The Emergency Call at the Centre of the Lamarre-Condon Murder Trial
A triple-zero call made the morning Luke Davies and Jesse Baird were allegedly murdered was played in court on Friday, as photographs of surfboard bags containing their bodies were released.
The recording was aired in the New South Wales Supreme Court during the double-murder trial of former Sydney police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon. Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting Davies and Baird with his police service weapon in Baird's Paddington home on 19 February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter, which means entering a home to commit a serious offence. The Guardian
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC, the lawyer presenting the case against Lamarre-Condon, told the court the call came from Davies' phone at 9.50am on 19 February 2024. Movement can be heard before a muffled voice says "fuck off", then the call drops out. An attempt to call back went to voicemail featuring Davies saying: "Hi, you've reached Luke, please leave a message and I'll get back to you." Members of the Davies family cried as the audio was played.
Police were sent to patrol the vicinity, or nearby area, after the call but were unable to pinpoint the exact address where it originated. Prosecutors allege Davies was shot through a bedroom door as he called triple-zero, Australia's emergency number. They allege he was murdered to ensure there was not a witness to Baird's killing. ABC News
The court was also shown a photograph of surfboard bags covered in a tarpaulin in the courtyard of Baird's Paddington home. The image was taken by one of Baird's housemates. That housemate has given evidence in the trial. Baird was 26 and Davies was 29. The two men were boyfriends.
Ben Higginson, who served with the NSW police force criminal investigation team in Sydney, told the court he worked with Lamarre-Condon the day before Davies and Baird were killed. Higginson and Lamarre-Condon were on duty at a pro-Palestine protest on 18 February 2024 when Lamarre-Condon asked Higginson about work.
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon had developed an infatuation with Baird. A holiday video featuring Lamarre-Condon with Baird has also been placed before the court. The Sydney Morning Herald
Defence lawyer John Stratton SC said in his opening statement that Baird and Davies were fatally shot in "self-defence" after struggles with Lamarre-Condon.
Looking at what this means for the trial, the court is now weighing two very different accounts of minutes inside the Paddington house. The prosecution ties method, motive and opportunity to the service weapon, the timed emergency call and the alleged elimination of a witness. The defence accepts that Lamarre-Condon fired the shots but disputes criminal intent. Like a timestamp on a document, the triple-zero audio matters less for what is said than for what it fixes in time. It anchors the Crown timeline, tests the self-defence claim against sound recorded at the moment, and explains the initial police response. The surfboard-bag images and housemate evidence then carry the narrative forward from killing to alleged concealment. The test ahead will be whether the defence can dislodge that sequence without disputing its own client pulled the trigger.
