Beau Lamarre-Condon Tells Jury a Friend Urged Him to Dispose of Bodies

Beau Lamarre-Condon has told his double murder trial that a friend encouraged him to dispose of two men's bodies "straight away", even though he wanted to report the deaths to police. The claim came in his first statement to the court, read to the jury on Tuesday.

Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon at Baird's Paddington home on 19 February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter. His legal team has argued that the two men were accidentally shot and that he acted in "self-defence".

The trial has heard that a friend, known to the court under the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy, accompanied Lamarre-Condon while the bodies were allegedly disposed of. Last week she testified that she believed they were going out for lunch when he picked her up two days after the alleged killings. She denied helping him and said: "I didn't know anything."

The statement, read by prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC, contradicts that account. In it, Lamarre-Condon alleged that Kennedy "flat-out lied to police" about her involvement, and said he wanted to do the "right thing" by the families because "they deserve to know the truth, too". He alleged he showed her the bodies in the back of a van, began to cry and asked whether he should drive straight to police. According to the statement, she replied that he could not because "they won't believe you", and referred to a Taylor Swift song, "No Body, No Crime", before saying the bodies had to be gotten rid of immediately.

Lamarre-Condon said he warned Kennedy she could be charged as an accessory to murder and that he would not be upset if she walked away. He alleged she chose to help because he "would help me if I ever needed" help with anything. He also claimed she played the Swift song on her phone during the drive and laughed at the situation.

He further alleged that Kennedy helped carry the bodies and pour concrete into the bags at a farm in Bungonia, and that she tried to cut holes in a surfboard cover when a bag would not sink. He said this was how Davies received knife wounds to a leg. "She was a willing participant," the statement said. He added that he had initially kept her involvement from police because she begged him not to tell, though he warned her he could not lie under oath.

Kennedy rejected this version last week. Questioned by Lamarre-Condon's barrister, John Stratton SC, she said she did not willingly help or assist in sinking the bodies, adding: "I'm five foot and weigh 55 kilos so I don't think I could carry a body even if I tried." She said she waited at a gate while he drove out of sight to a dam on the farm, denied he told her Baird was dead, and alleged he was the one who played the Swift song.

The court also heard that Lamarre-Condon handed himself in to police at 10.37am on 23 February 2024. Earlier that morning he phoned a police assistance line to report a psychological injury. In a recording played to the jury, he told the operator he was suffering anxiety and "some symptoms of schizophrenia", then asked her to "delete that whole thing". He said he had been exposed to trauma, destruction and death, and had been severely bullied since joining the force.

He told the operator he was on his way to a central police station and that "the detectives are already aware" he was being driven there. The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues.