Ex-cop accused of killing gay TV presenter and his boyfriend faces new charges

Police in Australia have filed new charges against the gay former police officer accused of killing gay TV presenter Jesse Baird and his Qantas flight attendant boyfriend Luke Davies.

Beau Lamarre-Condon, 29, is charged with using his service Glock firearm to shoot and kill the pair at a shared house in Sydney on February 19. He was arrested four days later on February 23 following a nationwide manhunt. The bodies of Baird and Davies were found on February 27 at a remote rural property in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales (NSW). They had been stuffed into surfboard bags which were hastily covered in debris.

Police on Tuesday revealed two new counts of domestic violence-related murder and one count of breaking and entering with the intent to commit an indictable offense against Lamarre-Condon. The two murder charges each carry a lifetime imprisonment sentence, while the remaining count carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

The murders sent shockwaves through Australia. Baird and Davies were well-known and popular within the LGBTQ+ community and the murders took place during Mardi Gras, which is the Australian version of Pride and celebrates the violent police breakup of a gay Mardi Gras celebration in Sydney in 1978. The event has been likened to the Stonewall Riots and is generally recognized as the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement in the country.

Police allege that Lamarre-Condon killed Baird and Davies shortly before 10 a.m. on Monday, February 19, at the former reporter’s home in Sydney. Lamarre-Condon, a former celebrity influencer who gained temporary fame after he came out at a Lady Gaga concert, was reportedly involved in a sporadic and casual sexual relationship with Baird. Baird ended their relationship late last year.

Baird was a television host and red carpet reporter for Australia’s Network 10’s morning show until it was canceled in December. Davies was a flight attendant for Qantas Airlines. The pair gushed about their relationship in numerous posts on social media.

Police theorized Baird returned to his Paddington district home with Davies following a pre-Mardi Gras party around midnight on Monday, February 19. Neighbors heard an argument between midnight and 5:30 a.m. and heard gunshots around 9:50 a.m. but reported neither to police at the time. A call was placed from Davies’s cell phone to 000, the Australian version of 911, at 9:54 a.m. shortly after the gunshots, but was disconnected before operators were able to pinpoint an exact location.

Lamarre-Condon reportedly rented a white van from the airport in Sydney later that evening.

Investigators believe Lamarre-Condon entered the property where he shot and killed Baird and Davies shortly before 10 a.m. and later rented the van to dispose of the bodies.

The following day on Tuesday, February 20, Lamarre-Condon called in sick to work, Police also allege he partially admitted his guilt to a coworker.

That evening, multiple text messages were sent from Baird’s phone to friends, but police allege that Lamarre-Condon sent the texts to mislead investigators as he disposed of the bodies over the following days.

On Wednesday, February 21, Lamarre-Condon was absent without notice from work. Also on that Wednesday, workers found bloody clothing and other identifiable possessions belonging to Baird in a trash can in Cronulla in southeastern Sydney. Police were alerted and a missing persons investigation was launched. Evidence at the scene also caused authorities to notify homicide investigators.

On the same day, Lamarre-Condon and an acquaintance allegedly took the van to Bungonia, a rural area 115 miles southwest of Sydney. The acquaintance helped Lamarre-Condon purchase an angle saw and a padlock before going to what has been described as a weekend farm he knew from a former relationship.

Once at the farm, Lamarre-Condon used the saw to cut off the existing lock on the gate, then left the acquaintance at the gate while he took the van into the property out of sight for 30 minutes. When he returned, he reportedly put the new padlock on the gate and returned with the acquaintance to Sydney.

Police claim Lamarre-Condon hid the bodies in the back of the van and transported them to the farm in Bungonia where he disposed of them.

The acquaintance has been described by investigators as “a longtime friend of the accused” but stressed the individual was unaware that the bodies of Baird and Davies might have been in the van on the drive to Bungonia.

“The acquaintance is not a suspect in this matter,” NSW Police Force Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said at a press conference in February before the bodies were discovered. “We believe she was an innocent agent.”

Lamarre-Condon also reportedly purchased weights from a department store in Sydney around 11 p.m. on Wednesday. Investigators believe Lamarre-Condon used the missing gap between 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at 8:30 p.m. to return to the Bungonia property to further hide the bodies.

Hudson alleged Lamarre-Condon left the Bungonia area in the van around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 22. He traveled to visit a friend in Newcastle north of Sydney, who police say let him use a garden to hose to wash out the van. This friend has been identified as fellow NSW Police officer, Renee Fortuna, by the Daily Mail. Police stressed this friend was not involved in the crime and was unaware she was potentially aiding in covering up a double homicide.

Hudson said Lamarre-Condon returned to Sydney on Friday morning. Also, his phone began accepting calls that morning, and he turned himself in to authorities a short time later.

Lamarre-Condon was quickly charged with the murders of Baird and Davies, and has remained in custody since his arrest. He was officially fired from the NSW Police in March.

Lamarre-Condon is next expected to appear in court on August 13.