In Sydney's Supreme Court, the trial of Beau Lamarre-Condon — a former police officer who pleaded not guilty to the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies — began this week, drawing into the open a story of romantic entanglement, alleged obsession, and the calculated misuse of institutional trust. The prosecution contends that when a relationship ended, something in Lamarre-Condon did not, and that what followed was not impulse but preparation — disguise, planning, and the carrying of a weapon that had no lawful purpose in his hands that night. Two families now sit in a courtroom, waiting for
Ex-cop disguised as Uber Eats rider in alleged double murder, court hears
Two men, Jesse Baird (26) and Luke Davies (29), were fatally shot at Baird's Paddington home in February 2024.
He dressed as a delivery rider to enter a house he already had a key to.
Mark
So the prosecution is saying this wasn't a crime of passion—it was planned. What evidence are they pointing to?
Mimi
The surfboard bag, the vehicle rental under his mother's name, the research into silencing gunshots. These aren't things you do on impulse. They're saying he spent weeks or months preparing.
Luke
But we should note—at this stage, Hatfield is making an opening statement. He's laying out what the crown intends to prove. The actual evidence comes next. We don't yet know how solid any of this is.
Mark
Right. And the disguise—the Uber Eats outfit—that's a specific detail. Does that suggest he was trying to avoid being recognized?
Mimi
That's what the prosecution is arguing. He had a key to the house, so he could have just entered. But instead he dressed as a delivery rider, which suggests he wanted to appear as someone other than who he was.
Luke
Or it could suggest something else entirely. We're hearing the crown's interpretation. The defense will have their own. We don't know yet what Lamarre-Condon's account of that day is.
Mark
The obsession angle—how does that factor into the legal case?
Mimi
It goes to motive. If the jury believes he was obsessed with Baird, that he couldn't accept the rejection, then the planning and the execution make a kind of terrible sense. It's a narrative that connects the emotional state to the actions.
Luke
But obsession isn't the same as murder. Plenty of people experience rejection and obsession without killing anyone. The prosecution has to show not just that he was obsessed, but that this obsession led him to plan and carry out these specific killings. That's the harder part.
Mark
What about the bodies being found so far away? What does that tell us?
Mimi
It suggests an attempt to conceal the crime, to put distance between the crime scene and where they were left. The failed attempt to sink them in the dam—that's part of the same pattern.
Luke
Though we should be careful about what we infer. The bodies were found in Bungonia. The prosecution says he tried to sink them in a dam first. But I don't see in the reporting where that dam is, or what evidence connects Lamarre-Condon to that attempt. Those are details that will matter.
Der Puls
- A former police officer allegedly turned the tools of his profession — a service weapon, institutional credibility — into instruments of premeditated violence against two men he knew intimately.
- The prosecution alleges months of obsessive preparation: researching sound suppression, renting vehicles under a false name, and disguising himself as a delivery rider to gain entry without suspicion.
- Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, were shot inside their Paddington home; their bodies were later found nearly 200 kilometres away in Bungonia, eight days after the killings.
- Lamarre-Condon offered to plead guilty to manslaughter — an offer the prosecution rejected — meaning the full weight of a murder trial, expected to last two to three months, will now unfold before a jury.
- The courtroom was filled to capacity on the first day, with both families present, as the legal process began the slow work of accounting for two lives lost.
In Sydney's Supreme Court, the trial of Beau Lamarre-Condon — a former police officer who pleaded not guilty to the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies — began this week, drawing into the open a story of romantic entanglement, alleged obsession, and the calculated misuse of institutional trust. The prosecution contends that when a relationship ended, something in Lamarre-Condon did not, and that what followed was not impulse but preparation — disguise, planning, and the carrying of a weapon that had no lawful purpose in his hands that night. Two families now sit in a courtroom, waiting for the law to name what happened to the people they loved.
Beau Lamarre-Condon entered Sydney's Supreme Court on Monday in a light grey suit, composed as he entered pleas of not guilty to two counts of murder and aggravated break and enter. The 31-year-old former officer had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter; the prosecution declined, and the trial began.
Prosecutor Brett Hatfield outlined a case built around obsession. Lamarre-Condon and Jesse Baird had been romantically involved from late 2022 into 2023. When Baird cut off contact in November that year, the prosecution alleges something hardened into fixation. What followed, Hatfield told the jury, was not passion but planning — researching ways to muffle gunshots, renting a car under his mother's name, purchasing a surfboard bag, and retaining his police service weapon without operational justification.
On February 19, 2024, Lamarre-Condon allegedly dressed as an Uber Eats delivery rider and used a key he had obtained to enter Baird's Paddington home. Inside, he shot Baird twice in the kitchen, then moved to the bedroom and shot Baird's partner, Luke Davies, 29. Both men died from wounds inflicted with the officer's own service weapon. An attempt to dispose of the bodies nearby failed. Eight days later, they were found in Bungonia, nearly 200 kilometres from the crime scene.
The courtroom was full — media, members of the public, and the families of both men, their mothers and siblings present as proceedings began. The trial is expected to run two to three months, examining not only the events of that February night but the years of relationship and alleged obsession the prosecution argues made them possible.
Beau Lamarre-Condon sat in the dock of Sydney's Supreme Court on Monday morning wearing a light grey suit and dark tie, his posture composed as he entered his pleas: not guilty to two counts of murder, not guilty to aggravated break and enter. The 31-year-old former police officer had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter instead. The prosecution rejected the offer. The trial would proceed.
The crown's case, laid out by prosecutor Brett Hatfield as jury selection began, painted a portrait of escalating obsession. Lamarre-Condon and Jesse Baird, then 26, had been romantically involved from late 2022 into 2023. When Baird ended all contact in November that year, something shifted. Hatfield told the jury panel that Lamarre-Condon developed what he called an "infatuation and obsession" with Baird—a fixation that manifested in compulsive behavior and, the prosecution would argue, in meticulous planning for murder.
By early 2024, according to the crown's allegations, Lamarre-Condon had begun preparing. He researched ways to muffle gunshot noise. He rented a vehicle under his mother's name. He purchased a surfboard bag. He kept his police service weapon, a gun he had no operational need to carry. He obtained a key to Baird's Paddington home. On February 19, 2024, he put on a motorcycle helmet and dressed himself as an Uber Eats delivery rider—a disguise calculated to gain entry without suspicion.
Once inside, Hatfield told the jury, Lamarre-Condon moved through the house with purpose. He went to the kitchen and shot Jesse Baird twice. He then moved to the bedroom and shot Luke Davies, Baird's 29-year-old partner. Both men were killed with the officer's service weapon. Afterward, Lamarre-Condon attempted to dispose of the bodies in a nearby dam. The effort failed. Eight days later, the bodies of Baird and Davies were discovered nearly 200 kilometers away in Bungonia, abandoned in a location far from the crime scene.
The courtroom on Monday was full. Members of the public and media had filled every available seat. Baird and Davies' families were present—their mothers, their siblings, watching as the legal machinery began to turn. The jury had been selected. The trial was expected to run for two to three months, a lengthy proceeding that would require the court to examine not only the events of that February day but the months and years of behavior that preceded it, the relationships and obsessions that the prosecution contends led to two deaths.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
He developed an infatuation and obsession with Jesse Baird which manifested itself in a range of compulsive behaviour— Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, describing the prosecution's case
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Crime & Justice