Aiexpress – Police divers were searching inland waterways on Monday for the bodies of a missing couple who were reportedly shot dead in Sydney a week ago by a jilted police officer lover with his service weapon.
Former television reporter Jesse Baird, 26, and his flight attendant lover Luke Davies, 29, were allegedly shot dead in Baird’s shared house in Sydney’s inner neighborhood of Paddington on Monday last week, according to New South Wales Police Force Deputy Commissioner David Hudson. Residents reported hearing one or more gunshots.
Beau Lamarre-Condon, a senior constable, was charged with both killings on Friday. He has not filed a plea or sought bail.
Lamarre-Condon, 28, was in a relationship with Baird that terminated late last year.
On Wednesday, police believe Lamarre-Condon moved the remains in a leased vehicle to a rural home in Bungonia near Goulburn, some 125 miles southwest of Sydney. According to BBC News, Lamarre-Condon left a female acquaintance there before driving the van onto the property and returning 30 minutes later, blaming the police. She “wasn’t aware the bodies were in the vehicle” and has been working with authorities, Hudson added.
Police allege Lamarre-Condon returned to the site on Thursday after purchasing an angle grinder and weights from a department store, which police believe were used to submerge the remains in a river.
On Monday, police divers examined multiple ponds on farms in the Bungonia region.
“It’s our number one priority to try and locate Jesse and Luke to give the families some solace,” Hudson was quoted as saying by reporters.
Lamarre-Condon was following legal counsel when she refused to talk with authorities, according to Hudson.
A bullet case discovered in Baird’s residence matched the pistol Lamarre-Condon borrowed from a police gun safe on Thursday, February 15, and returned on Tuesday, February 20.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb stated that the procedures that permitted the officer to allegedly use the gun in a violent crime while off duty were being reviewed.
“It’s a failure if someone has used their service firearm in the manner that’s alleged, which is why it’s necessary to have a review,” said Webb.
In response to the alleged police murder of a gay couple, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board is mulling a ban on police from walking in this year’s annual parade on Saturday.
Webb believes police personnel should be permitted to march.
“We have been participating in Mardi Gras for the last 20 years and haven’t missed a year, and I would hate to see that this is the year that we are excluded because of the actions of one person that is not gay hate-related,” Webb went on to say.
“We will allege that this is a passion crime. We contend that it is domestic in nature, and it would be a farce if this group were excluded,” Webb continued.
On Wednesday, police began to suspect a homicide after discovering the couple’s bloodstained belongings, including a phone, wallet, credit cards, and a set of keys, in a trash can 19 miles from the crime scene.
Police suspected Baird had killed Davies after messages from his phone to his housemates stated that he was relocating across the nation to the west coast city of Perth and asked them to store his possessions.
Police now believe Lamarre-Condon sent the messages to divert attention after Davies’ death.
According to BBC News, Baird was a presenter and red carpet reporter on Network 10’s morning show Studio 10, while Davies worked as a flight attendant for Qantas.
In 2019, Lamarre-Condon joined the police force. The former celebrity blogger has been photographed with scores of celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Harry Styles.
The event has received “extensive media coverage” in Australia, police said in a statement Monday, as they announced that a team from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad would investigate the killings.
According to BBC News, the case is the first alleged murder by a New South Wales police officer in decades.
