Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, began giving evidence on Thursday before the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney, appearing as the first defence witness. The trial is being heard by Justice Natalie Adams and a 15-member jury, with the indictment charging him with two murders and one aggravated robbery.

Lamarre-Condon appeared in a light grey suit, dark tie and white shirt, and swore to tell the truth. He is charged with killing the couple, Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, from his official police weapon at Baird’s home in Paddington on 19 February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

During his testimony, Lamarre-Condon claimed that while working as an openly gay police officer in the New South Wales Police Force, he heard homophobic abuse. He accused a former superior of making homophobic comments, stating that the superior had said things such as: 'I used to beat up gay people in Jindabyne'. On one occasion, while responding to a domestic violence report, the superior allegedly said: 'Let's go get those fucking fags'.

Lamarre-Condon also told the jury that on one occasion a colleague shot himself in the head. He recalled his last conversation with the colleague: 'I asked him how he was and he told me he was fine. Nothing seemed unusual to me, nothing in his behaviour indicated what he intended to do.' He added that the colleague later went to his desk, took out a pistol while off duty and shot himself in the head at the workplace, with his body found by his colleagues.

Asked about his relationship with Baird, Lamarre-Condon told the jury: 'During October and November 2022, we were friends who had a sexual relationship. When we met, it was of a sexual nature. By December 2022, we had started going on romantic dates.'

The prosecution concluded its case on Thursday morning. During the first seven weeks of the trial, prosecutors called more than 50 witnesses, played hours of CCTV footage and presented pages of social media messages. Lamarre-Condon’s defence had previously argued that Baird and Davies were accidentally shot in two separate struggles with the accused while he was acting in self-defence. Defence counsel John Stratton SC had previously stated that the officer cleared the scene and then disposed of the bodies because he was 'significantly panicked'. The trial continues.