Former police officer denies creating false Grindr profile during double murder trial

Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer charged with the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, denied that he created a false dating-app profile of Baird during cross-examination at the New South Wales Supreme Court. The alleged shootings took place at Baird’s Paddington home on 19 February 2024, and Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of aggravated break-and-enter.

During the fifth day of the trial, a friend of the defendant testified that he had made a false profile of Baird on apps such as Grindr. Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC then asked Lamarre-Condon whether he had told the friend he had created the account. The defendant responded that this had never occurred.

Lamarre-Condon explained that, after his breakup with Baird, he had tried to determine whether an email address he believed belonged to Baird was active on the app, saying, "> I attempted to create a fake account with an email I believed was from him to see if it was active … to see if he was in an exclusive relationship with Jesse or not."

He added that he did not actually operate an account under Baird’s name and could not confirm the email’s authenticity, stating, "> I can’t confirm if this is 100% [his] email or not, this is something I had seen on social media."

Justice Natalie Adams is presiding over the ongoing proceedings.