A new love, an old obsession and the final weeks of Jesse Baird's life - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Luke Davies (left) and Jesse Baird were allegedly murdered by Beau Lamarre-Condon in 2024. (Instagram)

The memory of being sent a photo from her son, Jesse, at a concert with a message that Luke Davies was now his boyfriend in early 2024 is a memory that causes Helen Baird's eyes to well up.

The two were "smitten" with each other, from her observations during a visit home to Melbourne weeks earlier.

At that point it was "early days" and they were "great together", she told the NSW Supreme Court this week.

The mother of Jesse Baird told the court the pair were "smitten" with each other. (Instagram)

She was very close with Mr Baird and they spoke frequently, including about his personal life and relationships.

She recalled him expressing concern to her in 2023 about a person he had been somewhat romantically linked to, who Mr Baird believed was becoming obsessive.

Beau Lamarre-Condon would go through his phone and delete contacts, the court heard, and Mr Baird told his mum that in late 2023, he had told the then-NSW Police officer he did not want to see him again.

Not long after Ms Baird received the concert photo, Mr Baird and Mr Davies were allegedly murdered by Mr Lamarre-Condon with the officer's service pistol inside Mr Baird's Paddington terrace, in Sydney's east.

Mr Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and lawyers intend to argue, during the trial, that it was a case of self-defence involving two separate struggles with the gun.

On the prosecution's case, the now-31-year-old's "obsessive and jealous infatuation" with Mr Baird spanned months, despite Mr Baird's belief that what happened between them was casual.

Mr Baird was close to his mother, Helen, and they spoke frequently. (ABC News: Monish Nand)

During an opening address, Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC outlined a series of escalating behaviours, including monitoring Mr Baird's relationships and interfering with his phone and Instagram account.

Mr Hatfield alleged Mr Baird was stalked and his home broken into by the defendant "at least" twice.

Several of Mr Baird's friends gave evidence that he had expressed concern to them and sought advice.

According to Corey Dean Thorpe, Mr Baird's previous long-term partner, the television presenter was "petrified".

"I woke up at 11:30 last night to a guy standing over my bed, he stole my phone and wallet," Mr Baird told his ex in an August 2023 message.

"I was fast asleep. It was so weird, I sensed someone was there."

The Crown says that person was Mr Lamarre-Condon, who used a stolen or secretly-obtained key before jamming a bobby pin into a lock to make it look like it was picked.

The Crown says Mr Lamarre-Condon put a bobby pin into a lock to make it look like it was picked. (Supplied)

Mr Lamarre-Condon's defence counsel told jurors he had a key provided by Mr Baird. He denies a charge of aggravated break-and-enter over the incident.

In a November 2023 phone conversation with Mr Thorpe, Mr Baird spoke about the defendant using social media to give the impression they were together, the court was told.

"I've never heard him so scared in his voice before," Mr Thorpe testified.

"He just kept repeating, 'He has a gun'."

Mr Thorpe told the jury his former partner, Mr Baird, appeared "petrified". (ABC News: Monish Nand)

Mr Baird's decision to firmly break things off that month, according to the Crown opening, in part related to an Instagram "close friends" story showing a bouquet of flowers posted by Mr Lamarre-Condon.

"When he's in Melbourne but still sends you these…" read the caption.

The court heard when Mr Baird confronted the accused in a message about the post, Mr Lamarre-Condon said they were from someone else to his mother, Coleen.

The jury saw a photograph of Coleen Lamarre with a bunch of flowers, which the defendant sent to a friend he was asking advice from.

The court was told that Mr Lamarre-Condon said a post of a bouquet of flowers were from someone else to his mother, Coleen. (Supplied)

The Crown says the defendant had rushed to a florist, asked them to replicate the bouquet in a picture from the internet that he had posted, and lied about it being a misunderstanding.

On the Crown's case, Mr Lamarre-Condon would use Instagram's "close friends" feature, which allows users to limit visibility to specific accounts, to target perceived romantic rivals and give the impression Mr Baird was unavailable.

In a message seen by jurors, Mr Baird told Mr Lamarre-Condon there were examples of him acting "in a way that's completely inappropriate".

"I'm not going to stand for it anymore," Mr Baird wrote, requesting they part ways with no further contact.

Mr Baird told Mr Lamarre-Condon in messages there were examples of him acting "in a way that's completely inappropriate". (Supplied: Rocco Fazzari)

Rubina Shrestha, a PCYC colleague of Mr Lamarre-Condon, told the court he had spoken to her about his use of the "close friends" function to ward off people he thought were close to Mr Baird.

One was a man from Canberra, another was a young dancer who casually dated Mr Baird, she recalled.

Asked whether she "discouraged" her colleague's actions, she recalled her response to him: "That's crazy. He said, 'It works'."

The evidence in the first week of the trial, which is expected to run for up to three months, has largely focused on what Mr Baird told relatives, friends and colleagues about Mr Lamarre-Condon, and things the accused said to his friends or colleagues about Mr Baird.

Defence counsel John Stratton SC has urged jurors not to reach final conclusions until they have heard all of the evidence.

In his opening address, Mr Stratton said his client had done some "stupid things" like looking through Mr Baird's phone, deleting contacts of other men and wiping text messages.

He flagged a self-defence case in relation to the events of February 19, 2024.

Mr Stratton said he did not anticipate any evidence of any threats from the accused, who admits entering the Paddington terrace.

According to the opening address, the defence will argue Mr Lamarre-Condon, who was "very upset" about the final break up, went there to retrieve possessions.

He disguised himself as an Uber Eats driver because he did not expect anyone to be home, but if they were he would be able to "masquerade" as a delivery person, the jurors heard.

Inside, Mr Stratton said his client was "surprised" by Mr Baird, who failed to recognise him due to a helmet he was wearing.

The barrister said it was his client's case that there was a struggle involving the police pistol which Mr Lamarre-Condon was carrying because his training prohibited it being left unattended in vehicles.

The gun went off twice and fatally wounded Mr Baird, according to the defence case, and the weapon was "flung" into the lounge room before Mr Lamarre-Condon called Triple Zero (000) from a mobile phone.

It is the accused's case that as he started moving to the door, he encountered Mr Davies and in a second struggle also involving the gun, Mr Davies fatally shot himself.

The two deaths were "a tragedy", Mr Stratton said.

The Crown has foreshadowed evidence about what it says was Mr Lamarre-Condon's alleged planning to murder Mr Baird.

According to the lead investigator, police obtained some 14,000 hours of CCTV footage showing his movements, including at a gun safe at a police station and stopping at ATMs.

On the morning of February 19, he used a hire car, activated a burner phone, and waited near the property for three hours until two housemates had left, the Crown said.

CCTV footage shows Mr Lamarre-Condon at a gun safe at a police station. (Supplied: NSW Supreme Court)

The planning is also alleged to have included the cash purchase of a surfboard bag days prior, which prosecutors allege he intended to use to dispose of a body.

In CCTV of a sports store, Mr Lamarre-Condon is seen holding up a surfboard bag next to a friend.

The Crown anticipates evidence from that friend that the defendant asked whether he would fit inside.

It is alleged when the friend said "No", Mr Lamarre-Condon replied: "I'll grab this one instead, it should be big enough."

In CCTV footage from another Brown Street home, the sound of three gunshots echoed through the neighbourhood that morning; the first two were four seconds apart, the third, about 50 seconds later.

The Crown alleges Mr Baird was murdered with the first two shots. Mr Hatfield described the second as an "execution-style" shot.

The Crown's case is that Mr Davies was allegedly murdered with a shot through a bedroom door as he called Triple Zero to ensure there was not a witness to Mr Baird's alleged murder.

Mr Hatfield told jurors the defendant immediately began to clean the crime scene — a process "complicated" by the presence of two bodies instead of one.

The court heard Mr Lamarre-Condon made multiple trips to Bunnings for items initially including gloves, double-sided tape, cleaning cloths, cable ties, garbage bags and bleach.

He is alleged to have left the couple's bodies in surfboard bags in the courtyard, where a housemate thought a red substance staining the ground underneath was rust.

The court was told Mr Lamarre-Condon made multiple trips to Bunnings. (Supplied: NSW Supreme Court)

According to the Crown's case, the then-senior constable returned to the property in a hire van and travelled with a witness to a farm known to him, near Goulburn.

There, it is alleged he unsuccessfully attempted to sink the victims' bodies in a dam using quick-set cement and weights with the surfboard bags as the witness was left waiting near the entrance gate.

The young men's bodies were found eight days after the alleged murders at a fence line near a monastery, about 20 kilometres away. The Crown says Mr Lamarre-Condon had returned alone to relocate them.

The defence team will argue Mr Lamarre-Condon's actions after the events in Brown Street, including the cleaning, were those of a panicked man who "knew the gravity" of the situation and how it looked.

He dumped bloodied items and personal possessions of the couple in a skip bin at Cronulla, which were discovered by a grounds keeper and prompted the police investigation, the Crown says.

Mr Edwards described the couple as the "real deal". (ABC News: Monish Nand)

Mr Baird's friend, Matthew Edwards, recalled seeing Mr Baird in February 2024, when his new relationship was solidifying.

He had never seen his friend happier, he told the court, and there was something about Mr Davies that "just lit Jesse up".

Mr Baird's sister, Kourtnee Baird, told the court she had heard her brother speak about his fear of Mr Lamarre-Condon and his job meaning he had access to a gun.

During her evidence, she was also asked if she ever met Mr Davies.

"No, I didn't," she replied, with a gentle smile.