The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-07 · by Michaela Whitbourn
Detective Senior Constable Christine Abela testified in court about statements from Elizabeth Kennedy, a friend of Beau Lamarre-Condon, who allegedly murdered Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. Kennedy revealed that she drove with Lamarre-Condon to Goulburn in a white van where he bought an angle grinder, leading police to search for the victims’ bodies on February 23. The search led to a property in Bungonia two days later, where investigators found cut padlocks, weights, and rocks of cement near dams, along with other evidence suggesting Lamarre-Condon’s involvement.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A friend of Beau Lamarre-Condon told police in the days after he allegedly murdered Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies that she had driven to Goulburn with him in a van, triggering a search for the men’s bodies at a rural property.
uncertain
she → tell → property
Lamarre-Condon’s criminal trial heard on Wednesday that the woman, known as Elizabeth Kennedy in the proceedings, gave an induced statement to police, meaning a statement given on the condition that what is disclosed will not be used against them in any criminal proceeding.
asserted
disclosed → hear → proceeding
Homicide squad Detective Senior Constable Christine Abela gave evidence that Kennedy said she had driven to Goulburn with Lamarre-Condon on February 21, 2024 in a white van.
asserted
she → give → van
She had paid for an angle grinder at Bunnings Goulburn, the statement said.
asserted
statement → pay → Goulburn
Kennedy’s information prompted a police search for the bodies of Baird and Davies on February 23, the court heard.
asserted
court → prompt → February
Abela told the court it was akin to searching for a “needle in a haystack” because Kennedy did not know the exact location of the property.
asserted
Kennedy → tell → property
Lamarre-Condon, a former NSW police officer, is standing trial in the Supreme Court on two counts of murder over the shooting deaths of Baird, 26, and Davies, 29, in Paddington on February 19, 2024.
asserted
Condon → stand → February
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
asserted
He → plead → charges
The 15-person jury has heard evidence he hired a white van hours after the alleged murders.
asserted
he → hear → murders
Kennedy said in her statement the accused had cut the padlock off the gate of a rural property after the Bunnings trip, the court heard.
asserted
court → say → trip
Abela said a property in Bungonia was identified on February 25 and declared a crime scene following extensive police searches in the area.
asserted
property → say → area
She found a cut padlock in the letterbox at the gate to the property, the court heard, and police used a drone to obtain an aerial view of the farm.
asserted
police → find → farm
The property had a dam at the front and the rear, the court heard.
asserted
court → have → front
Officers found weights and large rocks of cement in one of the dams along with a tinny.
asserted
Officers → find → tinny
The wires to the property’s CCTV system had been cut, Abela said, but the owner of the property had told her that “cockatoos had cut through those wires”.
asserted
cockatoos → cut → wires
The prosecution case is that Lamarre-Condon planned to kill Baird after developing an “obsessive and jealous infatuation” with him that escalated when Baird ended their casual relationship in November 2023.
asserted
Baird → plan → November
The accused allegedly used his police-issued Glock pistol to shoot both men in Baird’s Paddington share house on the morning of February 19, 2024, and cleaned the home while Baird’s flatmates were out.
uncertain
flatmates → accuse → home
The prosecution alleges Lamarre-Condon killed Davies, a Qantas flight attendant and Baird’s new boyfriend, to eliminate a witness to his crime.
asserted
Condon → allege → crime
The court has heard Lamarre-Condon tried unsuccessfully to sink the bodies in a dam at the property in Bungonia on February 21.
asserted
Condon → hear → February
He would later leave the bodies in surfboard bags near the fence line of a Greek Orthodox monastery nearby.
asserted
He → leave → monastery
A visibly emotional Abela gave evidence that she was one of a team of two officers who discovered the bodies on February 27.
asserted
who → give → February
The bags were stacked on top of each other with sticks, branches and stones on top of them, the court heard.
asserted
court → stack → them
A set of keys was also found at the site, the court heard.
asserted
court → find → site
A police video tendered in evidence showed Abela testing the keys at the Paddington home and unlocking the front door.
asserted
Abela → tender → door
There is no dispute that Lamarre-Condon was at the terrace when Baird and Davies died, that they died of gunshot wounds from his police-issued pistol, and that he was disguised as a delivery rider.
asserted
he → be → rider
There is also no dispute that he disposed of their bodies in surfboard bags.
asserted
he → be → bags
However, the defence case is that Lamarre-Condon went to the Paddington home to pick up some of his belongings and did not expect anybody to be there.
asserted
anybody → go → belongings
A struggle ensued in which his gun accidentally went off twice, killing Baird, and Davies accidentally shot himself in a second struggle, the defence says.
asserted
defence → ensue → struggle
Lamarre-Condon panicked and disposed of the bodies, according to the defence.
uncertain
Condon → panic → defence
On Wednesday, Senior Constable Bridey Allan, who specialises in crime scene examination, gave evidence about DNA evidence obtained from Lamarre-Condon’s gun.
asserted
who → specialise → gun
Allan said she took seven DNA swabs from the Glock pistol and a gun plug.
asserted
she → say → pistol
Tests conducted by the Forensic and Analytical Science Service recovered DNA from at least three people on the grip and trigger of the gun, the court heard.
asserted
court → conduct → gun
Davies was identified as a major contributor, while the accused was matched as a minor contributor.
asserted
accused → identify → contributor
The third person was not identified.
asserted
person → identify → ?
Testing of a DNA swab from the muzzle of the weapon identified Baird and Davies as contributors.
asserted
Testing → identify → contributors
The trial continues.
asserted
trial → continue → ?
The Aporia
