Court hears former police officer agrees he was trying to destroy evidence that might incriminate him
Beau Lamarre-Condon has admitted he threw Jesse Baird’s phone off a bridge to destroy evidence after allegedly murdering him, a court has heard.
The former police officer is accused of fatally shooting Baird and his new partner, Luke Davies, with his police service weapon in Baird’s Paddington home in Sydney on 19 February 2024.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter.
Sitting in the witness box for a sixth day, Lamarre-Condon was asked what he did with Baird’s phone after the alleged murders.
He told the court on Thursday it was thrown off Tom Uglys Bridge near the Shire in Sydney’s south.
“I didn’t want to have any evidence of Jesse’s phone on me… I did throw it off the bridge,” Lamarre-Condon told the New South Wales supreme court.
As part of his cross examination, crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC put to him: “you did [that to] destroy evidence on Jesse’s phone that might incriminate you”.
Lamarre-Condon responded: “Essentially, yes”.
The former officer did not deny he had contacted his friend Stacey Parker, who lived in Western Australia, and asked if he could send her the phone for her to throw into a body of water.
But he did not end up mailing her the device.
Lamarre-Condon was also asked by Hatfield if he deleted messages between himself and Baird, alongside photos of them together, after his arrest.
“You did that deliberately to remove evidence of your relationship with Jesse Baird,” Hatfield told the court.
Lamarre-Condon said he disagreed and did not believe he had deleted the messages.
The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues.
- Sydney
- New South Wales
- news
Source: www.theguardian.com
