A service station coffee cup, a bullet cartridge case and Bunnings receipts were among evidence gathered at the scene where the bodies of Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were found, a court has heard.
asserted
court → gather → Baird
Photos of some of the items were released by the NSW Supreme Court on Friday after they were shown in former NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon’s trial over the shooting deaths of Baird, 26, a former TV presenter, and Davies, a 29-year-old Qantas flight attendant.
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they → release → Baird
Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the men’s deaths in Paddington on February 19, 2024.
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Condon → plead → February
However, the defence does not dispute that the then-police officer disposed of their bodies in surfboard bags outside a Greek monastery in Bungonia, near Goulburn, days after they died.
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they → dispute → Goulburn
Former crime scene investigator Greg Moon, who was a detective senior sergeant in 2024, gave evidence on Wednesday about items located outside the monastery when police found the bodies of Baird and Davies on February 27.
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police → give → February
A police sketch of the area, tendered in evidence, marked where various objects were found, including a wheelbarrow and a fired cartridge case.
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objects → tender → wheelbarrow
The cartridge case was similar to those “that we have used, or do use, within the NSW Police with our firearms”, Moon told the court.
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Moon → use → court
“We did a comparison at the time,” he said.
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he → do → time
“All police that had their firearms there, we looked into our magazines to see if anyone had … the same cartridge.”
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anyone → have → cartridge
Moon said there was one officer who had the same type of cartridge, meaning it was “possibly a cartridge that may have been distributed to NSW Police at some time”.
uncertain
that → say → time
A black wallet containing Baird’s cards and his cut-up driver’s licence and passport were also found at the site, the court heard, along with Bunnings receipts and a service station coffee cup.
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court → contain → receipts
The court heard a swab was taken from the cup, and it matched the DNA profile of the accused.
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it → hear → accused
Detective Senior Constable Christine Abela testified on Wednesday that she was one of a team of two officers who discovered the bodies on February 27.
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who → testify → February
The bags were stacked on top of each other near the fence line of the monastery, with sticks, branches and stones on top of them, the court has heard.
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court → stack → them
The court heard evidence from Moon on Thursday about the characteristics of close-range gunshot wounds, including dark marks known as “stippling”.
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court → hear → stippling
“Stippling is the unburnt and burnt particles of the release of the bullet from the cartridge,” he told the jury.
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he → burn → jury
“When these particles get close enough to strike … exposed skin, often [they’ll] leave small abrasions that look like pinpoint abrasions.”
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that → get → abrasions
Moon told the court that the closer the firearm was to a target, the more condensed stippling there would be around the wound.
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firearm → tell → wound
He said black stippling marks were located around the gunshot wound to Baird’s right temple.
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marks → say → temple
There was “no apparent stippling” located around Davies’ head wound, Moon said.
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Moon → be → wound
The prosecution case is that Lamarre-Condon planned to kill Baird 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 → plan → November
The accused allegedly used his police-issued Glock pistol to shoot both men in Baird’s share house on the morning of February 19, 2024, and cleaned the home while Baird’s flatmates were out.
uncertain
flatmates → accuse → home
The prosecution alleges Lamarre-Condon killed Davies, Baird’s new boyfriend, to eliminate a witness to his crime.
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Condon → allege → crime
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon shot Baird twice, including an execution-style shot to his temple, and shot Davies through Baird’s bedroom door as he tried to call Triple Zero for help.
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he → allege → help
The defence case is that the accused was in a struggle with Baird in which his gun went off twice accidentally, fatally wounding Baird, and that Davies grabbed the gun and shot himself accidentally in a second struggle.
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Davies → accuse → struggle
According to the defence, Lamarre-Condon picked up a phone in the home and started calling Triple Zero.
uncertain
Condon → accord → Zero
The trial continues.
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trial → continue → ?
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