Shortly after 9am on Monday, February 19, 2024, a man dressed as an Uber Eats rider, motorcycle helmet on and paper bag in hand, appears on a street in Paddington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
asserted
helmet → dress → suburbs
Within an hour, three gunshots will ring out in a terrace house nearby.
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gunshots → ring → house
The apparent delivery rider, captured in CCTV footage of the street, was the then-NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, a Supreme Court jury has heard.
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jury → capture → street
He was also the alleged gunman.
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He → allege → ?
The Crown alleges that Lamarre-Condon stood in his disguise on the street for about 20 minutes, “steeling himself for what he was about to do”.
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he → allege → himself
Shortly before 10am, it alleged, he used his police-issued Glock pistol to kill Sydney couple Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, in Baird’s share house, before cleaning the scene and disposing of their bodies in surfboard bags.
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he → allege → bags
Lamarre-Condon, 31, a former senior constable, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.
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Condon → plead → murder
His criminal trial started in Sydney on Monday and is expected to run for up to 12 weeks.
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trial → start → weeks
The prosecution case is that Lamarre-Condon murdered Baird, a former Network Ten producer and presenter, after developing an “obsessive and jealous infatuation” with him that escalated when Baird ended their casual relationship in November 2023.
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Baird → murder → November
The court heard the two men were “smitten”.
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men → hear → ?
“It was the real deal,” a friend told the court.
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friend → tell → court
The murder of Baird was premeditated, according to the opening address by Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC.
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murder → premeditate → Hatfield
The accused’s preparatory steps allegedly included buying a surfboard bag two days before the killing to store his body.
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steps → accuse → body
The prosecution alleged that the murder of Davies was not planned but that Lamarre-Condon shot him to eliminate a witness to his crime.
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Condon → allege → crime
At 9.49am and 33 seconds, the prosecution said, the first gunshot was heard in CCTV footage from a neighbouring property, followed by another 4 seconds later.
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gunshot → say → property
At 9.50am and 28 seconds, the third shot was heard.
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shot → hear → 9.50am
The defence does not dispute that the then-police officer was wearing the Uber Eats disguise, or that he was at the home when the men died from gunshot wounds.
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men → dispute → wounds
The defence case is that he went to Baird’s home to collect some of his belongings after the break-up, but he expected nobody would be home.
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nobody → go → up
He “disguised himself … so he could masquerade as a delivery person if anybody unexpectedly opened the door”, his barrister, John Stratton, SC, said in an opening address to the jury.
uncertain
barrister → disguise → jury
The Crown alleges that Lamarre-Condon shot Baird twice in the kitchen of the home, including an execution-style shot through the temple, and shot Davies through the door of the bedroom after he called Triple Zero.
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he → allege → Zero
The defence case is that the then-police officer, still in disguise, was surprised by Baird once he entered the home after nobody answered his knock.
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nobody → surprise → knock
The two men struggled, the defence says, and the accused’s gun went off twice, fatally wounding Baird.
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gun → struggle → Baird
The gun was flung into the loungeroom.
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gun → fling → loungeroom
Lamarre-Condon picked up a mobile phone and started calling Triple Zero, the defence says.
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defence → pick → Zero
Davies was holding a knife and also grabbed the gun, according to the defence, and shot himself accidentally in a second struggle.
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Davies → hold → struggle
The Crown case is that Lamarre-Condon engaged in a series of obsessive behaviours in the months before killing Baird, including using his position as a police officer to obtain footage of Baird on a date with another man in May 2023.
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Condon → engage → May
The court has heard that Baird broke up with Lamarre-Condon for the first time in April 2023, and the accused was disappointed that he did not want a serious relationship.
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he → hear → relationship
The two men resumed seeing each other briefly in late 2023 before Baird ended it permanently in November.
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Baird → resume → November
Lamarre-Condon is charged with breaking into Baird’s home in August 2023, after the first break-up, and stealing Baird’s wallet and phone.
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Condon → charge → wallet
He has pleaded not guilty to aggravated break and enter.
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He → plead → break
The defence case is that he used a key Baird had given him to enter the home.
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Baird → use → home
Baird reported the alleged break-in at the time and said he had woken shortly before midnight to a man standing over his bed.
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he → report → bed
Investigating police took a photo of a bobby pin in the lock of Baird’s home, tendered in evidence in the trial.
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police → investigate → trial
During the first week of evidence, the court heard from a series of witnesses about Lamarre-Condon’s posts on social media about Baird.
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court → hear → Baird
One professional acquaintance testified that Lamarre-Condon told her he would post photos on Instagram that were not visible to Baird but could be seen by a select audience of potential romantic rivals.
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that → testify → rivals
The images gave the impression that he was in a relationship with Baird.
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he → give → Baird
The posts were designed to send the message that he and Baird were “together and to back off, basically”, the witness said.
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witness → design → message
She said Lamarre-Condon had posted a photo of a bouquet of flowers with a caption designed to suggest Baird had sent them to him while he was in Melbourne.
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he → say → Melbourne
“I said: ‘That’s crazy,’” she told the court.
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she → say → court
“He said: ‘It works.’”
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It → say → ?
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
