Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has taken the witness box in his double murder trial in Sydney. He is giving evidence in the NSW Supreme Court in front of a 15-person jury as the first witness for the defence. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

Wearing a light grey suit, a dark coloured tie and a white collared shirt, Lamarre-Condon took an oath and vowed to tell the truth.

Court proceedings

The court has adjourned for lunch. Lamarre-Condon will continue giving evidence at 2pm.

Lamarre-Condon's trial has attracted significant attention. The gallery of the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney is filled with curious members of the public watching the former police officer's evidence.

Testimony

Lamarre-Condon told the court he was transferred to the youth command division of the police to "escape" the officers who were "tormenting" him at the Surry Hills police station.

Earlier, Lamarre-Condon responded to questions about confronting situations he had encountered while working as a police officer and told the court he could remember 12 to 15 incidents graphically. He said he has "seen people that have jumped in front of trains, I have seen multiple hangings."

Lamarre-Condon responded to questions about the beginning of his relationship with Jesse Baird: "For the months of October and November 2022 it was friends with a sexual relationship. When we would meet up it was of the sexual nature. By December 2022 that's when we began going on romantic dates."

He said he and Baird would go on dates where they would go to the movies, eat dinner or watch musicals: "Jesse was very much like me. He was very outgoing and willing to do sporting activities … he has his scuba licence, like me, so we also did that."

Emotional evidence

Recalling occasions when he had to deal with dead bodies, Lamarre-Condon spoke about a co-worker who had shot himself in the head. He recalled the last conversation they had: "I said 'How are you?' and he told me he was good. Nothing appeared out of normal to me, nothing about his behaviour suggested what he was about to do. [He] went to his desk took out his gun whilst off duty and shot himself in the head at work." Lamarre-Condon's co-workers later found their deceased colleague, the court heard.

Allegations against former supervisor

Lamarre-Condon has accused his former supervisor of making homophobic remarks while he was an openly gay police officer. "He would say things such as, 'I used to bash gay people while in Jindabyne,'" he told the court. During one occasion when responding to a domestic violence report, the man allegedly said, "Let's go get these fucking faggots."

Lamarre-Condon is accused of fatally shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird's Paddington home on 19 February 2024.