November 9, 2026 — 5:06pm
Accused killer Beau Lamarre-Condon has told a court that CCTV footage showing him at a shopping centre and having dinner after he allegedly murdered Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies does not reveal his panic after the men died.
During cross-examination in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday, the former NSW police officer denied the prosecution’s allegation that he acted on a plan to “assassinate Jesse Baird” and executed him on February 19, 2024.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, suggested that CCTV footage on February 19, about three hours after the men died, showed Lamarrre-Condon looking “quite relaxed” buying a second surfboard cover at Westfield Miranda.
“You need to remember that as a police officer … I can’t panic, I can’t react, I have to be the person members of the community look at for direction,” Lamarre-Condon said.
“Just because you see me on camera with no reaction doesn’t mean I wasn’t crying five minutes before in the whole car ride there.”
The court has heard he bought the first cover on February 17, two days before the men died of gunshot wounds from his police-issued Glock pistol.
Hatfield pressed: “When we see you licking your fingers and smiling and laughing at Sushi Train [having dinner with a friend the day after the alleged murders], is that from your training as a police officer or something else?”
“No, Mr Crown,” Lamarre-Condon replied. “And I found it very interesting that you were happy to let us watch 30 minutes of footage of a car sitting still, but you were very happy for the jury not to watch any of that footage from Sushi Train because I watched it back, and I’m … very expressive and clearly panicking.”
The 31-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murdering Baird, 26, a former Network Ten producer and presenter, and Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant, at Baird’s Paddington share house on February 19, 2024.
He said he went to Baird’s house that morning to collect some of his belongings – including a $25,000 Cartier ring and Casablanca shirts worth thousands – after Baird ended their relationship in November 2023. The relationship was romantic but not exclusive, he said.
‘You were not suicidal, you were homicidal.’
Prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC
Lamarre-Condon told the court he had his police gun with him because he had contemplated taking his own life on the night of February 18 over work-related trauma.
“You were not suicidal, you were homicidal,” Hatfield put to him on Monday. He rejected that suggestion.
Lamarre-Condon denied that he had executed Baird and had fired a second shot to ensure he was dead. “I never executed Jesse Baird,” he said.
Asked by Hatfield about the Cartier ring, Lamarre-Condon said it was worth $24,450. He told the court that a conversation with a friend on February 14 reminded him that the last time he had seen it was at Baird’s house in mid-November.
“I have multiple Cartier rings, so I didn’t know that one was gone,” he said.
Lamarre-Condon said he was “making more than a normal senior constable” because he did user-pays police work, where private groups pay fees for police services, and also had a swimwear line and invested in Bitcoin. He estimated his police salary at $120,000 including the user-pays work.
‘I have multiple Cartier rings, so I didn’t know that one was gone.’
Beau Lamarre- Condon on ‘a missing $24,450 ring’
“Where the majority of my money would come from then was selling Hermes Birkins [handbags],” he said. “When I went to Paris I would be able to get them. I could make profit anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000, depending on what bag I got.”
Hatfield pressed Lamarre-Condon about whether the ring was “an item of some significance to you”, representing about a quarter of his salary in value, and asked how he had forgotten about it for three months.
Lamarre-Condon said he hadn’t worn it recently and “I rotate through a few of them”.
There is no dispute that Lamarre-Condon disposed of the men’s bodies outside a Greek monastery in Bungonia, near Goulburn, on February 22. The defence case is that he panicked when he realised the gravity of the situation.
The former police officer has told the court he is responsible for Baird’s death but did not intend to kill him. Baird had lunged at him with a knife, he said, and he shot Baird once to disarm him and accidentally shot him a second time in a struggle.
Davies grabbed the gun and accidentally shot himself in front of Baird’s bedroom door, Lamarre-Condon said, and the bullet became lodged in the door.
The prosecution alleges that the accused shot Davies through the door to eliminate a witness after he tried to call Triple Zero for help.
The Crown case is that Davies’ voice can be heard in the recorded call, played on Monday, saying “get out” and “f--- off”.
Lamarre-Condon has said that he called Triple Zero on a mobile phone he found in the kitchen and that both his and Davies’ voices can be heard in the call. The accused said he told Davies to “get out” as he assumed the surrender position.
When asked about the CCTV footage, Lamarre-Condon said: “You need to remember as well, this is someone that I once cared about too.
“I understand, obviously, there’s family members that are sad and upset; I completely understand their pain, but Jesse was someone that I did care about as well, so I was very emotional.”
Lamarre-Condon has told the court he struck upon an idea after he arrived in Paddington that morning to disguise himself as an Uber Eats rider to avoid a confrontation with Baird. He saw a bike nearby with a helmet, high-visibility vest, pants, gloves and bags, he said.
“Everything you needed was just there,” Hatfield said. “It all fitted you just fine.”
Lamarre-Condon said it was not unusual for delivery riders to have these items and the jacket was “pretty large and oversized” while the pants “were tight”.
The accused was also questioned on Monday about a conversation he had with a friend who visited him in prison in December 2025. The court has heard his friend wore a listening device.
In that conversation, he appears to say that “I bought Jesse a surfboard” and he wanted to retrieve it after their break-up. Lamarre-Condon told the court this appeared to be a transcription error and he, in fact, said “brought” and not “bought”.
“I bought the surfboard when Jesse was present with me,” Lamarre-Condon told the court.
“You’ve come up with another untrue version of it for this trial,” Hatfield said. “It was my own surfboard,” Lamarre-Condon replied.
During the conversation, the friend asked of the accused’s entry to Baird’s home: “How is it not break and enter?”
Lamarre-Condon replied that Baird “got a key cut for me”. He told the court last week that the door to Baird’s home was partially open when he arrived.
He said in cross-examination that he also took the key with him but didn’t have to use it. He rejected a suggestion by Hatfield that Baird had not given him a key.
The trial continues.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491, and Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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Source: The Sydney Morning Herald · Michaela Whitbourn, Perry Duffin
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