The jury in the trial of former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has visited the Paddington terrace where Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were killed in 2024.
Lamarre-Condon, 31, is standing trial accused of shooting Baird and his partner Davies with his police-issued firearm at Baird’s Paddington home on 19 February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of aggravated break and enter.
Prosecutors allege Lamarre-Condon became infatuated with, and stalked, Baird, with whom he had previously been involved in a casual relationship, before shooting him at his home. They further allege Lamarre-Condon then shot Davies because he witnessed the incident.
Lamarre-Condon’s legal team argues he acted in self-defence. The defence team claims Baird’s death was accidental and occurred during a brief struggle. They also allege Davies approached Lamarre-Condon with a knife and that, during a second struggle, Davies attempted to wrestle away the firearm and accidentally shot himself.
As the fourth week of the trial came to a close, jurors visited the property where prosecutors allege Lamarre-Condon killed both men. The visit came after jurors heard evidence from ballistic experts and crime scene investigators regarding forensic evidence and where it was located within the property.
The 15 jurors arrived at the terrace on Brown Street, Paddington, on Friday morning after travelling by bus from the King Street Courthouse. They were joined by Justice Natalie Adams, members of both legal teams and Senior Sergeant Bronwyn Lansley, who had previously given evidence. Lamarre-Condon did not attend the viewing.
Ahead of the visit, Justice Adams told jurors that seeing the property firsthand would provide additional context to evidence already presented during the trial.
Perth Friend Testifies About Alleged Phone Disposal Request
Earlier in the week the court heard testimony from Perth woman Stacey Parker, who was friends with Lamarre-Condon.
She told the court Lamarre-Condon contacted her and said he was being “set up” by police over the disappearance of Baird and Davies and allegedly asked her to help dispose of a mobile phone.
It is alleged that after Baird and Davies were killed on 19 February 2024, Lamarre-Condon attempted to create the impression that Baird was still alive by sending messages from Baird’s phone to housemates and friends claiming he had gone on a road trip to Perth.
Parker alleged Lamarre-Condon asked whether he could send a mobile phone to her. She said he wanted her to briefly switch it on before throwing it into a body of water.
Parker told the court that she and Lamarre-Condon first became friends in 2010 after meeting while “celebrity hunting” in Sydney. She also testified that they bonded over shared concerns about mandatory COVID vaccinations.
She alleged that on 12 February 2024 Lamarre-Condon asked to move their conversations from Instagram to the encrypted messaging service Signal.
On 20 February she missed two calls from him, and when she returned the call they spoke for 18 minutes.
Parker said Lamarre-Condon appeared calm and allegedly told her the phone contained files stolen from the police commissioner relating to COVID.
After media reports identified Lamarre-Condon as a person of interest, Parker said she contacted police and reported the alleged conversations.
Former Dating Partner Gives Evidence
The court also heard evidence from a man who met Lamarre-Condon on the dating app Hinge in 2023.
The witness told the court Lamarre-Condon had suggested spending a weekend at an off-grid cabin, but he instead proposed visiting his family’s hobby farm at Bungonia.
They visited the property on 6 November 2023 after spending time together in Sydney earlier that year.
The witness said Lamarre-Condon filmed a video later posted to Instagram featuring Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me.
He later saw Baird appearing in Lamarre-Condon’s social media posts, including footage filmed at the same off-grid cabin. He said Lamarre-Condon told him Baird was merely a friend.
The witness said he stopped communicating with Lamarre-Condon in December 2023 after entering a new relationship and blocked him on social media the following month.
“Beau was always normal with me,” he told the jury. “I did not see any red flags with his mental health.
“He did not like his photo being taken. When we were out in public he always wore a hat like he was hiding his face … I just thought it was the whole cop thing, that he did not want to be seen.”
The witness said Lamarre-Condon initially claimed to work as a police fitness instructor rather than as a police officer.
In February 2024 police contacted him after investigators developed concerns that Baird’s and Davies’ bodies may have been taken to his family’s rural property.
The defence does not dispute that Lamarre-Condon cleaned the scene and later moved the bodies from Sydney to the Bungonia area after the shootings.
Prosecutors allege he attempted to sink surfboard bags containing the bodies in a dam using weights and quick-dry cement before later moving them to bushland near a monastery, where they were eventually discovered.
The defence maintains Lamarre-Condon panicked following two separate struggles which resulted in the deaths of Baird and Davies and then made the decision to transport the bodies away from Sydney.
The trial is expected to run for another eight weeks.
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