Luke Davies’ phone called triple-0 moments after gunshots at Paddington home
A triple-0 call was made from Luke Davies’ mobile phone four minutes after gunshots were heard inside a Paddington terrace, but NSW Police failed to find the right address.
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A triple-0 call was made from Luke Davies’ mobile phone four minutes after gunshots were heard inside a Paddington terrace, but NSW Police failed to find the right address.
Extraordinary new details about the days that followed the horrific deaths of the much-loved television presenter Jesse Baird and his boyfriend Luke Davies, 29, were revealed at Monday’s NSW Police press conference, including how a mystery woman travelled with two bodies in the back of a rental van to a bush location in the middle of the night and waited while alleged killer Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon, 28, tried to dispose of them.
Deputy Commissioner David Hudson laid bare a timeline of events detectives allege took place from 9.50am last Monday when a neighbour heard “one, possibly several” gunshots, but didn’t notify police.
Distressingly, Mr Hudson also revealed that four minutes later, a triple-0 call was made from one of the victim’s phones at 9.54am which disconnected before anyone spoke.
Mr Hudson initially claimed the call was made by Mr Baird’s phone, but following inquiries by The Daily Telegraph, NSW Police later clarified the call was made from Luke Davies’ phone.
More than eight hours after Mr Hudson claimed the call from Mr Davies’ phone was never followed up on, NSW Police then confirmed they did send a patrol car to Mr Davies home in Waterloo, and then to Paddington in response to the triple-0 call.
Advanced Mobile Location (AML) technology on Apple and Android phones was rolled out by the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority in 2021 which allows emergency call operators to see the exact location of the device, right down to a five to 50 metre accuracy.
Despite this technology, officers failed to locate the right address in Paddington to respond to the call.
NSW Police told The Daily Telegraph that officers tried to call the number back but there was no answer.
It’s unknown how much time it took for police to send the patrol car or how long it took to call Mr Davies’ phone back.
Several general duties officers told The Daily Telegraph they do “multiple” welfare checks “every single day” on people who have pocket dialled or mistakenly called triple-0.
One officer said often the operator will call back if the call is disconnected, but if that isn’t successful, a welfare check is the usual next step.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal that the entire time Constable Lamarre-Condon was travelling around NSW allegedly disposing of bodies and evidence, he was in possession of his “Mobipol” – a smartphone device which allows officers access to police systems and databases while away from the station.
Mr Hudson said police allege that a day after the two deaths, Constable Lamarre-Condon made “partial admissions about being involved in the deaths of two individuals”.
On Wednesday, while officers were called to a skip in Cronulla where Mr Baird, 26, and Mr Davies’ bloodied clothes and personal items had been found dumped, police allege Constable Lamarre-Condon and a “female acquaintance” had left the city in a rented white Toyota Hiace van and travelled to a rural property at Bungonia in the Southern Tablelands.
The pair stopped at Bunnings in Goulburn where police allege they purchased equipment to break into a rural property Constable Lamarre-Condon was familiar with from a past relationship.
“We can say that the acquaintance (allegedly) assisted the accused in purchasing an angle grinder and a padlock … that angle grinder was used to sever a padlock from the gate of that rural property.”
The woman was left at the gate for about 30 minutes while Constable Lamarre-Hudson drove onto property, police allege.
“The accused disappeared for that period in the Hiace van, returning to pick up the acquaintance and then they returned to Sydney later that afternoon,” Mr Hudson said.
“At 11pm that evening, weights were purchased from department store by the accused, and it’s believed the accused returned to the rural property that evening … having acquired two torches from the acquaintance.”
Police said woman is not accused of any involvement in the alleged crimes, and say she has co-operated fully with their investigation. Mr Hudson said the woman claims she did not know there were two bodies in the back of the van.
Constable Lamarre-Condon is seen leaving the Bungonia area at 4.30am the next morning.
At two-day search of the Hazelton Rd property and the two dams on it by specialist police divers and Public Order and Riot Squad officers on a line search failed to reveal any trace of the two missing men.
But Mr Hudson said it was possible that when the accused went back to the property for the second time, he did so to move the bodies to another location.
It is understood police are now probing whether the bodies wouldn’t sink in the dam, forcing Constable Lamarre-Condon to move them elsewhere.
Police allege he then travelled to Newcastle where he “asked for a hose” and cleaned the van at a friend’s house.
“It would appear that the accused was suspicious of the acquaintance that attended with him, and about her beliefs of what he might be up to, and very likely may have returned to those bodies later that evening. In that case we believe that he may have moved them,” Mr Hudson said.
Constable Lamarre-Condon leaves Newcastle around 5am on Friday and headed back to Sydney, where he handed himself into Bondi police at 10.39am.
Asked where the officer’s superiors thought he was that week while police allege he was carrying out and covering up a murder, Mr Hudson said Constable Lamarre-Condon was on consecutive days off on Monday and Tuesday, then claimed he was having a “minor operation” on Wednesday.
A critical incident investigation has been launched concurrently with the homicide probe to look at how the officer was able to have his service Glock with him on days off, and allegedly use it to kill the two men.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission will also monitor the NSW Police investigation.
HOW ACCUSED KILLER COP HAD ACCESS TO HIS GUN AFTER WORK
Exclusive: Constable Lamarre-Condon kept his police gun with him after doing an overtime shift at the pro-Palestine rally in the city last Sunday.
The Daily Telegraph has been told that Constable Lamarre-Condon checked the weapon out of Miranda station that morning to perform duties at the rally under a user pays system, where officers can pick up additional shifts that are paid for by event organisers, or on this case, the NSW Government.
The user pays arrangement gives an officer more autonomy than when they are on normal duties and sometimes assigned to a team or partner when they leave the station.
Police allege that between midnight on Monday and 5pm that day, Constable Lamarre-Condon, 28, fired the weapon at least once inside the Paddington home of his one-time lover and television presenter Jesse Baird, 26.
Mr Baird and boyfriend Luke Davies, 29, were both allegedly murdered by the officer inside the Brown St home that day. Their bodies have not been found.
On Tuesday morning, when he was rostered on for duties at his usual station, Constable Lamarre-Condon allegedly dropped the gun back to Balmain police station which was close to where he lived with his mother. He then called in sick for the day.
Police will allege he spent that day discarding the two men’s bodies, as well as their bloodied clothes and personal items which were found on Wednesday morning dumped in a skip bin in Cronulla.
Constable Lamarre-Condon was charged on Friday with two counts of murder, and remains behind bars on remand where he is allegedly refusing to speak to homicide detectives.
Police sources said a review was underway of Constable Lamarre-Condon’s claim he was doing a user pays shift, and also of his psychological profiling which allowed him entry to the force in 2018.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Constable Lamarre-Condon often posted photos of himself wearing his gun on social media, which is understood to be a breach of the police media policy.
In one recent picture, Constable Lamarre-Condon posed alongside another person who appears to be a colleague, both in plainclothes and with their guns visible on their hips.
“Wednesday,” he captioned the photo posted on his Instagram account.
Three days since the deaths, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb expressed her sympathy to the two mens’ families and asked the community to be patient while detectives got to the bottom of the horrific crime.
“I understand there are many unanswered questions,” she said.
“I can reassure Luke and Jesse’s loved ones, and the people of NSW, that we are working around the clock to find those answers”.
On social media, there were calls for police to withdraw from the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras festival next month.
“If the NSW Police Force has any decency, they will withdraw from the parade out of respect for the victims’ families and the community. It’s bad enough we will have to see that uniform at all,” one person wrote.
Do you know more? Email tips@dailytelegraph.com.au
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