Beau Lamarre-Condon’s Trial Has Begun, The Former Constable Accused Of Murdering Jesse Baird & Luke Davies

The trial of Beau Lamarre-Condon began in the Supreme Court today (Monday, September 21), the 31-year-old former NSW Police Officer accused of the murder of beloved Sydney couple Jesse Baird (26) and Luke Davies (29).

Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of domestic violence-related murder and one count of aggravated break and enter. While Lamarre-Condon offered to plead guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter, this was rejected by the prosecution.

The Prosecution’s Case Against Beau Lamarre-Condon

The prosecution is alleging Lamarre-Condon shot Baird and Davies at Baird’s Paddington home with his service firearm before transporting their bodies to a rural property in Bungonia in regional New South Wales in February 2024.

The jury was empanelled Monday morning after being informed by The Crown that Lamarre-Condon had developed an “infatuation” and “obsession” with Baird following a brief romantic stint in late 2022 and part of 2023.

The Crown has argued in Monday’s opening statements that this “infatuation” prompted Lamarre-Condon to engage in a number of compulsive behaviours which escalated when Baird ceased contact with him in November 2023, the latter gently stating he was not ready for a relationship.

These compulsive behaviours allegedly included breaking into Baird’s home the previous year, stealing his phone and wallet, deleting text messages sent to Baird, turning on his location services, and secretly monitoring his personal devices. 

It is also alleged Lamarre-Condon sent himself flowers implying they were a gift from Baird, feigned a cancer diagnosis, and surveilling Baird’s personal affairs through his bedroom window.

As for Lamarre-Condon’s acts in the lead-up to the murders, The Crown will allege Lamarre-Condon began planning Baird’s murder just months after Baird broke things off, researching how to conceal gunfire, hiring a vehicle in his mother’s name, and buying a surfboard cover to hide the body.

Indeed, the Crown told the jury that Lamarre-Condon’s premeditated acts included dressing as an Uber Eats driver and entering Baird’s home using a key he had obtained “surreptitiously”, all before shooting Baird dead in the kitchen and Davies in the bedroom. 

Background Information

Lamarre-Condon was charged just days after Jesse Baird, a television presenter for Channel Ten, and Luke Davies, a Qantas flight attendant, were reported missing by police. 

At the time, Police had appealed for public assistance locating the couple after a “significant” amount of blood was found at their Paddington apartment, and a number of their personal possessions were retrieved from a bin in Cronulla, Sutherland Shire. 

Their bodies were found the following week at the remote Bungonia property, almost 200 away from their home, in surf bags. The discovery came four days after former-constable Lamarre-Condon turned himself in, having finally offered NSW Police the approximate location of Baird and Davies’ bodies.

The case received significant national attention in 2024, with an outcry from the Sydney gay community leading to a massive crowdfunding appeal for the couple’s funerals, as well as community vigils and honouring the pair at Mardi Gras. Questions around firearm control and the presence of police at queer events were raised in response.

Now, over the course of the trial, jurors are likely to hear from dozens of witnesses, including friends and relatives of Baird and Davies, as well as associates of Lamarre-Condon.

The trial will no doubt be closely followed by Baird and Davies’ loved ones, as well as Sydney’s broader LGBTQ+ community, who are still mourning the tragic loss of these two vibrant young men.