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Alleged double killer Beau Lamarre-Condon said he is “remorseful” and “did take accountability” for the death of Jesse Baird, whom he is accused of murdering alongside Baird’s boyfriend Luke Davies with his police-issued gun in a terrace house in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The then-off-duty police officer allegedly used a Glock pistol to shoot 26-year-old television presenter Baird and 29-year-old Qantas flight attendant Davies in February 2024.
Beau Lamarre-Condon (left) is accused of murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
After pleading not guilty to the two alleged murders in August, Lamarre-Condon interrupted proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday morning to deliver an extraordinary message via audiovisual link from prison, in his first publicly spoken words about the deaths.
Wearing prison greens, the former senior constable said: “Sorry, Your Honour, I just would like to respectfully say this, so the following is noted on the court transcript, so the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] cannot deny having no knowledge of this.”
“Whilst in the local court, I made a formal offer to the DPP of guilty to one count of manslaughter relating to Jesse Baird and Jesse Baird only”.
Lamarre-Condon continued: “I want this noted on the court transcript, so if I’m convicted of this offence at trial, it was known I did take accountability from the very start”.
“I am remorseful, and I’m also entitled to my early plea discount.”
Lamarre-Condon in court in August.Credit: Rocco Fazzari
The 30-year-old said that he wanted it noted that if NSW Police or the DPP “request to have a closed court or a suppression order put in place, I strongly oppose to this, as not only do I want the public to know the actual truth of what happened, but I want them to know about the serious misconduct and corruption NSW Police investigators have engaged in during the investigation process,” adding the DPP are “partly complicit”.
“The truth will always prevail, and I will not be silenced. Thank you,” his speech, which made no mention of Davies, concluded.
Justice Peter Hamill thanked Lamarre-Condon for his remarks, but said he had a “very capable solicitor”.
“We might let her do the talking for the most part, and I’m sure if there were negotiations in the local court, they will have been recorded. But in any event, we’ll proceed,” Hamill said.
The court heard the brief of evidence included more than 200 witnesses, but not all were expected to give evidence and some testimonies would be short.
Lamarre-Condon’s case had faced ongoing delays, including legal representation changes and withdrawals, leaving him spending more than 18 months in custody on remand.
Nearly six weeks ago, it finally hit a milestone as he vowed to defend the two counts of domestic violence murder and one count of aggravated break and enter regarding an alleged incident with Baird, with whom he’s accused of becoming fixated following a short, casual romance.
On Friday, the case was listed for trial for September 21 next year, with an estimate of two-to-three months and to be presided over by Justice Natalie Adams.
Lamarre-Condon’s mother, Coleen Lamarre, supported her son in court.
The Crown prosecutor told the court he did not anticipate an application for a judge-alone trial, meaning it will likely sit before a jury.
Hamill read out the murder charges to Lamarre-Condon for formal arraignment, followed by the break-and-enter charge dated August 2023 - six months before the killings.
The alleged break-in at Baird’s Paddington house, the murder scene, included the theft of Baird’s mobile phone and wallet, while Lamarre-Condon allegedly knew someone was in the house. Police earlier said Baird had confided in friends about a “shadowy figure” standing over his bed.
“Not guilty, Your Honour,” Lamarre-Condon responded in his second attempt at pleading, after his first attempt was accidentally muted.
After a previous court appearance, Lamarre-Condon’s Legal Aid lawyer, Ben Archbold, told journalists outside court that “there are always more sides to every story”.
“We’ll have an opportunity to tell ours in the fullness of time, in the appropriate form, and I suppose history will be the judge,” he said.
The former police officer is accused of checking his service weapon out of Miranda Police Station ahead of a shift patrolling a pro-Palestine protest on the day of the deaths.
Police claim he then hid the couple’s bodies in surfboard bags he purchased at a Miranda shopping centre, before submerging them in a dam and leaving them about 180 kilometres south-west of Sydney, travelling in a rented white van.
A three-day manhunt followed Baird and Davies’ sudden disappearance, before Lamarre-Condon turned himself in to police on February 23.
Days after his arrest, he allegedly revealed the bodies’ location to detectives from inside custody, and was soon after fired from the police force.
One further count of break and enter was earlier dismissed.
In his pre-policing days, Lamarre-Condon ran a celebrity blog, posing in selfies with celebrities such as Taylor Swift.
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