She Photographed a Red Stain and Thought It Was Rust
A housemate of Jesse Baird told the NSW Supreme Court she took a photo of red liquid leaking from surfboard bags in their Paddington courtyard. She did not know the bags held the bodies of Baird and Luke Davies. The Guardian
Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of shooting Baird and Davies dead with his police gun. Police say it happened in Baird's Paddington home on 19 February 2024. Lamarre-Condon used to be a police officer. He has pleaded not guilty to two murder charges and one charge of aggravated break and enter, meaning entering a home without permission in serious circumstances. Justice Natalie Adams is hearing the trial.
The housemate spoke in court under the false name Belinda Smith. She said she came home from work on the evening after the shootings. After heavy rain, she went to the courtyard to check washing. She saw two surfboard bags with a blue tarp over them and red liquid nearby. She took a photo and sent it to another housemate, Sarah King. The jury was shown that photo.
Smith said she thought the liquid was rusty water from outdoor furniture. She said Baird had never talked to her about surfing. She had never seen a surfboard in the house. When asked if she had any reason to think something else was in the bags, she said no.
The court heard Baird had told the house group chat he would move out on 20 February 2024. The housemates had asked him to leave so a friend could take his room. On the morning of 20 February, Smith messaged King: "I'm genuinely scared this dude isn't moving out today." She had seen that Baird's things were still not packed. A later message sent from Baird's phone said he had hired someone to collect his things. It said he "might be doing a road trip to Perth with my mates."
Smith said that by 22 February the bags were gone and the liquid was gone. The bodies of Baird and Davies were later found in two surfboard bags by the fence of a country monastery in Bungonia. King had earlier shown a detective a courtyard photo taken before by the other housemate. It showed the surfboard bags and the blue tarp.
Defence lawyer John Stratton SC said Baird and Davies were shot in self-defence, meaning Lamarre-Condon says he was protecting himself during struggles. The jury was told Lamarre-Condon started to clean up right away because he panicked.
The Crown, the lawyers bringing the case for the state, says Lamarre-Condon planned ahead before 19 February. A surfboard bag bought two days before the alleged killings cost $85. The Guardian He bought one surfboard bag from a shop in Miranda in Sydney's south, then bought a second bag, hired a car under his mother's name and looked up ways to muffle the sound of gunfire. The Guardian
The jury was shown CCTV of Lamarre-Condon buying a surfboard bag before the alleged killings. Prosecutors said he allegedly killed Davies to get rid of a witness to the alleged killing of Baird. ABC News Police photos from key places and crime-scene photos were shown to the jury. Friends and loved ones of Baird have given evidence. A friend of Lamarre-Condon said he once asked if she would help hide a body. She said he also asked what she would do if he said, "I killed somebody."
The broader context here is a fight over planning and panic. The housemate evidence puts the bodies in the house for days. It shows what a person with no link to the killings saw. And it narrows the time when the bags were taken away.
In my view, the jury must choose between two stories. The defence says sudden fights, fatal shots and a panicked clean-up. The prosecution says bought bags, a hired car, searches about gun noise, messages from a dead man's phone and a second killing to remove a witness. What comes next is close testing of links between the gun, the courtyard and Bungonia, and whether the self-defence claim holds against the steps taken before.
