Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon begins giving evidence at Sydney double-murder trial

Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former New South Wales (NSW) police officer on trial for the deaths of two men in Sydney, began giving evidence on 5 November 2026 as the first witness for his defence. He is testifying at the NSW Supreme Court, the state's superior criminal court, before a jury of 15 and Justice Natalie Adams. The Guardian reported that prosecutors closed their case the same morning, after calling more than 50 witnesses over seven weeks.

Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird's home in Paddington on 19 February 2024. Baird was 26 and Davies was 29, and Davies was Baird's partner. Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter, a term for unlawfully entering a property.

His defence barrister, John Stratton SC, a senior barrister, has said that Baird and Davies were accidentally shot in two separate struggles and that Lamarre-Condon acted in self-defence. Stratton also said Lamarre-Condon cleaned up the scene and disposed of the bodies because he had panicked considerably.

Lamarre-Condon told the court he experienced homophobic abuse while serving as an openly gay officer. He said a former supervisor had told him, "I used to bash gay people while in Jindabyne."

The prosecution has relied on a large body of evidence. Prosecutors presented hours of CCTV footage and pages of social media messages, and said Lamarre-Condon sent messages from Baird's phone after the alleged killing to give the impression Baird was still alive. A friend of Baird's told the trial that Baird was "petrified" of Lamarre-Condon and was scared to go to the police.

Other witnesses described Lamarre-Condon's own conduct. A friend of his told the jury that he once asked her whether she would help hide a body. A former friend described a drive in a white van to a farm south of Sydney, and a covert recording of a prison meeting between Lamarre-Condon and a friend was played to the court. Jurors were also shown photos of the decomposed bodies, according to earlier reporting.

With the prosecution case finished, the jury is now hearing Lamarre-Condon's own account of the events in Paddington.