Beau Lamarre-Condon tells jury he wanted to report deaths but friend encouraged him to dispose of bodies

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Beazley, J. (2026, October 27). Beau Lamarre-Condon tells jury he wanted to report deaths but friend encouraged him to dispose of bodies. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/27/beau-lamarre-condon-claims-friend-lied-to-police-first-statement-to-trial-ntwnfb

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-27 · by Jordyn Beazley
Content note This article describes violence described in detail.

Quick Summary

Beau Lamarre-Condon testified at his murder trial on Tuesday, claiming a friend named Elizabeth Kennedy encouraged him to dispose of the bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies immediately instead of reporting them to police. According to Lamarre-Condon’s statement, Kennedy allegedly assisted in transporting and disposing of the bodies by pouring concrete into bags to help sink them at a farm in Bungonia. He also accused her of cutting multiple holes into a surfboard cover with a pocketknife, causing knife wounds on Davies’ leg during this process.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-27, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird’s Paddington home on February 19, 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter, arguing that the deaths were accidental and he acted in self-defense. During his trial in the NSW Supreme Court, Lamarre-Condon accused a friend, Elizabeth Kennedy, of encouraging him to dispose of the bodies instead of reporting them to authorities. Kennedy denied involvement, stating she was unaware of the situation when accompanying Lamarre-Condon on a drive two days after the alleged murders. The court heard that Lamarre-Condon told police he wanted to do "the right thing" by informing authorities about Kennedy’s supposed role in disposing of the bodies.

Written for “Lamarre-Condon Testimony In Murder Trial” on 2026-10-28, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Lamarre-Condon Testimony In Murder Trial
Crime & Law · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 16% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (AU) · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 35 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes a friend's testimony about Lamarre-Condon confessing to killing people and discussing disposing of evidence, while Article B reports on Lamarre-Condon's own statement during the trial where he claims his friend encouraged him to dispose of bodies. These are different statements from different individuals occurring at different times in the legal proceedings.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 1 of 8 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes Lamarre-Condon measuring a surfboard bag against his friend to see if it would fit a dead body, while Article B discusses Lamarre-Condon's testimony about wanting to report deaths but being encouraged by a friend to dispose of bodies. These are different specific events.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 9% hedged 3 of 34 📰 publisher trust 61
“Both articles describe Lamarre-Condon's statement to police and court regarding his involvement in the deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies on February 19, 2024.”
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 14 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe different parts of the trial, with Article A focusing on Lamarre-Condon's report of psychological trauma while en route to surrendering, and Article B detailing his statement about a friend encouraging him to dispose of bodies.”
The Guardian · 0.90 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 20% hedged 4 of 20 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles describe different parts of the trial proceedings; one focuses on Lamarre-Condon's visit to McDonald’s, while the other reports his testimony about a friend's encouragement.”
Daily Mail · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 21% hedged 11 of 53 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles discuss different aspects of the case: Article A covers Lamarre-Condon's communications prior to and after the alleged murders, while Article B reports on his testimony during the trial.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 27% hedged 3 of 11 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe different aspects of the trial, with one focusing on a friend's testimony about Lamarre-Condon's intent to save cattle and the other on Lamarre-Condon's own statement regarding his friend encouraging him to dispose of bodies.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 13% hedged 6 of 46 📰 publisher trust 61
“The articles describe different parts of the same trial but distinct statements or testimonies within it.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 38% hedged 3 of 8 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe different parts of the trial proceedings involving Beau Lamarre-Condon's statements but do not cover the exact same incident or time frame.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
32
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
16%
5 of 32 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2548 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jordyn Beazley
8 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 According to his statement, Lamarre-Condon warned Kennedy she could be charged as an accessory to murder, and he would not be mad if she walked away “right now”.
🔮 During an appearance before Kynton local court on Tuesday, magistrate Patrick Southey reportedly told the man: “It is bewildering that a man of your intelligence and knowledge and love of wildlife would arrogantly flout the law so comprehensively.”
🔮 In the leaked clip, the officer could be heard stating: “I fucking pumped that cunt.”
🔮 Edwards said that the Lecc would examine police conduct according to a law in place at the time, which restricted protesters’ ability to march.
🔮 In her email to the council, seen by Guardian Australia, she said the protest would be part of nationwide rallies on a set day in August.
🔮 The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) has said that its inquiry into the February protest at Sydney’s town hall, launched after widespread allegations of police brutality, would go ahead this month with a mix of public and private examinations, saying the timing of issues raised by police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, was “regrettable”.
🔮 Public money is not their own money to spend at will, or money belonging to their political party.
🔮 Activists and a Greens MP have threatened legal action after the Western Australia police banned at least 12 people entering a designated security area where the Land Forces weapons expo will be held in Perth from 6 October.
Also by Jordyn Beazley
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 8 articles by Jordyn Beazley →

Topics

Bungonia Paddington

Subjects

Kennedy PERSON · 13× Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 11× Baird PERSON · 4× Davies PERSON · 2× Beau Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 1× Brett Hatfield SC PERSON · 1× Elizabeth Kennedy PERSON · 1× Jesse Baird PERSON · 1× Luke Davies PERSON · 1× Paddington GPE · 1×

Narrative

He alleged in the statement that Kennedy “flat-out lied to police in her statement regarding her involvement” and he wanted to do the “right thing” by the families of Baird and Davies because “they deserve to know the truth, too”.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-27
🔮 According to his statement, Lamarre-Condon warned Kennedy she could be charged as an accessory to murder, and he would not be mad if she walked away “right now”.

Claims (32 extracted, 5 hedged)

Beau Lamarre-Condon has accused a friend of encouraging him to dispose of the bodies of two men “straight away” despite him wanting to report the deaths to police, according to his first statement to his double murder trial. uncertain
him → accuse → trial
Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird’s Paddington home on 19 February 2024. asserted
Condon → accuse → February
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter. asserted
He → plead → break
His legal team has argued that Baird and Davies were accidentally shot, and that he had acted in “self-defence”. asserted
he → argue → defence
One of his friends, known to the court under the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy, had accompanied Lamarre-Condon while he allegedly disposed of the bodies, the trial has heard. uncertain
trial → know → bodies
She gave evidence last week that she thought she and the then-police officer were going out for lunch when he picked her up, two days after the alleged murders. asserted
he → give → murders
She denied in court helping Lamarre-Condon and said “I didn’t know anything”. asserted
I → deny → anything
On Tuesday, Lamarre-Condon had a statement read to court that contradicted Kennedy’s version of events. asserted
that → have → events
He alleged in the statement that Kennedy “flat-out lied to police in her statement regarding her involvement” and he wanted to do the “right thing” by the families of Baird and Davies because “they deserve to know the truth, too”. asserted
they → allege → truth
In the statement read to the court by prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC, Lamarre-Condon alleged that after he picked up Kennedy, he showed her the bodies in the back of a van. asserted
he → read → van
He alleged that he began to cry and then said to Kennedy: “I should just drive straight to the police now, shouldn’t I?” asserted
I → allege → police
Lamarre-Condon told the court that Kennedy replied: “No, no, you can’t. asserted
you → tell → court
They won’t believe you. asserted
They → believe → you
We have to get rid of them straight away,” she allegedly said. uncertain
she → have → them
According to his statement, Lamarre-Condon warned Kennedy she could be charged as an accessory to murder, and he would not be mad if she walked away “right now”. uncertain
she → accord → murder
He alleged that she said she would help him because he “would help me if I ever needed … help with anything”. asserted
I → allege → anything
He also told the court that while they drove, Kennedy played the song “No Body, No Crime” by Taylor Swift on her phone and “began laughing at the situation”. asserted
Kennedy → tell → situation
He alleged Kennedy then assisted with carrying the bodies and helped pour concrete into the bags to help them sink after they arrived at a farm in Bungonia. asserted
they → allege → Bungonia
“When the bag [wouldn’t] sink, [Kennedy] got my pocketknife out … and tried to cut multiple holes into the surfboard cover. asserted
Kennedy → sink → cover
This is where Luke got the knife wounds in his leg,” Lamarre-Condon said in his statement. asserted
Condon → get → statement
“Whilst [Kennedy] was assisting me on the farm, at no point did she say she didn’t want to assist or have any part in it. asserted
she → assist → it
He said he initially didn’t tell police about Kennedy’s involvement in disposing of the bodies because she had begged him not to. asserted
she → say → him
He alleged he told her that if it went before court, he’d have to tell the truth because he “can’t lie under oath”. asserted
he → allege → oath
Last week, Kennedy told the court she did not willingly help Lamarre-Condon, nor did she help to sink the bodies. asserted
she → tell → bodies
While under questioning by Lamarre-Condon’s barrister, John Stratton SC, she said: “I didn’t know anything. asserted
I → say → anything
I’m five foot and weigh 55 kilos so asserted
I → ’m → kilos
I don’t think I could carry a body even if I tried.” uncertain
I → think → body
Kennedy told the court that she waited at a gate while Lamarre-Condon drove out of sight to a dam on the farm. asserted
Condon → tell → farm
She denied that Lamarre-Condon had told her Baird was dead. asserted
Baird → deny → her
She also alleged it was him who played the Swift song in the car. asserted
who → allege → car
“He was the one that put that song on in the car … it’s a very niche song,” she told the court last week. asserted
she → put → car
The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues. asserted
trial → continue → Adams
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