Ex-officer tells court he bought sim card under false name a month before double murder

A former police officer on trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney, Australia, has told jurors he bought a sim card under a false name about a month before the killings he is accused of. Beau Lamarre-Condon testified that he registered the card as “Bob Ballard” on 15 January 2024 and that it had “nothing to do with Jesse Baird”.

The charges

Lamarre-Condon is accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird and Baird’s new partner, Luke Davies, with his police service weapon at Baird’s home in Paddington, Sydney, on 19 February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter.

Evidence in the witness box

Giving evidence for a seventh day, he said he wanted to compile statements about “bullying from a certain sergeant” and take them to the media. He said he was afraid to speak publicly and did not want to communicate from his own phone because he could become a target and face repercussions.

Under cross-examination by crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC, he agreed he used the new sim to contact current and former officers. Asked why phone records showed contact with only one officer, he said the records captured only his normal calls and that his activity on Signal would not be visible.

The prosecutor suggested he could have used the encrypted messaging app Signal on his regular phone. Lamarre-Condon replied that police could force him to unlock his device and view his Signal records if he were investigated for speaking to the media.

Hatfield also asked why Davies’s contact details were on the accused’s phone. Lamarre-Condon said they were in his Instagram, and that he had blocked numerous accounts after the shootings, including members of Baird’s family. He said he deactivated his social media accounts soon afterwards.

The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues.