Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon charged with two counts of murder after handing himself in to police over ex-TV host Jesse Baird and boyfriend Luke Davies
Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has been formally charged with the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies as a widespread search for two bodies continues.
Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has been formally charged with the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, as homicide detectives continue a widespread search to find the missing bodies of the Sydney couple.
Detective superintendent Danny Doherty told reporters on Friday afternoon that Constable Lamarre-Condon, the ex-partner of Mr Baird, had been arrested in Bondi, taken to Waverley police station and placed in custody.
Lamarre-Condon appeared at Waverley Local Court on Friday afternoon where he was formally refused bail.
He was brought into the courtroom and appeared dejected, only looking at the magistrate.
Detective Superintendent Doherty confirmed Constable Lamarre-Condon’s police firearm had been fired at Mr Baird’s Paddington home during the day on Monday.
Police allege that after using his police-issued gun, Constable Lamarre-Condon checked the weapon back into a safe at a suburban police station, where it was found by homicide detectives.
“Through the examination of the crime scene at Paddington, where a large amount of blood was located, police also located a projectile at the premises, which had been discharged, and also a fire cartridge case,” Detective Superintendent Doherty told reporters.
“This has now been ballistically matched to a NSW Police firearm and forms part of the evidence for the alleged facts to face court for this 28-year-old man. As a result of those inquiries, there have been a number of other crime scenes at Waterloo and Balmain.”
Police believe that after Mr Davies and Mr Baird died at the Paddington home, a white van, understood to be a Toyota HiAce, was “used to transport their bodies to another location.”
Constable Lamarre Condon was then sighted in Newcastle on Sydney’s central coast. The van was located in Grays Point in Sydney’s south, where Constable Lamarre Condon grew up, and will be forensically examined.
Shortly after 3pm on Friday afternoon police seized a white Toyota rental van from a street in Grays Point. It will be taken for forensic testing.
Detective Superintendent Doherty stressed that the police are now focussing on locating the bodies of the two men.
“The discharge of the firearm in a house in Paddington has been matched to the 28-year-old man’s firearm, however we still have to establish what the cause of death is, and that’s why we need to find - not only for our investigation but mainly for the family - where the location of the bodies are,” he said.
Police have been searching for the van, registration CW82PM, believed to have been driven by Constable Lamarre-Condon and hired from a location in Mascot late Monday.
It comes as police late on Thursday night executed a search warrant at the Balmain home of Constable Lamarre-Condon’s mother, who used to work for NSW police, where they seized “a number of items”.
CCTV obtained by 7 News, captured from a neighbour’s property on Monday night, shows a white van driving past the couple seated in an area adjacent to Jesse’s Paddington sharehouse. It is understood police believe Constable Lamarre-Condon had been driving the vehicle.
In the vision, the vehicle appears to mount the kerb while turning left into Cooper Street, a dead end.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that police allege Constable Lamarre-Condon drove the van to a house near Newcastle. Sources said police allege the policeman drove the van to a house in Lambton which belonged to an ex cop. A tip-off led police to the area.
A significant amount of blood and “signs of struggle” were discovered by police inside the east Sydney home in inner-city Paddington of former entertainment reporter and now Australian football goal umpire Mr Baird on Wednesday night, just hours after bloodied items thought to belong to Mr Davies, were found in a skip bin almost 30km south in Cronulla.
Constable Lamarre-Condon, whose mother is a former NSW police officer, is understood to have joined the force in 2018 – stationed at Surry Hills police station as a probationary constable. He soon gained publicity when video of him Tasering a man in the face during an arrest went viral in 2020.
He was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
Constable Lamarre-Condon was spotted outside the house US celebrity Kourtney Kardashian was staying in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill last week, attempting to have a photograph taken with her.
In recent weeks Constable Lamarre-Condon, who grew up in the Sutherland Shire, was also spotted driving around Rose Bay in a Tesla SUV, telling associates he had started a swimsuit line and was going to commence training with the Protection Operations Unit – the unit responsible for the security of politicians, diplomats and other public dignitaries.
He made a name for himself in Australia’s entertainment scene in 2012 where he would attend airports and red carpet premieres to have his photo taken with singers such as Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Adam Lambert and Miley Cyrus, and also ran amateur gossip blogs That’s The Tea, which he launched in 2013, and TheAustralianReporter.com.
In 2014 he “came out” to Lady Gaga, when he threw a note onto the stage during one of her concerts.
He was also seen at Indigo Double Bay towards the end of January with another male.
Constable Lamarre-Condon was brought up in Grays Point, in Sydney’s southern suburbs, which is about 20 minutes from Cronulla.
Mr Baird, who just months ago was on the couch of news and entertainment show Studio 10, had been due to officiate in a practice AFL match on Thursday between Sydney and GWS Giants at Tramway Oval in Moore Park.
Possessions belonging to Mr Davies, a Qantas flight attendant and Mr Baird were found about 11am on Wednesday in a skip-bin outside a Cronulla club.
It is understood the inkeeper of a nearby bowling was throwing away rubbish when they found bloodied clothing, a mobile phone, a credit card belonging to Mr Davies, an $8000 watch, car keys and other personal items belonging to Mr Baird in the bin and reported it to police.
Officers then visited the Paddington home of Mr Baird and “immediately” established a crime scene. Upturned furniture and large amounts of blood were found inside the home.
Detective Superintendent Jodi Radmore confirmed the amount of blood discovered could be consistent with a fatality.
She said detectives weren’t excluding any lines of inquiry as investigations continue: “We do believe from the crime scene at Paddington and from the property located at Cronulla, that there has been some sort of incident that has more than likely occurred at the Paddington address. Witnesses described a verbal argument but it wasn’t reported to police at the time., it was only reported to police yesterday during the canvas”.
Police said they hold grave concerns for the safety of both men.
Mr Baird’s Instagram account shows him arm in arm with television presenters Angela Bishop and Tristan MacManus, posing with champion UFC fighter Alex Volkanovski in the Channel 10 studios and former MasterChef judge Matt Preston and suited up for the TV Week Logie Awards. He and Mr Davies were pictured at the Pink concert a few days ago and had just enjoyed a long weekend in Palm Beach as they posed at an idyllic lookout.
Hundreds of comments on Mr Davies Instagram profile express concern for the two men. “Praying and wishing to god that nothing too serious has happened to you and that you are safe,” one said.
Hundreds of others shared the police call-out, asking friends with information to come forward. “He is an amazing, beautiful soul and I hope he’s OK,” one friend wrote. “Luke, police be okay. We are so worried,” another said.
Two cars have been removed from the Paddington property.
Additional reporting: NCA NewsWire
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