Former police officer denies obsession with victim during double-murder trial

Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer charged with the murders of TV presenter Jesse Baird and Baird’s partner Luke Davies, testified for the fourth day that he was not "obsessed" with Baird. The trial, held in the New South Wales Supreme Court, follows the February 2024 shooting at Baird’s Paddington home in Sydney.

Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC questioned Lamarre-Condon about the start of their relationship, asking whether he had been obsessed with Baird from the outset. Lamarre-Condon responded that he never sought to "show Jesse off" and that he liked Baird "for who he was as a person," adding that Baird could have been "a garbage cleaner" and he would have liked him regardless.

When pressed about his feelings in early 2023, the accused said, "I don’t agree with ‘obsessed’. Smitten? Yes. Obsessed? No." He explained that expressions of affection in messages to friends, such as "it sounds crazy, I love him," were habitual and not indicative of romantic commitment.

"I say ‘I love you’ to all my friends and to people like that all the time. That’s different to saying I’m ‘in’ love with him," he told the jury.

Lamarre-Condon also described joking with friends about being "white girl crazy" and said such banter was directed at female acquaintances, not at Baird. He admitted to looking through Baird’s phone during a brief holiday, unfollowing a few contacts out of curiosity, but denied that this constituted a breach of trust.

"I believe curiosity just got the best of me. Our relationship was progressing, I just kind of wanted to see where he was at … if he was also messaging other guys romantically … I’m not making excuses for my behaviour," he said.

When the prosecution presented messages between Lamarre-Condon and a friend, the defendant interrupted, accusing the crown of misleading him. Justice Natalie Adams intervened, instructing him to answer the question.

The trial remains ongoing.