Lamarre-Condon rejects claims of obsession with Baird at double murder trial
The former police officer denied being obsessed with Jesse Baird while acknowledging he had breached the presenter's privacy by accessing his phone.
By Khalid Khalil ·
Beau Lamarre-Condon has rejected a prosecutor's suggestion that he was obsessed with television presenter Jesse Baird, as cross-examination continued in his double murder trial. Giving evidence for a fourth day in the New South Wales supreme court on Tuesday, November 10, he said his interest in Baird was based on his personality rather than his television career.
The former police officer is accused of using his police service weapon to fatally shoot Baird and Baird's new partner, Luke Davies, at Baird's home in Paddington, Sydney, on February 19, 2024. Lamarre-Condon has entered not guilty pleas to two murder charges and a charge of aggravated break and enter.
Questioned by crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC, Lamarre-Condon described meeting Baird for sexual encounters during October and November 2022, followed by romantic dates from December. He disputed that he had been obsessed from the beginning, saying he wanted his friends to meet Baird because he considered him genuine, rather than because he wanted to show him off.
Hatfield also asked whether obsession described his feelings in February and March 2023. Lamarre-Condon said he had been smitten. The prosecutor referred to messages sent to friends around the start of their dates in which Lamarre-Condon expressed love for Baird. In response, he said he frequently expressed love for friends and others, distinguishing that from being romantically in love.
When asked about insecurity over the relationship and Baird's feelings towards him, Lamarre-Condon described his reaction as natural, saying it sometimes arose when Baird did not immediately answer messages. He said jokes shared with female friends were intended to suggest they should stop overthinking and questioning themselves. He told the jury this sort of banter was not something he shared with heterosexual male friends.
Lamarre-Condon acknowledged accessing Baird's phone during a short holiday at a cabin in regional New South Wales and using it to unfollow two or three people. He accepted that this breached Baird's privacy and trust. He attributed his actions to curiosity and wanting to know whether Baird was romantically messaging other men as their relationship developed, while saying he was not offering excuses.
Later in the questioning, as the prosecution sought to examine messages between Lamarre-Condon and a friend, he accused Hatfield of trying to mislead him. Justice Natalie Adams intervened and directed him to answer the question, explaining that his defence lawyer would object if the prosecutor was misleading him. The trial remains ongoing.
