Jesse Baird, left, and Luke Davies, together at a Pink concert in Sydney the weekend before they disappeared. Photo / Instagram / Jesse Baird
Jesse Baird, left, and Luke Davies, together at a Pink concert in Sydney the weekend before they disappeared. Photo / Instagram / Jesse Baird
The case of the Sydney cop charged with the murder of two men has taken another twist, with friends of one of his alleged victims coming forward to claim the pair were never in a relationship.
One close friend of 26-year-old TV presenter Jesse Baird says that the Channel 10 star had instead been trying to distance himself from the celebrity-chasing police officer, whose romantic feelings he did not reciprocate.
Corey-Dean Thorpe, a close friend and ex-boyfriend of Baird, told the Daily Mail that Baird ended his friendship with Beaumont Lamarre-Condon when he posted videos to social media falsely suggesting they were a couple.
Thorpe said that Baird and Lamarre-Condon initially had a “friends with benefits” relationship.
Beau Lamarre posted an image in 2014 with Taylor Swift on his Instagram account. Photo / via Instagram
“They started hanging out but when Beau said to Jesse, ‘I’m getting feelings for you,’ Jess was like, ‘No, mate. I’m just out of a long-term relationship’,” Thorpe told the Mail.
“Then Beau came back again and Jesse told him, ‘I’m not going to get feelings for you,’ and made it very clear he was seeing other people, not just [Lamarre-Condon].”
He said Baird made a frantic call to him in August last year after he was “followed home by a cop car”.
“He said, ‘Corey, last night, this morning, I was sleeping in my bed and I had the feeling someone is standing over me, at the end of my bed watching me, and when I woke up they stole my phone and wallet. I bolted after them in Paddington.’”
Police yesterday alleged that Lamarre-Condon entered Baird’s Paddington home.
“We allege the accused had attended Jesse’s home address. We allege he had utilised a key to enter those premises,’ Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said in a press conference. ”We allege he took possession of Jesse’s phone and deleted contacts and messages out of that phone before leaving the premises.”
Thorpe said Baird would be angry that Lamarre-Condon was being portrayed as an ex-partner and it was disrespectful to his family.
Isaac Muller, another friend of Baird’s, told the ABC that Lamarre-Condon’s wouldn’t have been part of his mate’s world.
“He filled his life with people that he knew loved him ... that wasn’t who Beau was”
Lamarre-Condon allegedly enters Baird’s home in inner-Sydney Paddington on February 19.
Witnesses report hearing gunshots about 9.50am.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly uses his police-issued firearm checked out from a police station in Sydney’s south two days earlier to murder the couple. Police believe several bullets might have been fired.
A triple-zero call is made from Baird’s phone at 9.54am, but the call disconnects before anyone speaks.
The aftermath
Lamarre-Condon allegedly uses Davies’ phone to delete messages and poses as him in texts to throw investigators off track.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly makes attempts to clean the crime scene and returns his firearm to Balmain police station, near his mother’s house, on Tuesday. He moves the weapon back to Miranda police station on Wednesday.
Beau Lamarre-Condon pictured with Kiwi pop star Lorde. Lamarre-Condon often posted photos online when as a celebrity blogger he was pictured posing with dozens of A-listers including Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Harry Styles. Photo / via Instagram
The bodies
Lamarre-Condon hires a white van from Mascot on Monday night. Police allege the Toyota HiAce, seen on CCTV footage outside Baird’s house, was used to move the bodies after the men were killed at Paddington.
An “innocent friend” travels with Lamarre-Condon in the van to a property in the Southern Tablelands on Wednesday afternoon. They stop in Goulburn to buy an angle grinder and padlock.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly cuts open a gate and goes alone into a property, returning about 30 minutes later.
The pair make the two-hour trip back to Sydney.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly buys weights and returns to the property later on Wednesday night. Police say it is possible he retrieved the bodies and disposed of them somewhere else after becoming suspicious his acquaintance might know what he was up to.
Lamarre-Condon is seen leaving the area about 4.30am on Thursday for Sydney, before heading to another acquaintance’s property in Newcastle. He allegedly asks for a hose to clean the van.
He leaves Newcastle about 5am on Friday and drives back to Grays Point, in Sydney’s south, where he leaves the van near a family home.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly makes “partial admissions” to acquaintances, including a former officer.
Luke Davies (left), and Jesse Baird. Photo / Instagram
The investigation
Police begin an investigation after the couple’s blood-stained possessions are found in a skip bin in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla about 11am on Wednesday. A phone, credit cards, a wallet and a set of keys are discovered.
Officers declare Baird’s Paddington home, about 30km away, a crime scene after blood is found inside the property.
Items from a home at Balmain, in Sydney’s inner west, are seized about 11.30pm on Thursday.
