Former officer told police friend 'not everything in the news is true' after arrest, murder trial told
A New South Wales police officer has told a Sydney murder trial that the former officer accused of killing Jesse Baird and Luke Davies called her after his arrest to say “I love you” and that news reports were not fully true.
Dayna Schagen, a friend of 31-year-old Beau Lamarre-Condon, gave the evidence during testimony reported on 19 October 2026. Lamarre-Condon, also a former police officer, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter.
Prosecutors allege he fatally shot Baird, a TV presenter, and Davies with his police service weapon at Baird’s home in Paddington, in Sydney’s east, on 19 February 2024, The Guardian reported.
Schagen told the court she received a call from Lamarre-Condon in late March 2024, about a month after the alleged killings. She said he told her: 'I just wanted to tell you that I love you and before you do anything, you need to know not everything in the news is true. It will all come out in court.'
She testified that she replied: 'You killed two people, why would I ever want to speak to you again?' She then told her supervisor about the call and made a police statement. The court heard she had no role as an officer in the investigation into the deaths.
Schagen also described an earlier conversation on 14 February 2024, days before the alleged murders. She said Lamarre-Condon asked her a hypothetical question about the police response if, after a gunshots-fired job was broadcast over the radio, someone said a member of the public had reported children letting off fireworks.
She said she told him police would disregard that job and move on because of the sheer volume of jobs received.
The court also heard that Lamarre-Condon had been seeing Baird on and off during 2023 and had hoped to turn it into a relationship. After news of the disappearance of Baird and Davies emerged, Schagen sent Lamarre-Condon a message on 22 February 2024 saying: 'Are you ok? Have you spoken to him? What the fuck is going on?' She said she received no response.
Prosecutors allege Davies tried to call Triple Zero, Australia’s emergency number, from the bedroom during the attack and was shot through the bedroom door, according to earlier trial reporting ABC News. The property on Brown Street, where Baird was allegedly shot twice, has been examined by the jury with the help of a 3D reconstruction of the scene.
