‘Killer was stupid’: Lamarre-Condon discussed Lilie James murder, court told

Beau Lamarre-Condon made a seemingly romantic video of him with Jesse Baird and texted two different versions of it to a friend about a year before he allegedly murdered the former Network Ten producer and presenter, a court has heard.

The video was released by the NSW Supreme Court after it was shown to the jury in former police officer Lamarre-Condon’s trial over the shooting deaths of Baird, 26, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29.

Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the couple in Baird’s Paddington share house on the morning of February 19, 2024.

The court heard that the accused, then a NSW police officer, texted his colleague Alexandra Scobie two versions of the video of him and Baird in March 2023.

“I’m sending you these two videos because we need to discuss them tomorrow haha,” he texted at 7.32pm on March 26, 2023. “Below, two very different edits.”

Crown prosecutor Caitlin Diggins asked Scobie if she understood Lamarre-Condon “wanted your feedback on which edit he should post online, and to the world at large, about Jesse?”

“That’s how it read, yes,” Scobie said.

Scobie agreed that in part of the video the accused appeared to be filming Baird while he was asleep.

“Did the accused tell you whether or not Jesse had any input in this video?” Diggins asked.

“Not that I can recall,” Scobie said.

The video was tendered in evidence by the defence and played to the 15-person jury on Thursday.

A court sketch of Beau Lamarre-Condon in the NSW Supreme Court.Rocco FazzariScobie, a plain clothes senior constable working in criminal investigations, said under cross-examination by Lamarre-Condon’s barrister, John Stratton, SC, that she did not specifically remember the accused sending her a clip of a holiday he had with Baird in the country.

After the video was played in court, Scobie said the only thing she recognised from it was the bed.

During re-examination by the Crown, Diggins took Scobie to the texts Lamarre-Condon had sent along with two versions of the clip.

“Do you recall these videos actually had a soundtrack playing over the top of them?” Diggins asked.

“I believe there would have been a soundtrack he would have sent,” Scobie said, adding that it was common for the accused to post videos with songs.

“The accused clipped together a lot of little videos and stitched them all together?” Diggins said.

“That’s my understanding from that video, yes,” Scobie said.

She did not remember discussing the videos, or whether he posted them online.

The prosecution alleges Lamarre-Condon murdered Baird with his police-issued pistol after developing an “obsessive and jealous infatuation” with him that escalated when Baird ended their casual relationship in November 2023.

Davies, Baird’s new boyfriend, was killed to eliminate a witness to the crime, the Crown alleges.

Scobie gave evidence on Thursday that the accused was angry with Baird in early 2024 “because he was sleeping with Luke”.

She said he asked her later if hire cars could be tracked, before adding something like: “Don’t freak out, I’m just asking.” He called her that evening and assured her he was “not going to do anything illegal”, she told the court.

The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon sent a series of text messages to Baird’s housemates’ group chat on February 20, the day after his death, to give the false impression he was still alive.

On Friday, former NSW police officer Ben Higginson gave evidence that he discussed the 2023 murder of Sydneysider Lilie James with Lamarre-Condon, including that police believed James’ killer, her ex-boyfriend Paul Thijssen, used her phone to text her father after her death.

Higginson said Lamarre-Condon seemed “pretty blase” in the conversation on February 18, 2024, the day before the alleged murders, and had said Thijssen was “stupid for doing this on CCTV”.

Lamarre-Condon also asked him if Thijssen “would ... have got away with it” if he had not died by suicide, Higginson said.

The court has heard Baird’s housemates, dubbed Belinda Smith and Sarah King in the proceedings, had asked Baird to move out earlier that year so that a female friend could move in. He was slated to move out on February 20.

“Hi both!! I’ve hired an air tasker to come and collect my things … I might be doing a road trip to Perth with mates on Thursday night so should be flying back Sunday and will 100% have it out by then,” read a message from Baird’s phone at 12.28pm on February 20.

Smith replied: “Hey Jesse, sorry I’m a bit confused. I thought you said you were moving out today 20th Feb. Your final rent payment ends tomorrow and [the new housemate] starts paying from Thursday.”

Smith texted King on February 20: “I’m genuinely scared this dude isn’t moving out today.”

At 5.56pm on February 19, hours after the alleged murders, Smith texted King a photo of what she believed to be “rusted water” near surfboard bags and a tarpaulin in the courtyard of the home to another housemate.

“What the actual f---?” King replied.

King told the court on Friday she had poked either the surfboard bag or the tarp, and “it just sounded like a tarp”.

Smith told the court on Thursday that she inspected the backyard again the following day and “saw that the surfboards had been cleared, and the liquid was gone”.

The prosecution has told the jury that Lamarre-Condon cleaned the scene while the housemates were out, including throwing items from Baird’s bedroom into a skip bin in Cronulla.

The court has heard that police visited the home for the first time on February 21, after items were found in the skip bin by groundskeepers. Three cleaners were at the home at the time because they had been booked by King ahead of the arrival of the new housemate.

There is no dispute that Lamarre-Condon was at the terrace when Baird and Davies died, that they died of gunshot wounds from his police-issued pistol, and that he was disguised as a delivery rider.

However, the defence case is that Lamarre-Condon was there to pick up some of his belongings and did not expect anybody to be home. A struggle ensued in which his gun accidentally went off twice, killing Baird, and Davies accidentally shot himself in a second struggle after grabbing the gun, the defence says.

National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732); Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; Lifeline 131 114; Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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