Court shown footage of ex-officer measuring surfboard bag against friend before alleged double murder
Prosecutors in Sydney played CCTV footage showing former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon sizing up a surfboard bag against a friend two days before he allegedly shot dead a couple, later using the bag to conceal one victim's body.
The murder trial of 31-year-old former New South Wales police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon is continuing at the Sydney supreme court. He is accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, with his police-issued firearm at Baird's home in Paddington on 19 February 2024. Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter.
On Thursday, the jury was shown CCTV footage recorded at Westfield Miranda shopping centre on 17 February, two days before the alleged killings. The footage shows Lamarre-Condon and a friend entering a Decathlon store and heading straight to the surfboard bag section. Lamarre-Condon selected a bag and held it up against his friend, who was standing upright — the bag extended a few centimetres beyond the friend's height.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC has told the court that Lamarre-Condon asked his friend whether he would fit inside the bag. The footage shows him paying for the bag with $90 in cash at the register.
Prosecutors allege that two days later Lamarre-Condon shot both men and placed Baird's body inside the bag purchased that day. He then allegedly returned to the same store shortly after the killings to buy a second surfboard bag, which was used to conceal Davies's body.
The defence has argued that Lamarre-Condon acted in self-defence, having disguised himself as an Uber Eats delivery driver to gain entry to Baird's home before the shootings. The prosecution contends that Lamarre-Condon developed an infatuation and obsession with Baird following a brief relationship between the two, which escalated into compulsive behaviour, and that he began planning the murder in early 2024.
The trial, presided over by Justice Natalie Adams, continues.
