Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon told the court in Sydney on Friday that he had never planned to kill anyone, responding to questions about the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and his new partner, Luke Davies. Lamarre-Condon gave evidence on the seventh day in the witness box before Judge Natalie Adams, with the trial continuing.
He is charged with fatally shooting Baird and Davies with his service weapon. The murders allegedly took place at Baird's home in Paddington, Sydney, on 19 February 2024. Lamarre-Condon pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of aggravated burglary.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC repeatedly suggested to Lamarre-Condon that he had planned to kill Baird. Lamarre-Condon responded: "It was never a plan to kill anyone." He also told the jury: "You wouldn't bring a vehicle associated with your mum for a murder." He added: "If I wanted to plan a murder, I would have two stolen vehicles ready, I would have a gun not associated with me. I know exactly how to do it, I work with young gangs." Hatfield retorted: "No one is saying it was a good plan, that's why you are sitting here, aren't you?"
Lamarre-Condon was questioned about driving his mother to pick up a rental car in her name on the night before the alleged murders. He claimed that he and his mother had discussed his suicidal thoughts in the car. He also said he had turned off his phone because he did not want to talk about work or personal matters near the device.
Asked about the purchase of a SIM card under the name "Bob Ballard" on 15 January 2024, approximately a month before the shooting, Lamarre-Condon told the jury that it "has nothing to do with Jesse Baird". He explained that he had obtained the SIM card under a pseudonym because he wanted to go to the media regarding allegations of mistreatment in the police. He said he was trying to compile statements about "mistreatment by a certain sergeant", but was concerned about speaking publicly on the issue. "I wanted to go and compile all those statements and go to the media," he said. "I didn't want to communicate from my phone at all because you can become a target ... there would be consequences."
Under cross-examination by Hatfield, Lamarre-Condon admitted to using the new SIM card to contact former and current police officers. Asked why his phone records showed that he had only contacted one police officer on this SIM card, he said that this only revealed his normal phone calls. "You can't see what I was doing on Signal," he told the court. The prosecutor asserted that he could have used the encrypted messaging app Signal on his normal phone. Lamarre-Condon claimed that the police could force him to unlock his own device and review his Signal records if he were investigated for speaking to the media.
Hatfield also asked why Lamarre-Condon had Davies's contact details on his phone. Lamarre-Condon claimed that Davies's details were on his Instagram. "I blocked numerous Instagram [accounts] from my Instagram because of this incident," he said, referring to the shooting. "I even blocked Jesse's family members from my account. I didn't want anything to do with it." Shortly afterwards, he deactivated his social media accounts.
