had asked whether hire cars could be tracked and whether call charge records would show activity when a phone was switched off.

“Oh don’t freak out, I’m just asking,” she recalled him saying.

000 call raised in court

The jury has previously heard that a Triple Zero call was made between the second and third gunshots recorded by a neighbouring property’s CCTV.

In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC said the recording was muffled, but prosecutors suggested a male voice could be heard saying: “Get out, f*** off.”

The Crown alleges Luke Davies was in a bedroom calling emergency services when he was shot. The defence has given a different account, saying Lamarre-Condon began calling Triple Zero after Jesse Baird was shot, before a second struggle involving Davies and the pistol.

Forensic evidence examined this week

Jurors have also been shown photographs of bloodstained bedding, clothing and personal belongings recovered from a skip bin at a Cronulla bowls club.

The items included AFL umpire flags and a wallet containing identification and bank cards in Davies’s name. The court heard testing of bloodstained items matched the men’s DNA profiles.

Crime scene specialist Senior Sergeant Bronwyn Lansley gave evidence about blood found throughout the Paddington property, a fired cartridge case above a kitchen cabinet and damage to the kitchen floor consistent with a bullet hole.

Under cross-examination on Thursday, Lansley confirmed a swab from the pistol’s trigger contained DNA from at least three people. Davies could not be excluded as a major contributor, and Lamarre-Condon could not be excluded as a minor contributor.

The defence case is that Baird was shot during a struggle and Davies accidentally shot himself during a second struggle. Defence barrister John Stratton SC has said Lamarre-Condon panicked afterwards.

The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues.