Accused double murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon has denied that a text message he sent to former TV presenter Jesse Baird saying he was “completely done” with him and “you won’t exist” referred to killing him.
asserted
you → accuse → him
The former NSW police officer has pleaded not guilty to murdering Baird, 26, a former Network Ten producer and presenter, and Luke Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant, on February 19, 2024.
asserted
officer → plead → February
In a long message sent to Baird on November 18, 2023, two days after the former TV presenter ended their non-exclusive relationship, Lamarre-Condon said: “You don’t need to worry about seeing me out etc because you won’t exist and no further conversation needs to take place.”
asserted
conversation → send → place
A draft of the message, sent by the accused to a friend, was shown to the 15-person jury on Thursday during his cross-examination.
asserted
draft → send → examination
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield, SC, asked Lamarre-Condon what he meant by the words “you won’t exist”.
asserted
you → ask → words
The accused said that it was “in regards to acknowledging [him], not that I am going to harm him or kill him”.
asserted
I → accuse → him
In a message to his friend later that day, Lamarre-Condon said: “Jesse and I will never be anything after I’ve fired off those messages.
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I → say → messages
“I just hope Jesse doesn’t try and retaliate against me.
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Jesse → hope → me
Earlier on Thursday, Lamarre-Condon admitted to disposing of Baird’s phone after his death by throwing it off Tom Uglys Bridge or another bridge “leading into Taren Point or Sylvania”.
asserted
Condon → admit → Point
Asked if he did so to “destroy evidence on Jesse’s phone that might incriminate you”, he said, “essentially, yes”.
uncertain
he → ask → you
Lamarre-Condon also admitted that he effectively “gaslit” Baird after posting an Instagram story on November 9, 2023, falsely suggesting the former TV presenter had sent him flowers.
asserted
presenter → admit → flowers
Lamarre-Condon said he limited the audience for the story to one person - a man Baird had been seeing.
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Baird → say → person
The accused has admitted he feigned ignorance and suggested the story had an innocent explanation when Baird questioned him about it.
uncertain
Baird → accuse → it
“Is that what you call gaslighting someone?” Hatfield said.
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Hatfield → call → someone
“Yeah, you could say that,” Lamarre-Condon replied.
uncertain
Condon → say → that
“I don’t deny that.”
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I → deny → that
He told the court that he eventually told Baird the truth.
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he → tell → truth
During hours of cross-examination on Thursday, Hatfield alleged that Lamarre-Condon’s “unrequited love [for Baird] turned into an obsession”.
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love → allege → obsession
“That is not the case,” the accused said.
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accused → accuse → ?
He admitted to accessing Baird’s phone on November 15 or 16, 2023, and blocking the man Baird had been seeing and deleting messages between the pair.
asserted
Baird → admit → pair
The court has heard that the Instagram story and the blocking precipitated Baird breaking up with Lamarre-Condon on November 16.
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Baird → hear → November
Hatfield alleged that Lamarre-Condon went to Paddington two days later, on November 18, to stalk Baird.
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Condon → allege → Baird
The accused denied this and said he had bought flowers from Woolworths Balmain to apologise to him but left when he saw him with the same man.
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he → accuse → man
When the prosecutor asked how much a bouquet from Woolworths would have cost and contrasted this with the $160 the accused allegedly spent to have a bouquet made by a florist to match the Instagram photo, the accused said: “Mr Crown, I’m not here to make jokes with you.”
uncertain
I → ask → you
He said it was “not a lie” and he had bought flowers from Woolworths.
asserted
he → say → Woolworths
The court has heard that Lamarre-Condon used a friend’s Instagram account later in November 2023 to send a message to Baird posing as her and claiming that he had cancer.
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he → hear → cancer
He told the court on Tuesday that aspects of the message were true.
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aspects → tell → message
A naturopathic doctor in Bondi Junction had told him at the end of October or early November 2023 that a lump on his shoulder appeared to be “a form of sporadic cancer” and recommended he get a biopsy at Westmead Hospital, the accused said.
asserted
accused → tell → Hospital
“I did not follow through with the biopsy,” he said.
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he → follow → biopsy
He said he did alternative therapies that he had sourced online.
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he → say → that
There is no dispute that Baird and Davies died of gunshot wounds from Lamarre-Condon’s police-issued Glock pistol on February 19, 2024, and that the accused disposed of their bodies on February 22, 2024.
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accused → be → February
The Crown alleges that Lamarre-Condon planned to kill Baird after developing an obsessive and jealous infatuation with him and that he killed Davies, Baird’s boyfriend, to eliminate a witness to his crime.
asserted
he → allege → crime
The defence case is that Lamarre-Condon acted in self-defence after entering Baird’s home to collect some of his belongings.
asserted
Condon → act → belongings
He has told the court he had his gun with him because he had contemplated taking his own life the night before due to work-related trauma.
asserted
he → tell → trauma
The trial continues.
asserted
trial → continue → ?
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