Beau Lamarre-Condon has told his double-murder trial he is “responsible” for the death of his former partner Jesse Baird, but that he did not intentionally kill the man.
The former police officer is accused of using his police pistol to shoot dead Mr Baird and his new boyfriend Luke Davies in Mr Baird’s Paddington share house in February 2024.
Prosecutors allege Mr Lamarre-Condon developed an obsessive infatuation with Mr Baird after a casual romance with the television presenter in 2023.
The NSW Supreme Court trial has over the past seven weeks heard evidence about Mr Lamarre-Condon’s movements in the week of the alleged murders, with the Crown alleging the 31-year-old took deliberate steps to cover up his involvement in the deaths.
Mr Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to both murder charges and on Thursday moved from the dock into the witness box to give evidence in his defence case.
His lawyers have previously said he acted in self-defence following two separate struggles with the gun at the Paddington home.
Returning to court on Friday, Mr Lamarre-Condon recounted how he intended to collect his “expensive” belongings, including a surfboard and $25,000 Cartier ring, from the share house without Mr Baird’s knowledge on February 19, 2024.
He said the idea to do this was sparked by a conversation with a friend who had successfully retrieved her things from an ex-boyfriend’s home.
He said he planned to request stress leave from NSW Police that same day following a period of bullying and harassment at work.
“It was just going to be a normal day,” he said.
Mr Lamarre-Condon is pleading not guilty to murdering Mr Baird (left) and Mr Davies. (Instagram)
Baird’s death ‘wasn’t intentional’
Mr Lamarre-Condon started driving to the Paddington home sometime after 6am, but said he wanted to wait until he was sure no one was home before entering.
He spotted a delivery driver’s motorcycle while he waited, which he said gave him the idea of taking the helmet, high-vis jacket and empty paper bag so he could knock on Mr Baird’s door without being recognised.
Mr Lamarre-Condon wanted to avoid a confrontation with his ex-partner, he said, and was concerned Mr Baird would report him for harassment.
Beau Lamarre-Condon told the court how both men died. (Illustration: Roco Fazzari)
Letting himself in with a key, he then recounted in detail his movements inside the house, including the moment Mr Baird spotted him and shouted “we’re getting robbed, we’re getting robbed”.
“He couldn’t see that it was me,” Mr Lamarre-Condon said, explaining he was wearing the helmet he took from the food delivery motorcycle at the time.
The former police officer said Mr Baird “lunged at him” with a knife and a struggle began.
Mr Lamarre-Condon said he “went into police mode”, telling Mr Baird to drop the knife or he would shoot.
The court heard he signed his firearm out the day before and had not wanted to leave it in the car while he collected his belongings.
Mr Lamarre-Condon said shooting his “centre point mass” would be fatal, and aimed for Mr Baird’s shoulder instead causing him to drop the knife.
“That first shot into Jesse’s shoulder was the right move,” he said during testimony.
He then described a tug of war over the pistol with Mr Baird, saying it was his finger and not Mr Baird’s on the trigger when the gun discharged another time.
The court heard Mr Baird sustained a gunshot to the head.
“I’m responsible for his death but it wasn’t intentional,”
he said.
Under cross-examination, he later said he stood by the first shot.
“I’ve had lots and lots of time to think about this,” he said.
“The first shot was intentional, the second wasn’t.”
Officer passed out after shootings, court told
Mr Lamarre-Condon became emotional at times while recounting the incident and could be seen with a string of rosary beads wrapped around his hand.
He said he put Mr Baird in the recovery position and started to plan to get help.
He said Mr Davies discovered him while Mr Lamarre-Condon was dialling Triple Zero (000).
He said Mr Davies was holding the police pistol and saying, “‘I’m going to f***ing shoot you”.
Police training kicked in, Mr Lamarre-Condon said, and he grabbed Mr Davies’s wrist to try and direct away the gun.
“At that point I was just looking at his firearm … and I saw … he was obviously pulling down on the trigger,” he said.
The gun went off, Mr Lamarre-Condon said, with the bullet going through Mr Davies’s head and a bedroom door.
He said his finger was not on the trigger when the gun discharged.
“I didn’t shoot Luke,” he said.
Mr Lamarre-Condon said he had a panic attack and passed out for a period of time.
“It was like I was floating out of my body and looking down at myself and everything around me didn’t seem real,” he said.
Accused says he wanted to ‘do the right thing’
The accused said he must have been in the house “for an hour” and when he regained consciousness wiped up blood and wrapped the knife in a paper towel.
He drove to a friend’s workplace and told him he had “killed somebody”, before driving alone to buy a second surfboard bag to transport the bodies.
At this stage, he told the court he was “fearful” about going to the police because of his job and a fear he would be “killed” in jail.
“In my mind I was fearful if I went to police I knew what I had done to Jesse … was manslaughter,” he said.
“If I did the right thing I would sign a death wish.”
He testified he returned to the share house to put Mr Baird and Mr Davies inside the two surfboard bags, and that night, hired a rental van.
The next day, on February 20, he told the court he moved Mr Baird’s belongings out of the house and scoped out a skip bin in Cronulla to throw them out.
Mr Lamarre-Condon said he asked a friend, known to the court as Elizabeth Kennedy on February 21.
He alleged she recommended he buy supplies including overalls for them both, and drove them both to a farm in Bungonia outside of Sydney.
The bodies of Mr Baird and Mr Davies were found near a monastery in Bungonia. (AAP: Dean Lewins)
He claimed he showed her Mr Baird’s head, which she has previously denied, and said she stopped him from going to the police.
“She knew what was happening, she knew what she was doing,” he told the court.
The court has previously heard Ms Kennedy waited by a gate at the Bungonia property, but Mr Lamarre-Condon testified she drove through to a dam with him.
He then described the pair placing the two surfboard bags containing Mr Davies and Mr Baird’s bodies inside additional longboard bags, before a failed attempt to sink them with weights and cement.
After dropping Ms Kennedy back to Sydney, he said he returned to Bungonia to drive the bodies back to Sydney.
Mr Baird and Mr Davies were driven once again to Bungonia on February 22, this time put at a fence line near a Greek monastery nearby.
On February 23, Mr Lamarre-Condon surrendered himself to Bondi Police Station to “do the right thing” and told police he had anxiety, depression and “symptoms of schizophrenia”.
He assisted detectives with the location of the bodies in the days following because “everyone deserves to bury their loved ones”, he told the court.
The trial continues.
Source: www.abc.net.au
