By Perry Duffin
Lawyers for NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon expect mental health will “come into play” in his alleged double murder of couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
Police sources and others have also revealed bizarre interactions with Lamarre-Condon including claims that he was confronted by a senior officer while “reminiscing” alone in a police station – and that he sold a $160 boat party ticket days after the alleged murders.
The mental health of Beau Lamarre-Condon (left), who allegedly murdered couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, could come into play, his lawyer says after an initial meeting in prison.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly killed Baird and Davies using his service pistol at Baird’s Paddington terrace on February 19.
He handed himself in to police on February 23 after allegedly trying to dispose of the couple’s bodies, first in a dam on a remote property and then a bush grave when the bodies wouldn’t sink.
His solicitor John Walford has visited Lamarre-Condon in prison and revealed to The Sydney Morning Herald that the officer’s mental health could become important to the case.
“Mental health is something we expect to come into play,” Walford said.
Tributes at the Paddington terrace house on Wednesday where Baird and Davies lost their lives allegedly at the hands of Lamarre-Condon.Credit: Jessica Hromas
“It certainly seems there are things we have to look at in that way.”
Any mental health defence would most likely be challenged by homicide detectives who allege Lamarre-Condon had planned the murder carefully by stealing ammunition from a shooting range and buying a surfboard bag the day before the alleged shooting.
Police allege Lamarre-Condon had intended to kill Baird, with whom they say he was obsessed, but had also killed Davies simply for being at the house. They believe he then bought a second surfboard bag to conceal both bodies in the terrace’s courtyard.
Lamarre-Condon then allegedly evaded police for days while trying to dispose of the pair’s bodies outside Goulburn.
Walford said he would investigate chatter among police that Lamarre-Condon engaged in strange behaviour, or shared unusual comments, with colleagues that could give insights into his state of mind.
Lamarre-Condon had been moved between multiple police stations and commands after he Tasered a man in mid-2020 and was placed under internal investigation. He was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing.
He was briefly stationed at Kogarah during the internal review before being moved on to the youth command where he worked at the time of the alleged murders, sources within police, not authorised to speak publicly, said.
One anonymous source said Lamarre-Condon was spotted by a senior officer at Kogarah wandering around the station after he had been moved on.
Beau Lamarre-Condon documented a lavish lifestyle on his social media accounts. He is now in isolation in prison.
He claimed he was “reminiscing”, the source said, before being asked to leave.
Some sources have said Lamarre-Condon had claimed he owned a swimwear brand while speaking to fellow officers. He told others he had been trained for the close-protection unit, which is tasked with looking after celebrities and dignitaries.
Texts from Beau Lamarre-Condon selling a boat ticket days after the alleged murder.
At 7am on February 22, three days after the alleged murders, Lamarre-Condon was contacted via text because he was selling a ticket to a yacht party in Sydney Harbour.
He replied with his bank details and passed on the ticket for $160.
“Hey yeah no worries I’ll give you my deets in a sec then I’ll forward you the email with the ticket :),” he wrote.
Police allege Lamarre-Condon arrived at a friend’s home in Newcastle later that day and made a chilling revelation.
“This morning I was floating in a dam,” Lamarre-Condon allegedly told his friend.
“There was a dam. The body wouldn’t sink.
“I am me, but it’s not me.”
The following day he turned himself in to police in Bondi.
Lamarre-Condon was spotted in the crowd of a Jessica Mauboy concert at Bondi Westfield on February 12, a week before the alleged killings.
Other officers were also in the crowd, in uniform, though it’s unclear if they were on duty.
Lamarre-Condon was a celebrity blogger who frequented red carpet events before joining the police.
Beau Lamarre-Condon pictured in uniform at a Jessica Mauboy concert at Bondi Junction a week before the alleged murders.
He is being kept in isolation in Silverwater’s Metropolitan Remand Centre.
Walford said Lamarre-Condon was adjusting a new reality – that he is in prison.
“Look, he seems visually OK, but that’s just on the surface,” the lawyer said.
“When I speak, he seems OK, but I can’t imagine how he’s feeling.
“He’s in jail, but he’s a police officer.”
Walford is a former detective and worked as a senior lawyer for 14 years within the NSW Department of Public Prosecutions before opening his practice in Penrith.
Lamarre-Condon has been served a 181D order, which is the formal termination of a serving police officer.
“The Commissioner may, by order in writing, remove a police officer from the NSW Police Force if the Commissioner does not have confidence in the police officer’s suitability to continue as a police officer, having regard to the police officer’s competence, integrity, performance or conduct,” 181D notices read.
The notice has been signed by NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb and gives Lamarre-Condon a few weeks to respond to why he should not be expelled from the force following the murder charges.
He may choose to challenge the notice. Last week, Webb confirmed Lamarre-Condon was suspended “without pay”.
The Paddington terrace where Baird and Davies were killed was silent and sealed on Wednesday. A wall of flowers, cards and rainbow flags, held up by the wrought-iron fence, had begun to droop and drop petals on the footpath.
With Ben Grubb