Accused killer Beau Lamarre-Condon said in a covertly recorded conversation in prison that he caused former TV presenter Jesse Baird’s death and would take responsibility for manslaughter, but not murder.
Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the shooting deaths of Baird, 26, a former Network Ten producer and presenter, and Luke Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant, on February 19, 2024. The accused was aged 28 and a NSW police officer at the time.
Recorded conversations between Lamarre-Condon and a friend after his arrest in February 2024 were released by the Supreme Court after they were played to the 15-person jury on Monday.
The conversations spanned March 2024 to December 2025 and occurred via “jail phone”, the friend said in his evidence in court, or in person when the friend visited the accused in prison.
The court heard the friend wore a listening device to assist police when he visited Lamarre-Condon on December 14, 2025.
“You didn’t let on to the accused about that, did you?” the accused’s barrister, John Stratton, SC, asked the man on Monday about the listening device.
“No, I did not,” the friend said. The man agreed that he made several statements to police after this time, in addition to earlier statements.
Lamarre-Condon asked his friend during the beginning of the visit to lift his shirt so that he could check for a wire. “You’re so paranoid, bro,” the man replied.
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon plotted to kill Baird after developing an obsessive and jealous infatuation with him that escalated when Baird ended their casual relationship in November 2023, and that he killed Davies to eliminate a witness.
The accused said during the prison conversation: “Boo hoo, he broke up with me ... I got over it, I was hooking up with other people.”
Lamarre-Condon said that “shit went wrong” after he entered Baird’s home disguised as a delivery rider to collect some of his belongings. He said the plan for the disguise struck him after he saw an Uber Eats driver while he was getting a coffee near the Paddington terrace that morning.
“I put on a helmet and a high-vis jacket pretending I’m an Uber driver … I walk over to old mate’s house, knock on the door,” he said. He went in, thinking nobody was home, he said.
“I haven’t spoken to Jesse since November [2023] … I go in looking for my stuff. No one at all is in the house. As I’m going towards the kitchen … nah, nah, nah … we can’t talk about the specifics.
“Let’s just say this. If you came home to your house and you believed … you were being robbed and you didn’t know who it was, would you f---ing kick off? So shit’s gone down, right. Obviously, something’s occurred.”
Lamarre-Condon claimed he used a key Baird had given him to enter the home.
He told his friend during the 50-minute conversation: “If I had planned to do this, I’d be, mate, I’d be cool, calm and collected, I’d be there with cleaning equipment ready to go, I’d be there with a f---ing van ready to go, a stolen van, I wouldn’t be using my police-issued mother f---ing firearm.
“I work with youth gangs, you see the kids I work with. I can get a gun. I can get a gun for ten grand.”
Earlier in the conversation, he said that “as you know, I don’t know if you’ve Googled my name recently ... I’ve pleaded guilty to manslaughter relating to Jesse Baird only, not anybody else”.
“I’ve admitted to causing his death,” Lamarre-Condon said. He said later that he had “taken accountability”.
He told the friend he couldn’t knock on the door and speak to Baird that day because he’d “kick off” and call the police, claiming “DV harassment”. The accused said he would have been arrested and “put on an AVO” with “no questions asked”.
“As a cop, you get your gun taken off you, I can’t go off on stress leave at all, which by the way I was going to on that day,” Lamarre-Condon said.
According to the defence, Lamarre-Condon acted in self-defence after entering Baird’s home in disguise to retrieve some of his belongings. The defence case is that Baird died when Lamarre-Condon’s police gun went off during a struggle and Davies shot himself during a second struggle.
There is no dispute that Lamarre-Condon cleaned the home and disposed of the men’s bodies.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, said in his opening address to the jury last month that Lamarre-Condon had “indicated that he pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter of Jesse Baird”.
“He’s entitled to enter a plea in those terms, but it’s not accepted by the Crown,” Hatfield said.
Footage played to the jury on Tuesday showed Lamarre-Condon walking into Bondi police station on February 23, 2024, and being arrested over the alleged murders.
The jury was also played a recording of Lamarre-Condon calling a police helpline on his way into the police station to lodge a mental health claim. “Just so you’re not shocked, my name’s Beau Lamarre,” he told the operator.
He alleged he had been “exposed to multiple destruction, death and trauma with minimal support” from police and had been “bullied by multiple NSW police force members”.
Lamarre-Condon said during the call that the alleged work trauma had “caused me to not sleep, get anxious, it’s caused me to have some symptoms of schizophrenia”.
“Actually sorry, you know what … just delete that whole thing,” he said. “We’ll just keep it short and sweet.”
The trial continues.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
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