In short:
A friend of former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has told his double murder trial he once asked her if she would help hide a body.
asserted
she → tell → body
Giving evidence in the Supreme Court, Georgia Cook told the jury Mr Lamarre-Condon made the "surreal" comment months before Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were killed.
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Baird → give → comment
Mr Lamarre-Condon's defence barrister argued the comments were something the friend "read in the media".
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friend → argue → media
A former friend of Beau Lamarre-Condon has told a jury that nine months before the alleged murders of a Sydney couple, he told her if he killed someone he would put their belongings in a dumpster and leave the body in bushland.
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he → tell → bushland
Georgia Cook on Monday continued her evidence in Mr Lamarre-Condon's double murder trial and said the conversation, in late May 2023, left her "really scared" and felt "surreal".
uncertain
conversation → continue → her
Mr Lamarre-Condon, a former senior constable, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one of aggravated break and enter.
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Condon → plead → break
The 31-year-old is accused of shooting Jesse Baird and his new boyfriend, Luke Davies, with a service pistol at Mr Baird's Paddington home, in Sydney's east, in February 2024.
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old → accuse → February
Friend asked if she would help hide a body
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she → ask → body
The Crown alleges Mr Lamarre-Condon developed an infatuation with Mr Baird after a brief romance in 2022 and parts of 2023, before Mr Baird told him in April 2023 that he was not ready for a relationship.
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he → allege → relationship
Ms Cook has told the jurors that while at dinner with the accused in May 2023, he asked her what she would do if he told her he killed someone, and whether she would help hide a body.
uncertain
she → tell → body
Ms Cook previously said that she told him she would not because she did not want to be haunted, and he laughed and told her not to worry because he had not.
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he → say → her
Recalling the conversation today, she said he asked her if she killed someone, what she would do with their body.
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she → recall → body
"I was just like I don't know, I've no idea," she said.
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she → know → idea
"In response, he had said 'after I kill them, I would take their stuff and I would put it in a dumpster and I would take their bodies to bushland where no-one would ever find them'.
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one → say → them
"
The jury has previously heard that after the two young men went missing, bloodied possessions were found in a skip bin in Cronulla, and their bodies were found in surfboard bags at Bungonia, south of Sydney, eight days after the alleged murders.
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bodies → hear → murders
Ms Cook told the court that after the dinner she started to "pull away" from their friendship.
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she → tell → friendship
She said she did not tell anyone what the accused said.
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accused → say → what
"I didn't know what to think, I was really scared," she said.
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she → know → what
"I guess hearing a person in power in the police force, it kind of felt like I didn't really have anywhere to go and I was really scared by what I had heard."
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I → guess → what
Ms Cook has said during the dinner conversation, Mr Lamarre-Condon told her he had watched Mr Baird from outside his house more than once, and seen where he left his key and broken in.
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he → say → key
The court was read more text messages and Instagram messages between Ms Cook and Mr Lamarre-Condon in subsequent months, including in August when he told her he would run into Mr Baird.
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he → read → Baird
She described repeatedly observing a "constant spiralling" when he had seen Mr Baird with someone, but felt he was "settled" after a trip to Europe at that point.
Ms Cook said that she distanced herself more permanently in December 2023.
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she → describe → December
She recalled seeing news stories about Mr Lamarre-Condon being arrested in February 2024, and said she was "absolutely terrified" of "what I knew".
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I → recall → what
Ms Cook gave a police statement in June 2024, the court heard.
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court → give → June
'Not something that leaves your mind'
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that → leave → mind
Under cross-examination, barrister James Lang, representing Mr Lamarre-Condon, put to Ms Cook that the comments she attributed to Mr Lamarre-Condon in her police statement, including the skip bin and bushland location, were things she had read in the media.
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she → represent → media
"No, the accused did tell me," she replied.
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she → accuse → me
"When someone tells you something that scary or shocking, it's not something that leaves your mind."
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that → tell → mind
Ms Cook was shown a photograph in June 2023 of her sitting behind Mr Lamarre-Condon and smiling.
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her → show → Condon
She maintained that this was at a time when she felt scared of the accused.
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she → maintain → accused
She was also read a series of text messages, including a June 2024 birthday message she sent to the accused.
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she → read → accused
Mr Lamarre-Condon smiled in the dock during parts of the cross-examination.
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Condon → smile → examination
Ms Cook also rejected the suggestion that the conversation about hiding a body was in relation to a joke she had made to the accused.
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she → reject → accused
Last week, jurors were told the defence will argue that Mr Lamarre-Condon did not plan to harm anyone when he went to the Paddington terrace on the morning of the alleged murders.
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he → tell → murders
Mr Lamarre-Condon's lawyers have flagged an argument of self-defence, saying it's their client's case that there were two separate struggles involving the police pistol which resulted in the deaths.
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which → flag → deaths
It has an estimated duration of three months.
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It → have → months
The Aporia
