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Beau Lamarre-Condon trial live updates: Alleged double murderer, former NSW Police officer gives evidence

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Whitbourn, M. (2026, November 5). Beau Lamarre-Condon trial live updates: Alleged double murderer, former NSW Police officer gives evidence. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/beau-lamarre-condon-trial-live-updates-alleged-double-murderer-former-nsw-police-officer-gives-evidence-20261105-p61a35.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

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

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-11-05 · by Michaela Whitbourn

Quick Summary

The article reports live updates from the trial of former NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, who is accused of murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in Sydney in February 2024. The defence case begins after six weeks of Crown evidence, with Lamarre-Condon testifying that he acted in self-defence during a struggle for his weapon. The trial focuses on allegations of an obsessive infatuation leading to the murders; the defence claims the shooting was accidental and Davies killed himself separately.
Written by AI on 2026-11-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 5, 2026, Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former New South Wales (NSW) police officer, began testifying at his trial for the double murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in Sydney. The killings occurred on February 19, 2024, when Lamarre-Condon allegedly shot the couple with his police-issued Glock pistol in Baird’s home in Paddington. In court, Lamarre-Condon accused a former supervisor of making homophobic remarks while he was working as an openly gay officer and mentioned an incident where a coworker had committed suicide at work.

Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter but is arguing self-defense. The Crown's case suggests that Lamarre-Condon developed an obsessive infatuation with Baird, which escalated after their relationship ended in November 2023. The trial, now entering its seventh week at the NSW Supreme Court before a 15-person jury, has heard evidence from around 90 witnesses during the prosecution phase.

Written for “Beau Lamarre-Condon Gives Evidence” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 130508 · logged 2026-11-05

Story

📰 Beau Lamarre-Condon Gives Evidence
Crime & Law · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Beau Lamarre-Condon trial live updates: accused double murderer gives evidence in high-profile case Same event
The Guardian
Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 66/100
Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon enters witness box in Sydney double murder trial Same event
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
Live: Beau Lamarre-Condon gives evidence in double murder trial Same event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 1 of 52 claims Outlet record 67/100
The texts Beau Lamarre-Condon's friend struggles to recall: From 'yay or nay?' days before the alleged double murders to a comparison with character from erotic thriller Saltburn Different event
Daily Mail
Hedges 9 of 40 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A discusses texts exchanged between Beau Lamarre-Condon and his friend before the alleged murders, while Article B covers live updates from Lamarre-Condon's trial where he is expected to give evidence about the day of the murders.”
Cop friend of accused killer Beau Lamarre-Condon feared he was going to 'kill me too' after he arrived at her house to clean a bloody van, court hears Different event
Daily Mail
Hedges 3 of 12 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A describes testimony from a friend's account of an incident involving Beau Lamarre-Condon arriving at her house to clean blood from a van, while Article B covers live updates about the start of the defense case in his trial.”
‘Trying to get back into a positive mindset’: court hears voice notes Beau Lamarre-Condon sent day after alleged murders Different event
The Guardian
Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes voice notes sent by Lamarre-Condon in the days after the alleged murders being played to the jury, while Article B covers live updates of the trial including the start of the defence case with Lamarre-Condon's testimony. These are different stages of the same ongoing legal proceeding.”
‘How was your Monday?’: Lamarre-Condon’s message hours after alleged murders played in court Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 7 of 38 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A describes the messages sent by Lamarre-Condon hours after the alleged murders, while Article B covers live updates from his trial where he is giving evidence about the incident.”
Lamarre-Condon told police he was not a bad person, trial hears Different event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 2 of 30 claims Outlet record 67/100
“Article A describes Detective Sasha Pinazza's testimony about Beau Lamarre-Condon's emotional state and words during the investigation, while Article B provides live updates on the start of the defence case with Lamarre-Condon giving evidence. These are two different stages of the trial.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Michaela Whitbourn
35 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The accused killer and former NSW police officer will give evidence about what he says happened on the day Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies died of gunshot wounds from his police-issued Glock pistol.
2026-11-05 · assertive framing · Beau Lamarre-Condon trial live updates: Alleged double murderer, former NSW Police officer gives evidence
🔮 The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief investigative reporter told the mother of a man who has accused Alan Jones of kissing him non-consensually when he was a teen that it was “brilliant” that police were involved and it would be “the nail in the coffin”, a court has heard.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · ‘Nail in the coffin’: Court hears Herald journalist’s call about Alan Jones
🔮 McClymont McClymont agreed under cross-examination by Jones’ barrister, Gabrielle Bashir, SC, that one purpose of newspaper reporting may be an attempt to hold individuals and institutions accountable.
2026-11-03 · assertive framing · Profit, clicks didn’t drive reporting: Kate McClymont testifies in Jones trial
🔮 Freund had lodged a complaint against Allen with the watchdog in May this year alleging he bullied her over an 18-month period, according to documents filed by her lawyers in court.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Top judge’s inflammatory WhatsApp message about deputy revealed amid bitter fight
🔮 Beau Lamarre-Condon texted a friend a day before he allegedly murdered Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies suggesting that he may not “get to talk to you again”, a court has heard.
2026-10-29 · assertive framing · ‘If I don’t get to talk to you again’: Lamarre-Condon’s texts before alleged murders revealed
🔮 “I then instructed my solicitors to make contact with the DPP and officer in charge to inform them that I’m willing to assist with a statement regarding Elizabeth’s involvement in the matter.
2026-10-27 · assertive framing · Lamarre-Condon said he wanted to ‘do the right thing’ for families of dead couple, court told
🔮 Lamarre-Condon said the second person “wasn’t even meant to be shot” but he couldn’t leave any witnesses, the man said.
2026-10-23 · assertive framing · ‘Pew, pew’: Lamarre-Condon allegedly confessed to friend about double murder
🔮 I was running a tad late or I would have loved to chat for longer.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · ‘That’s so savage’: Accused killer allegedly broke into TV presenter’s home hours after rejection
🔮 “My kids needed stuff for school and I couldn’t afford it.”
2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Kelly’s abusive ex left her with thousands in debt. There was a way out
🔮 She said they subsequently spoke on the phone and he “asked me if I could do him a favour”.
2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Lamarre-Condon’s celebrity-chasing friend tells trial about ‘concerning’ phone request
Also by Michaela Whitbourn
‘Nail in the coffin’: Court hears Herald journalist’s call about Alan Jones
2026-11-04 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Alan Jones trial live updates: SMH journalist Kate McClymont returns to witness box in former 2GB broadcaster’s alleged indecent assault, sexual touching trial
2026-11-04 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Profit, clicks didn’t drive reporting: Kate McClymont testifies in Jones trial
2026-11-03 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Alan Jones trial live updates: SMH journalist Kate McClymont gives evidence in former 2GB broadcaster’s alleged indecent assault, sexual touching trial
2026-11-02 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 35 articles by Michaela Whitbourn →

Topics

Crown Glock NSW Sydney the Supreme Court

Subjects

Baird PERSON · 11× Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 6× Davies PERSON · 3× Crown ORG · 2× Jesse Baird PERSON · 2× NSW GPE · 2× Sydney GPE · 2× Beau Lamarre-Condon PERSON · 1× Luke Davies PERSON · 1× the Supreme Court ORG · 1×

Narrative

Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, said in his opening address to the jury in September that Lamarre-Condon had “indicated that he pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter of Jesse Baird”. “He’s entitled to enter a plea in those terms, but it’s not accepted by the Crown,” Hatfield said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-05
🔮 The accused killer and former NSW police officer will give evidence about what he says happened on the day Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies died of gunshot wounds from his police-issued Glock pistol.
2026-11-05 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Beau Lamarre-Condon trial live updates: Alleged double murderer, former NSW Police officer gives evidence · assertive framing

Claims (14 extracted, 0 hedged)

Today marks the beginning of the defence case after more than six weeks of evidence from the Crown. asserted
Today → mark → Crown
The accused killer and former NSW police officer will give evidence about what he says happened on the day Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies died of gunshot wounds from his police-issued Glock pistol. asserted
Baird → accuse → pistol
Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the deaths of Baird, 26, a former TV presenter, and Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant, in Paddington on February 19, 2024. asserted
Condon → plead → February
His case is that he acted in self-defence, the 15-person jury has been told. asserted
jury → act → defence
He has also pleaded not guilty to an aggravated charge of breaking into Baird’s home six months earlier on August 17, 2023, and stealing his mobile phone and wallet. asserted
He → plead → phone
The Crown alleges Lamarre-Condon developed an obsessive and jealous infatuation with Baird that escalated when Baird ended their casual romantic relationship in November 2023. asserted
Baird → allege → November
The prosecution case is that he planned to kill Baird and took a number of preparatory steps, including practising shooting his police weapon in a national park to experiment with the sound of gunshots and buying a surfboard bag to dispose of his body. asserted
he → plan → body
The Crown alleges the accused killed Davies spontaneously to eliminate a witness to the crime. asserted
accused → allege → crime
The defence case is that Lamarre-Condon went to Baird’s home disguised as an Uber Eats delivery rider to collect some of his belongings and that his gun went off twice during a struggle with Baird, wounding him fatally, and that Davies shot himself during a second struggle. asserted
Davies → go → struggle
There is no dispute that Lamarre-Condon cleaned Baird’s share house while his housemates were out and disposed of the men’s bodies. asserted
housemates → be → bodies
Baird had been due to move out of the home that week, the court has heard. asserted
court → move → home
The Crown alleges he sent messages from Baird’s phone to the housemates’ group chat to give the impression he was still alive and in the process of packing. asserted
he → allege → packing
As to the charge of aggravated break and enter, the defence says Lamarre-Condon used a key Baird had given him to enter his home at night. asserted
Baird → say → night
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, said in his opening address to the jury in September that Lamarre-Condon had “indicated that he pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter of Jesse Baird”. “He’s entitled to enter a plea in those terms, but it’s not accepted by the Crown,” Hatfield said. asserted
Hatfield → say → Crown
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