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Jurors in Beau Lamarre-Condon murder case shown photos of decomposed bodies

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Cite

Australian Associated Press. (2026, October 8). Jurors in Beau Lamarre-Condon murder case shown photos of decomposed bodies. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/08/jurors-in-beau-lamarre-condon-case-shown-photos-of-decomposed-bodies-ntwnfb

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

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-08 · by Australian Associated Press

Quick Summary

During the third week of Beau Lamarre-Condon's trial for the February 2024 murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in rural New South Wales, jurors were shown photographs depicting the decomposed bodies found inside surfboard bags at a Greek monastery. Retired crime scene officer Greg Moon testified about the remains' condition and described finding maggots and other insects present with the bodies. The trial focuses on Lamarre-Condon's alleged efforts to dispose of the victims’ bodies after he allegedly killed them, suggesting panic over the unexpected deaths.
Written by AI on 2026-10-08, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In February 2024, Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former NSW police officer, is on trial for allegedly murdering Jesse Baird (26) and Luke Davies (29) in a Sydney share house. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The victims' bodies were discovered eight days later in surfboard bags near a Greek monastery in Bungonia, about 200km south of Sydney. Senior Sergeant Christine Abela, who led the search for the bodies, described finding them as akin to "finding a needle in a haystack." She broke down in court while recounting the grim details, including the smell upon arrival at the scene and needing to identify the victims through their jewelry compared to Instagram photos due to decomposition. The trial has also involved jurors viewing disturbing photographs of the decomposed bodies and evidence like high-visibility clothing, white bloodstained overalls, and a rental car card with "Beau L-C" near where the bodies were found.

Written for “Beau Lamarre-Condon Trial Updates” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Beau Lamarre-Condon Trial Updates
Crime & Law · 7 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 3 of 28 claims Outlet record 68/100
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 2 of 23 claims Outlet record 68/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 7 of 34 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different parts of the trial, one focusing on evidence about decomposed bodies and the other on intimate text messages between Lamarre-Condon and a police friend.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 3 of 27 claims Outlet record 61/100
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the trial; one focuses on testimony regarding conversations leading up to the alleged murders, while the other covers jurors being shown photographs of decomposed bodies found at the crime scene.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 6 of 41 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A describes CCTV footage shown in court during Lamarre-Condon's trial, while Article B discusses photographs of the decomposed bodies being shown to jurors. These are different parts of the same ongoing trial but distinct events.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 4 of 12 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the trial: one focuses on Lamarre-Condon's message pretending to have cancer, while the other discusses jurors being shown photos of the victims' decomposed bodies.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 1 of 9 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss the identification and trial related to Jesse Baird and Luke Davies' deaths, they describe different aspects of the overall case.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 4 of 8 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles refer to the same murder trial and evidence presentation, they describe different aspects of the ongoing legal proceedings rather than a single specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 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
7
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-08 · 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 · 2736 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Australian Associated Press
43 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “We will not stop until these people are identified and taken into custody,” he said.
🔮 The death of an Australian actor after injecting unapproved peptides could result in tougher restrictions on the substances.
🔮 “Just tell them I will come in tomorrow.”
🔮 Lamarre-Condon then asked her to search the definition of schizophrenia online, telling her he’d had an out-of-body experience and could not control his actions, the woman said.
🔮 She had set her husband a detailed list of boundaries, including “deal breakers” that would lead to divorce.
🔮 “But I would challenge any Australian to read some of these threats and some of the abuse that is reported to us from federal parliamentarians and for anyone to argue that that is free speech or political discourse,” she added.
🔮 It had a budget of $22m but made just $335,000 at the local box office, which Wilson’s co-producers allege could be traced to her false and derogatory statements about them online.
🔮 A man accused of making threats while armed with “improvised nunchucks” at a Western Australian MP’s electorate office could have been holding a musical instrument, not a weapon, a court has been told.
🔮 The Australian will undergo surgery after scans revealed he tore his right achilles tendon during a live drill at practice, just three days out from Sacramento’s season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers.
🔮 For Geoff Rose, the closure is a sign of the times – the land in the inner-west suburb of Glebe is worth a fortune in a city where growth will not slow down.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Australian Associated Press
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 43 articles by Australian Associated Press →

Topics

Bungonia Greek NSW Qantas Sydney

Subjects

Baird PERSON · 3× Davies PERSON · 3× Moon PERSON · 3× Bungonia GPE · 2× Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 2× NSW GPE · 2× Beau Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 1× Greg Moon PERSON · 1× Jesse Baird PERSON · 1× Luke Davies PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The third week of his double murder trial has pivoted to how investigators found the remains in rural NSW. Retired crime scene officer Greg Moon, who coordinated the forensic sweep of the Greek monastery at Bungonia where the men’s bodies were found, continued giving evidence on Thursday about the condition of the remains. Most of the family members of Baird, a former TV presenter, and Davies, a Qantas flight attendant, have not been present in court for the grisly forensic evidence.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-08
🔮 Justice Natalie Adams warned jurors on Thursday they would see confronting photos of decomposition.
2026-10-08 · The Guardian
Jurors in Beau Lamarre-Condon murder case shown photos of decomposed bodies · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 2 hedged)

Photographs of the decomposed bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies have been shown to 15 jurors tasked with deciding whether the two men were murdered. asserted
men → decompose → jurors
Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to the February 2024 murders of Baird, 26, and Davies, 29. asserted
Condon → plead → Baird
The third week of his double murder trial has pivoted to how investigators found the remains in rural NSW. Retired crime scene officer Greg Moon, who coordinated the forensic sweep of the Greek monastery at Bungonia where the men’s bodies were found, continued giving evidence on Thursday about the condition of the remains. Most of the family members of Baird, a former TV presenter, and Davies, a Qantas flight attendant, have not been present in court for the grisly forensic evidence. asserted
Most → pivot → evidence
Justice Natalie Adams warned jurors on Thursday they would see confronting photos of decomposition. asserted
they → warn → decomposition
The bodies were discovered inside two surfboard or stand-up paddleboard bags, with the smaller bag containing the body zipped up inside a larger one, Moon said. asserted
Moon → discover → one
Moon said the bodies were discovered one on top of the other with rocks and small branches placed on top. asserted
bodies → say → top
Fellow investigator Christine Abela said she immediately knew something was amiss when she first arrived at the rural property more than a week after the two men were killed in the summer of 2024. asserted
men → say → 2024
“There was a strong smell as soon as I got out of the car,” she told a NSW supreme court jury on Wednesday. asserted
she → be → Wednesday
Abela detailed how investigators found concrete blocks, a gym weight and a cut padlock at Cella Farm, where Lamarre-Condon allegedly unsuccessfully attempted to sink the bodies in a dam. uncertain
Condon → detail → dam
Moon said there were multiple indicators that the remains had been at the monastery, about 20km away from the farm, for several days. asserted
remains → say → days
“A large number of maggots and other insects were present in the bags along with other decompositional fluids,” he said. asserted
he → say → fluids
Lamarre-Condon’s efforts to clean up and dispose of Baird and Davies’ bodies have come under scrutiny during the trial. asserted
efforts → clean → trial
His barrister says the actions to dispose of their bodies at Bungonia, 200km south of Sydney, were indicative of his panic about the unexpected deaths. asserted
actions → say → deaths
Earlier in the trial, jurors were shown CCTV of the alleged actions the senior constable took in the hours after the killings, including buying a second surfboard bag and hiring a larger second vehicle. asserted
constable → show → vehicle
The footage, released by the court on Thursday, allegedly shows the heavily disguised Lamarre-Condon returning to the alleged murder scene laden down with cleaning products and a tarpaulin. uncertain
Condon → release → products
The 12-week trial continues. asserted
trial → continue → ?
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