News from Germany and the world RSS Calm mode: off
DE EN
deublitz.de
Latest
World

Lamarre-Condon told friend 'I don't want to involve you', jury told

A former friend of Beau Lamarre-Condon has told a Supreme Court jury about their trip to a farm south of Sydney following the deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

Lamarre-Condon told friend 'I don't want to involve you', jury told

A jury has heard from a former friend of accused murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon about a drive in a white van to a farm south of Sydney.

The witness, known by the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy, told the court she thought Mr Lamarre-Condon was "up to something".

Mr Lamarre-Condon denies murdering couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in a Paddington home in February 2024.

Accused murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon told a friend "I don't want to involve you" during a drive in a white van to a farm south of Sydney, where he allegedly attempted to sink the bodies of a young couple in a dam, a jury has heard.

The 31-year-old former police officer is on trial over the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024, who he is accused of shooting with his police pistol in Mr Baird's Paddington share house.

He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers will argue self-defence.

The jury in the Supreme Court trial, which is now in its fifth week, has heard of an alleged attempt to sink the men's bodies in a dam at rural Bungonia after storing them in surfboard bags and transporting them in a hired van.

A witness known by the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy on Wednesday told jurors of a drive she went on with Mr Lamarre-Condon in a white van to the Goulburn area on February 21, 2024, where they stopped at a Bunnings store and he asked her to pay for an angle grinder.

Ms Kennedy said the accused was "very talkative" during the drive and "wouldn't let me get a word in".

Mr Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty and is claiming self defence over the deaths of Jesse Baird, left, and Luke Davies, right. (Instagram)

She recalled there being a blue tarp in the back and the vehicle smelled "lemony" as if it had been cleaned.

She said she "wasn't allowed to put the windows up or turn the aircon off" and testified that he also asked her to turn her phone off.

When she asked where they were going, she said he told her: "Just to a farm, the farms are so beautiful around here."

CCTV footage was shown in court of Mr Lamarre-Condon shopping for supplies. (Supplied: NSW Supreme Court)

Mr Kennedy recalled arriving at a property which had dams and said Mr Lamarre-Condon told her he knew the owners and needed to break in and "save" cattle that were going to get out.

She told the jury that he used the angle grinder while wearing gloves to cut a padlock at the gate, before leaving her at the gate and driving further into the property.

"Before he did the padlock thing … he asked me to put garbage bags over the number plates. And I said no. So he got out and did it himself," she said.

"Was there any conversation about why?" Crown Prosecutor Caitlin Diggins asked.

Ms Kennedy replied: "No, I thought he was up to something."

She testified that she waited at the gate for 30 to 40 minutes and it was getting dark when she began to have a panic attack.

She gave evidence that when the accused returned, he was wearing gumboots and "told me to shush because I was panicking".

He checked that she had not called anyone from her phone, Ms Kennedy said, and mentioned that he would have to return there later but would take her home.

"I did ask why he had to come back, he said 'don't worry, I can't tell you'," she said.

"He said: 'I don't want to involve you'."

On the two-hour drive back, she said the accused "wouldn't take any of the tolls" despite her knowledge of a shorter route.

"It was freezing, the windows were still down, the aircon was still on. It was an awful drive back."

NSW Police conduct a line search at the site where the bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were found. (AAP: Dean Lewins)

Ms Kennedy said Mr Lamarre-Condon made "cryptic" conversation on the return trip, including about her medication, whether she had thought about suicide, and having nightmares.

"It seemed like something went wrong … he wouldn't tell me about it, he said you don't need to know, I'm taking you home'."

Ms Kennedy said she did not see anything in the rear of the van on the return drive and said the blue tarp was gone.

She said the accused asked her to buy him a peach iced tea because he would need the caffeine because he would have to be "up all night".

The court has previously heard that the couple's bodies were ultimately found near a monastery in the Bungonia area — about 15 minutes away from the farm, eight days after the alleged murders.

On Wednesday, the court also released a two-hour video of footage from various CCTV cameras, which was recently played to the jury.

The compilation shows what the Crown said were Mr Lamarre-Condon's movements on February 20, 2024, the day after the alleged murders.

The footage includes stops at an ATM to withdraw $500 and Balmain Police Station, and shows various changes in vehicle including Mr Lamarre-Condon's Tesla, a hired car, and a white van, which travel around areas including Kensington, Balmain near the accused's home, and back to Paddington.

Beau Lamarre-Condon bought a drill and drill bit, hi-vis clothing, gumboots, pants and dust masks. (Supplied: NSW Supreme Court)

In part of the video, Mr Lamarre-Condon is recorded in Bunnings Alexandria, where he purchased a drill and drill bit, hi-vis clothing, gumboots, pants and dust masks.

Later in the day, the footage shows Mr Lamarre-Condon having sushi with a male friend in Cronulla for half an hour before they walk along the esplanade and near the car park of the mall.

The two later stop at a Cronulla bowls club, where the friend gets out of Mr Lamarre-Condon's Tesla and looks inside a skip bin.

In an opening address, Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC told jurors that the friend was expected to give evidence that Mr Lamarre-Condon mentioned something about needing a skip bin before they stopped.

Mr Hatfield said on the Crown's case, the accused returned there later in the night, alone, to dispose of items.

The court has previously heard that the following day, a groundskeeper alerted police to items in the bin which…

Source: ABC News Australia ›

Comments (0)

No comments yet.

Comments are reviewed before they are published.
Only 3% of Hong Kong firms have fully integrated AI into workflows, survey finds
World

Only 3% of Hong Kong firms have fully integrated AI into workflows, survey finds

Only 3 per cent of Hong Kong companies have fully integrated AI into their workflows, with many facing hurdles including resistance to organisational change and outdated digital infrastructure, a survey has found. Consultancy Accenture, which polled 150 companies and released the results on Wednesday, said the survey suggested businesses had a strong desire to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in their work but many struggled to put it into practice. “Hong Kong really has strong AI ambitions...

South China Morning Post Negative
Russian satellite’s close approach to European spacecraft highlights orbital risks
World

Russian satellite’s close approach to European spacecraft highlights orbital risks

A Russian satellite moved within just 100 metres of a European commercial spacecraft that supports Ukraine’s military at the weekend, orbital tracking data showed, raising concerns about Moscow’s activities in space. Russia launched the Cosmos-2612 military satellite into low Earth orbit in April. It began changing course late September and eventually moved into the same orbit as ICEYE-X36, a satellite operated by Finland’s ICEYE under contract with the United States. The two spacecraft came...

South China Morning Post Negative