In the hills south of Sydney, the bodies of two young men — a television presenter and a flight attendant — were found hidden beneath rocks and debris, ending a search that had gripped a city and a community. A serving police officer, the ex-boyfriend of one of the victims, now faces charges of double murder, accused of killing both men at a Paddington home before concealing the evidence across four hours of highway. The case has opened a wound within Sydney's LGBTQ+ community just days before its most celebrated annual gathering, forcing difficult questions about trust, grief, and who is perm
TV presenter Jesse Baird and boyfriend found dead; serving police officer charged
Two men, Jesse Baird (26) and Luke Davies (29), were murdered at a Sydney home and their bodies hidden at a rural property.
We're dealing with a domestic homicide, not a hate crime
Mark
Why did the Mardi Gras board decide to exclude police from the parade?
Mimi
They said police participation could intensify grief and distress in the community, especially given that an officer was charged with these murders.
Luke
But the commissioner says this wasn't a hate crime—it was domestic. Are those two things in tension, or are they separate conversations?
Mimi
They might be. The board seems to be responding to the fact that a police officer killed two men in the LGBTQ+ community. The commissioner is saying the motive wasn't anti-gay violence.
Mark
So what actually happened between Lamarre-Condon and Baird before the murders?
Luke
The source doesn't say. We know they were ex-boyfriends, we know neighbours heard an argument, but we don't have details about what led to it or what the argument was about.
Mimi
That's a real gap. The domestic nature of it matters, but we're not told what the relationship breakdown looked like.
Mark
And Lamarre-Condon didn't cooperate at first?
Mimi
Right. He was arrested but initially refused to help investigators. Then he provided the location of the bodies.
Luke
We don't know why he changed his mind or what prompted that shift. That's another piece missing from the reporting.
Mark
What does this mean for the parade and the community?
Mimi
It's created a fracture at a moment when the community is grieving. The board and the police commissioner are disagreeing about what the crime represents.
Le Pouls
- Two men in their twenties — Jesse Baird, a Network 10 presenter, and Luke Davies, a Qantas flight attendant — were murdered at a Sydney home, their bodies hidden at a rural property 200 kilometres away.
- The accused is not a stranger but a serving police officer and Baird's ex-boyfriend, a detail that has deepened the sense of betrayal felt across Sydney's LGBTQ+ community.
- Investigators allege the bodies were transported in surf bags inside a hired white van, concealed under rocks and debris at Bungonia — a methodical act that prolonged the anguish of those searching for answers.
- The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board has asked police not to march in the weekend parade, citing the distress the case has caused, even as they acknowledged that many LGBTQ+ officers are grieving too.
- Police Commissioner Karen Webb has pushed back, insisting this was a domestic homicide rather than a hate crime — a distinction that matters legally but has done little to ease the community's pain.
In the hills south of Sydney, the bodies of two young men — a television presenter and a flight attendant — were found hidden beneath rocks and debris, ending a search that had gripped a city and a community. A serving police officer, the ex-boyfriend of one of the victims, now faces charges of double murder, accused of killing both men at a Paddington home before concealing the evidence across four hours of highway. The case has opened a wound within Sydney's LGBTQ+ community just days before its most celebrated annual gathering, forcing difficult questions about trust, grief, and who is permitted to share in mourning.
The search for Jesse Baird and Luke Davies ended at a rural property near Bungonia, four hours south of Sydney, where investigators discovered the bodies of the 26-year-old television presenter and his 29-year-old partner. The investigation had begun earlier in the month when blood and a bullet casing were found at Baird's home in the inner-Sydney suburb of Paddington.
Charged with both murders is Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, a serving New South Wales police officer and Baird's former partner. Police allege he killed both men at the Paddington residence — neighbours had reported hearing an argument that morning — before hiring a white van to transport their bodies in surf bags to the Bungonia property, where they were hidden beneath rocks and debris. Lamarre-Condon initially refused to cooperate with investigators before eventually disclosing the location of the remains.
The case has sent a tremor through Sydney's LGBTQ+ community in the days leading up to the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. The event's board made the unusual decision to ask police not to march, saying their presence could deepen the distress already felt by a community in mourning. The organisers were careful to acknowledge the complexity of the request, recognising that many officers who march are themselves LGBTQ+ and are grieving alongside everyone else.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb responded with disappointment, drawing a firm distinction between the case and a hate crime, characterising it instead as a domestic homicide. The legal framing, however, has offered little comfort to those who knew Baird and Davies — or to a community now navigating grief and unease in equal measure.
The bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were found at a rural property in Bungonia, four hours south of Sydney, after police arrested a serving officer in connection with their deaths. The discovery came following an investigation that began when blood and a bullet casing were discovered at Baird's home in Paddington earlier in the month.
Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, a police officer and Baird's ex-boyfriend, was charged with the murders of both men. According to police allegations, Lamarre-Condon killed the 26-year-old television presenter and Davies, 29, at Baird's Paddington residence. Neighbours reported hearing an argument at the home that morning. Police say Lamarre-Condon then hired a white van to move the bodies away from the scene, transporting them in surf bags before concealing them under rocks and debris at the Bungonia location.
Baird had worked as a presenter for the Australian network Network 10 until December. Davies was employed as a flight attendant for Qantas. New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb confirmed the discovery in a statement, saying authorities were confident they had located both men.
Lamarre-Condon initially failed to cooperate with investigators, but authorities say he eventually provided the location of the remains. The case has reverberated through Sydney's LGBTQ+ community, prompting the organisers of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to make an unusual request ahead of the parade scheduled for the coming weekend. The board asked that police not participate in the event, stating that their presence could "add to the distress within our communities" given that LGBTQ+ people were "already deeply affected by recent events." The organisers acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, noting that many police officers who march in the parade are themselves members of the LGBTQ+ community and are grieving alongside everyone else.
Police Commissioner Webb pushed back against the board's decision, characterising the case differently. She stated that this was not a hate crime motivated by sexual orientation, but rather a domestic homicide—a distinction she believed was important to make clear. Webb expressed disappointment with the Mardi Gras board's position and indicated she hoped they would reconsider.
Citations marquantes
We are very confident that we have located Luke and Jesse— NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb
We're not dealing with a gay hate crime here. We're dealing with a domestic homicide— NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur JOE.ie ↗
Crime & Justice