In short:
A witness in the Beau Lamarre-Condon trial has told a jury she was asked to dispose of a phone sent in the mail to Western Australia.
asserted
she → tell → Australia
She alleged Mr Lamarre-Condon told her had stolen some police files from the commissioner to do with COVID, which needed to be disposed of.
asserted
which → allege → COVID
The jury heard she was instructed to turn on the phone so it could "ping", turn it off, then throw it into the water.
uncertain
it → hear → water
Former Sydney police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon asked a friend in Western Australia to dispose of a phone by throwing it into water after briefly turning it on "so it could ping", a jury has heard.
uncertain
jury → ask → it
Mr Lamarre-Condon is on trial after pleading not guilty to the murders of couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies on February 19, 2024.
asserted
Condon → plead → February
The 31-year-old is accused of shooting the couple in Mr Baird's Paddington home using his police pistol.
asserted
old → accuse → pistol
His lawyers have indicated a self-defence argument.
asserted
lawyers → indicate → argument
The Crown's case is that Mr Lamarre-Condon cleaned the scene, allegedly attempted to sink the men's bodies in a dam at Bungonia before moving them to another location, and allegedly used Mr Baird's mobile phone to give the impression he was still alive.
uncertain
he → clean → impression
Jurors in the Supreme Court trial on Thursday heard evidence from a WA-based former friend of Mr Lamarre-Condon who met him in 2010 while she was in Sydney "celebrity hunting" during a trip for a concert.
asserted
she → hear → concert
The woman said they became close, spoke about topics including their shared interest in celebrities, and she would see him when she visited Sydney.
asserted
she → say → Sydney
She recalled also speaking to him online about her disagreement with the COVID vaccine and remembered at one point raising a protest and asking how police officers could push back against people "fighting for freedoms".
uncertain
officers → recall → freedoms
Mr Lamarre-Condon described it as "the devil's work", the woman said.
asserted
woman → describe → work
He asked to switch their communication to the encrypted app Signal on February 12, 2024, the jury heard.
asserted
jury → ask → February
During a Signal call on February 20, she said Mr Lamarre-Condon asked if she could "do him a favour".
uncertain
she → say → favour
"He told me that he'd stolen some police files from the commissioner to do with COVID and he wanted me to get rid of a phone," she told the jury.
asserted
she → tell → jury
She said his instructions were to be 30-40 kilometres away from her home, turn the phone on for "about 10 minutes so it could ping", turn it off, and throw it into a body of water.
uncertain
it → say → water
"I agreed to do that …
asserted
I → agree → that
I was going to do it, not knowing what it was," the witness said.
asserted
witness → go → it
She said he asked for her address and told her he would express post it.
asserted
he → say → it
Two days later, on February 22, the pair spoke again on Signal and the accused told her detectives had been to his mother's house looking for him.
asserted
detectives → speak → him
"He also told me … he was going to be set up for two guys that had gone missing," the woman said.
asserted
woman → tell → guys
She said the accused told her he used to know one of the men, and wanted her to relay his instructions concerning the phone.
asserted
her → say → phone
There was "a lot of background noise" during the call "like when you're driving", the woman said, but she did not get an answer from Mr Lamarre-Condon when she asked him about the noise.
asserted
she → be → noise
Witness questioned about vaccine beliefs
She said he sounded "different" to the previous calm conversation and "wanted to hear from me I knew what I had to do".
asserted
I → question → what
The woman later read a news article about the disappearance of Mr Baird and Mr Davies which mentioned Mr Lamarre-Condon's name, along with allegations Mr Baird's phone had been used to send messages about a Perth road trip.
asserted
phone → read → trip
She said she became "very" concerned, but never received any package and had no more contact with Mr Lamarre-Condon.
asserted
she → say → Condon
Under cross-examination, defence counsel John Stratton SC asked if the woman and the accused had a "shared concern" that the COVID vaccine had "killed some people" which was "being covered up".
asserted
which → ask → people
"I never said that, I just said I didn't agree with it," she told the court.
asserted
she → say → court
"There wasn't enough studies done into it, for me to want to take it."
asserted
me → be → it
Mr Stratton also asked if she had a conversation with the accused in which he expressed a preference to use cash for everyday purchase and used the phrase "cash is king".
asserted
cash → ask → phrase
"That's something I've always said myself, I don't know if I had a conversation with him about it," she replied.
asserted
she → say → it
The trial, which has an estimated duration of three months and is in its fourth week, continues.
asserted
which → have → week
The Aporia
