The Aporia · ‘Something suspicious’: greenkeeper tells Beau Lamarre-Condon double-murder trial about finding bloody belongings

‘Something suspicious’: greenkeeper tells Beau Lamarre-Condon double-murder trial about finding bloody belongings

Read the original at The Guardian ↗

Cite

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Wong, K. (2026, September 29). ‘Something suspicious’: greenkeeper tells Beau Lamarre-Condon double-murder trial about finding bloody belongings. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/29/beau-lamarre-condon-murder-trial-greenkeeper-evidence-luke-davies-jesse-baird-ntwnfb

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

Quick Summary

During the Beau Lamarre-Condon murder trial, a greenkeeper at Cronulla Bowls Club testified about finding bloodied belongings in a dumpster two days after the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies on February 19, 2024. The items included AFL shorts still in packaging, a Qantas ID card, and various pieces of clothing with apparent blood stains. Prosecutors claim Lamarre-Condon cleaned up the crime scene immediately afterward and disposed of these items in the bin at the bowls club. Defense counsel argued that Lamarre-Condon acted out of panic after shooting Baird and Davies in self-defense during a struggle.

Written by AI on 2026-09-29, 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 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 28 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Three shots, a shopping trip and 14,000 hours of CCTV: The case against Beau Lamarre-Condon Same event

The Sydney Morning Herald

Hedges 10 of 63 claims Outlet record 61/100

Footage shows police arriving at alleged murder victim’s home Different event

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Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 61/100

“Article A discusses a greenkeeper finding bloody belongings in a dumpster related to a murder trial, while Article B describes footage showing police arriving at the victim's home.”

Police photos taken at key locations shown at Lamarre-Condon trial Same event

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Hedges 2 of 30 claims Outlet record 68/100

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Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100

“The articles describe different aspects of the trial for Beau Lamarre-Condon but do not cover the same specific incident or evidence presented.”

Beau Lamarre-Condon trial updates: Text housemates got from Jesse Baird after he had allegedly been murdered: 'I won't be able to make it tonight' Different event

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Lamarre-Condon told friend how he would dispose of a body, court told Different event

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Hedges 2 of 41 claims Outlet record 61/100

“The articles describe different aspects of the trial and evidence presented; one focuses on Lamarre-Condon's confession to a friend about disposing of a body, while the other discusses a witness finding bloodied belongings in a dumpster.”

Court hears of Lamarre-Condon body in bushland conversation with friend Different event

ABC News (AU)

Hedges 2 of 36 claims Outlet record 68/100

“The articles describe different parts of the trial for Beau Lamarre-Condon's double murder case but do not cover the same specific incident or conversation.”

Moment Beau Lamarre-Condon and friend buy surfboard cover before he allegedly used it to conceal body: Trial updates live Different event

Daily Mail

Hedges 3 of 9 claims Outlet record 68/100

“While both articles relate to Beau Lamarre-Condon's trial and discuss evidence related to the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, they describe different aspects of the investigation and do not focus on the same specific incident.”

The 1600-word text accused killer allegedly sent to fake a cancer diagnosis Different event

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“The articles describe different aspects of the trial related to the same murder case, but they are not reporting on the same specific incident or happening.”

The bullet hole and the cartridge case: Images of alleged Lamarre-Condon crime scene revealed Different event

The Sydney Morning Herald

Hedges 0 of 19 claims Outlet record 61/100

“The articles describe different aspects of evidence found at or related to the crime scene, not the same specific incident.”

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 13 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 2026-09-29 · 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 · 2785 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 · 0 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

AFL Paddington Qantas Sydney the Cronulla Bowls Club

Subjects

Scott PERSON · 3× AFL ORG · 2× Baird PERSON · 2× Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 2× Qantas ORG · 2× Beau Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 1× Jesse Baird PERSON · 1× Luke Davies PERSON · 1× Paddington GPE · 1× Sydney GPE · 1×

Narrative

[We] both thought something suspicious had gone on.” As they searched the bin, Scott and his co-worker found a silver watch, a leather pouch and a Qantas ID card, the court was told.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-29

2026-09-29 · The Guardian

‘Something suspicious’: greenkeeper tells Beau Lamarre-Condon double-murder trial about finding bloody belongings · assertive framing

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

Brand new AFL shorts, a Qantas card and other bloodied belongings were found in a dumpster two days after football umpire Jesse Baird and flight attendant Luke Davies were allegedly murdered, a Sydney court has heard. uncertain

court → find → dumpster

Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, has been accused of fatally shooting the couple with his police service weapon in Baird’s Paddington home on 19 February 2024. asserted

Condon → accuse → February

He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter. asserted

He → plead → break

The prosecution has alleged Lamarre-Condon began cleaning up the crime scene immediately after the shootings, before dumping items in a skip bin at the Cronulla Bowls Club. asserted

Condon → allege → Club

A statement from Craig Scott, a greenskeeper at the club, was read out in the New South Wales supreme court on Tuesday. asserted

statement → read → Tuesday

It detailed how Scott and a co-worker discovered the belongings after arriving at work on 21 February 2024 and noticing the lid of the skip bin was propped open with rubbish. asserted

lid → detail → rubbish

“I saw several black plastic bin bags – I definitely remember those bags were not there the day before,” Scott said in the statement read to the jury. asserted

Scott → see → jury

“I opened one of the bags and removed [a] piece of brown clothing … it had red stains on it – it looked like dried blood to me. asserted

it → open → me

[We] both thought something suspicious had gone on.” As they searched the bin, Scott and his co-worker found a silver watch, a leather pouch and a Qantas ID card, the court was told. asserted

court → think → watch

Wooden drawers, various shoes, clothing and AFL shorts – still in their plastic packaging – were also discovered. asserted

drawers → discover → packaging

Defence lawyer John Stratton SC said during his opening statement that Baird and Davies were fatally shot in “self-defence” following struggles with the policeman. asserted

Baird → say → policeman

Lamarre-Condon immediately began cleaning up the scene because he “panicked”, the jury was told. asserted

jury → begin → scene

The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues. asserted

trial → continue → Adams