Former police officer admits discarding victim's phone during murder trial

Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer, testified in the New South Wales Supreme Court that he threw Jesse Baird's mobile phone off Tom Uglys Bridge in an effort to eliminate potential evidence. The admission came during the sixth day of a trial in which Lamarre-Condon faces two murder charges for the February 19, 2024 shooting of Baird and Baird's partner, Luke Davies, at Baird's home in Paddington, Sydney, as well as a charge of aggravated break-and-enter.

When asked by Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC why he disposed of the phone, Lamarre-Condon responded, ">I didn’t want to have any evidence of Jesse’s phone on me … I did throw it off the bridge," and later acknowledged, ">Essentially, yes," that the act was intended to destroy evidence.

Lamarre-Condon also confirmed that he had considered sending the phone to a friend in Western Australia for disposal, though he ultimately did not mail it. He denied deleting text messages and photos of himself and Baird after his arrest, stating he did not believe he had removed them.

The prosecution highlighted the personal relationship between the two men, noting that they had been seeing each other in 2022 and 2023. Lamarre-Condon admitted to posting a photograph of a flower bouquet on Instagram to suggest Baird had sent it, and later used Baird's phone to block a third party and delete messages. He described his actions as a mistake, saying, ">I was wrong and I shouldn’t have done that, but I did do it."

The trial, presided over by Justice Natalie Adams, continues as further evidence and testimony are examined.