Court hears officer asked about Lilie James murder day before alleged double killing
A Sydney trial has heard that police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon asked a colleague, the day before he allegedly shot Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, whether a killer would have escaped justice had he not died by suicide. Lamarre-Condon denies the murders.
The trial of former New South Wales police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, continued in the Sydney supreme court, with testimony focused on a conversation he had the day before the alleged killings of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies on 19 February 2024 at Baird's home in Paddington. Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter, allegedly carried out with his police service weapon.
On Friday, Ben Higginson, who worked in the NSW police criminal investigation team, told the court that he and Lamarre-Condon had been on duty together at a pro-Palestine protest on 18 February 2024, the day before the alleged murders. During their shift, Lamarre-Condon asked Higginson about his work, and Higginson mentioned he'd had a difficult time investigating the murder of Lilie James, a 21-year-old water polo coach killed in October 2023.
James was murdered by Paul Thijssen days after the pair ended their relationship. CCTV footage showed Thijssen following James into a school gymnasium armed with a hammer. Thijssen later took his own life at the Vaucluse cliffs.
Higginson testified he became emotional discussing the case, as the crime occurred at his former school. By contrast, he said Lamarre-Condon appeared unmoved, remarking that Thijssen had been foolish to commit the act on camera. Lamarre-Condon then asked whether Thijssen would have evaded accountability had he not died by suicide. Higginson replied that police investigations don't rely solely on CCTV, and referenced the 2007 case of Matthew Leveson as an example. The two also discussed how cash is harder to trace than bank cards, and the investigative methods used in suspicious death cases.
Higginson said the pair weren't close but spoke occasionally at work, including about Lamarre-Condon's side businesses, such as reselling Hermes bags bought in France.
Defence lawyer John Stratton SC told the court in his opening statement that Baird and Davies were shot in self-defence during a struggle, and that Lamarre-Condon began cleaning the scene afterward in a state of panic. The trial, presided over by Justice Natalie Adams, continues.
