The Aporia · Beau Lamarre-Condon developed ‘obsession’ with Jesse Baird before fatal double shooting, court hears

Beau Lamarre-Condon developed ‘obsession’ with Jesse Baird before fatal double shooting, court hears

Read the original at The Guardian ↗

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Wong, K. (2026, September 21). Beau Lamarre-Condon developed ‘obsession’ with Jesse Baird before fatal double shooting, court hears. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/21/beau-lamarre-condon-double-murder-trial-obsessed-with-jesse-baird-before-shooting-court-hears-ntwnfb

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer, pleaded not guilty in Sydney’s Supreme Court on Monday to charges of murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, as well as aggravated break and enter. According to prosecutor Brett Hatfield, Lamarre-Condon developed an infatuation with Baird that turned obsessive after Baird ended their relationship. On February 19, 2024, he disguised himself as an Uber Eats rider and used a key to gain entry into Baird’s home in Paddington, Sydney, where he shot and killed both men. Lamarre-Condon had allegedly planned the attack for months and took steps to conceal evidence of the crime.

Written by AI on 2026-09-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The trial of former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon began in Sydney's Supreme Court on September 20, 2026, over the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of domestic violence-related murder and one count of aggravated break and enter. Prosecutors allege that Lamarre-Condon used his police-issued firearm to shoot the couple inside Baird's home in Paddington on February 19, 2024. The victims' bodies were later found hidden in surfboard bags about 200km away. Text messages from Baird’s phone sent hours after the alleged murders confused housemates into thinking he was still alive and planning to move out of the home the following day. The trial is expected to last three months, with a jury of 15 members selected to hear the case. Witnesses have testified about discoveries made at the crime scene before it was officially declared so by authorities.

Written for “Beau Lamarre-Condon Double Murder Trial” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 28 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

66/100

The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2798 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Kat Wong

22 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 “We have a responsibility not to engage in binary thinking, not to engage in the language of violence, [but] to rebuild trust by building financial security in a time of deep insecurity,” Ardern said during a forum with the author Anna Funder. “There are things we could be doing but, right now, we’re making it worse, not better.”

2026-11-01 · assertive framing · Jacinda Ardern in Sydney Opera House talk advises politicians to ‘rebuild trust by building financial security’

🔮 In question time in early September, the prime minister told the house the money would go toward “an environmental project stopping raw sewage going into the Cooks River during flooding”.

2026-10-27 · assertive framing · Albanese concedes $6m golf club grant in his electorate was not to contain ‘raw sewage’

🔮 The Victorian Greens will today announce an election commitment to establish a lobbyist register and ban political donations from “big corporate money”.

2026-10-26 · assertive framing · Australian politics live: Lambie awaiting Hanson apology over cartoon; Liberal candidate’s husband allegedly attacked

🔮 What you tend to see online is the people who are there, anonymously, will just do and say anything.

2026-10-25 · assertive framing · Australia politics live: MPs to pay tribute to Helen Haines as parliament resumes; Hanson says One Nation cartoons ‘not going anywhere’

🔮 During the early hours of 22 February 2024, Lamarre-Condon is captured by the cameras at McDonald’s Sutton Forest, about 30km from where he would allegedly dispose of Baird and Davies’ bodies.

2026-10-22 · assertive framing · Beau Lamarre-Condon visits McDonald’s drive-thru in van allegedly used to dispose of bodies, in CCTV shown to jury

🔮 Every time she asked how much further, he would respond, “just 50 more minutes”.

2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Beau Lamarre-Condon allegedly played Taylor Swift’s No Body, No Crime during body disposal, court told

🔮 Beau Lamarre-Condon’s alleged attempt to dispose of two bodies was briefly interrupted so he could undergo surgery, a Sydney court has been told.

2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Beau Lamarre-Condon had surgery after alleged double murder but before disposing of bodies, court told

🔮 It will all come out in court.”

2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Beau Lamarre-Condon told cop friend ‘I love you’ and ‘not everything in the news is true’ after arrest, court told

🔮 Now the secretary general for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Cormann will deliver an address to the Centre for Independent Studies on Saturday night spruiking productivity as the only way to reliably lower the cost of living over the long term.

2026-10-17 · mixed framing · Mimicking populists will not ease cost of living or boost productivity, Mathias Cormann warns

🔮 Beau Lamarre-Condon asked a friend in Western Australia if he could post her a phone to be thrown into a body of water, and told her he’d been “set up” over the disappearance of two men, a court has heard.

2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Beau Lamarre-Condon allegedly asked celebrity chaser friend if he could post phone to her in WA to throw in water, court told

Also by Kat Wong

Jacinda Ardern in Sydney Opera House talk advises politicians to ‘rebuild trust by building financial security’

2026-11-01 · The Guardian

Albanese concedes $6m golf club grant in his electorate was not to contain ‘raw sewage’

2026-10-27 · The Guardian

Australian politics live: Lambie awaiting Hanson apology over cartoon; Liberal candidate’s husband allegedly attacked

2026-10-26 · The Guardian

Australia politics live: MPs to pay tribute to Helen Haines as parliament resumes; Hanson says One Nation cartoons ‘not going anywhere’

2026-10-25 · The Guardian

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 22 articles by Kat Wong →

Topics

Bungonia Paddington Sydney Uber Eats

Subjects

Baird PERSON · 6× Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 6× Hatfield PERSON · 3× Jesse Baird PERSON · 3× Luke Davies PERSON · 2× Beau Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 1× Brett Hatfield PERSON · 1× Paddington GPE · 1× Sydney GPE · 1× Uber Eats ORG · 1×

Narrative

Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter as his trial began in Sydney’s supreme court on Monday. He has been accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird, 26, and Baird’s partner, Luke Davies, 29, with his police service weapon at Baird’s Paddington home in February 2024.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-21

🔮 The jury has been chosen and the trial is expected to continue for another two to three months.

2026-09-21 · The Guardian

Beau Lamarre-Condon developed ‘obsession’ with Jesse Baird before fatal double shooting, court hears · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 1 hedged)

A former police officer allegedly developed an “infatuation and obsession” with one of his victims, and disguised himself as an Uber Eats rider before shooting two men, a court has heard. uncertain

court → develop → men

He → plead → February

Appearing in the dock at the King Street courthouse in a light grey suit, dark tie and white shirt, the 31-year-old repeated his pleas. asserted

old → appear → pleas

He offered to plead guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter, but it was rejected by the prosecution. asserted

it → offer → prosecution

As the jury selection process began on Monday morning, crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield said Baird and Lamarre-Condon had become romantically involved from late 2022 and into 2023. asserted

Baird → begin → 2023

“[Lamarre-Condon] developed an infatuation and obsession with Jesse Baird which manifested itself in a range of compulsive behaviour,” Hatfield told the jury panel. asserted

Hatfield → develop → panel

This behaviour escalated after Baird ended all contact with Lamarre-Condon in November 2023, the court heard. asserted

court → escalate → November

The crown alleged Lamarre-Condon began planning the murder of Jesse Baird in early 2024. asserted

Condon → allege → 2024

He started investigating ways to conceal the sound of gunfire, hired a vehicle under his mother’s name, and bought a surfboard bag to dispose of the body, Hatfield told the jury members. asserted

Hatfield → start → members

Lamarre-Condon retained his police service weapon when he had “no need to be using it” and disguised himself, the court heard. asserted

court → retain → himself

On 19 February 2024, he wore a motorcycle helmet and dressed as an Uber Eats rider to enter Baird’s house with a key he had previously obtained, the court heard. “He then proceeded to the kitchen, where he shot Jesse twice, he then proceeded back to the bedroom where he shot Luke Davies,” Hatfield said. asserted

Hatfield → wear → Davies

Their bodies were found almost 200km away in Bungonia, eight days after they were killed. asserted

they → find → Bungonia

The prosecution said Lamarre-Condon had earlier unsuccessfully tried to sink the bodies in a nearby dam. asserted

Condon → say → dam

Lamarre-Condon’s case has attracted significant attention, with members of the public and media filling out the entire courtroom on Monday morning. asserted

members → attract → morning

Baird and Davies’ loved ones, including their mothers and siblings, also watched proceedings at the courthouse. asserted

ones → love → courthouse

The jury has been chosen and the trial is expected to continue for another two to three months. asserted

trial → choose → months