Ex-police officer pleads not guilty to murder of gay Sydney couple
The killing of Jesse Baird (right) and Luke Davies (left) shocked Australia. (Instagram/@jessebairddd)
The killing of Jesse Baird (right) and Luke Davies (left) shocked Australia. (Instagram/@jessebairddd)
A former New South Wales police officer has denied murdering a gay couple in Sydney.
Beau Lamarre-Condon appeared in court on Tuesday (26 August), where he pleaded not guilty to two counts of domestic-violence-related murder and one of aggravated break and enter.
He is accused of shooting TV presenter Jesse Baird, 26, and 29-year-old flight attendant Luke Davies in a suburb of Sydney in February last year. The men’s bodies were found eight days after they disappeared, having last been seen at a pre-Mardi-Gras party.
Lamarre-Condon’s pleas follow an 18-month delay after he changed lawyers twice. The case has been committed for trial at the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney.
Speaking outside court, his lawyer, Ben Archbold, said: “You’ll probably appreciate, there are always more sides to every story and we’ll have an opportunity to tell ours in the fullness of time and the appropriate forum.”
After Lamarre-Condon was charged, NSW police were asked not to march in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in 2024, with organisers saying the LGBTQ+ community needed space to grieve.
