What we learnt from murder accused's first appearance in witness box

When jurors in the Beau Lamarre-Condon case returned from a short break on Thursday afternoon, a small change signalled a major new phase in the double murder trial.

As they took their seats, the former police officer stood metres away — in the witness box rather than the dock where he has so far spent nearly seven weeks quietly listening to the crown's case.

Shortly after being called as the first witness in the defence case, Mr Lamarre-Condon detailed the beginning of his policing career from 2017, and the bullying and torment he says he endured, including homophobic slurs and comments by a superior.

He recalled confronting work situations which involved dead bodies, saying he could "graphically remember" between 12 and 15 jobs including suicides, and his voice wavered as he spoke of colleagues who died by suicide.

The now 31-year-old said he became "passionate" about deterring youth crime in Youth Command, where he said he contended with "constant pushback", and did not feel supported.

The court heard that outside of work, throughout parts of 2023, the accused was seeing Jesse Baird, who he had met towards the end of 2022.

He described their initial connection as friends with a sexual relationship, before it evolved to more romantic dates.

The jury has already heard from around 90 witnesses through oral testimony or written statements in the crown's case, which involves allegations Mr Lamarre-Condon developed an obsessive and jealous infatuation with Mr Baird.

They have heard the pair twice parted ways, including in April 2023 because Mr Baird was not ready for a relationship, and in November the same year when Mr Baird discovered Mr Lamarre-Condon had interfered with his phone and posted an Instagram story which falsely gave the impression he had received flowers from Mr Baird.

The prosecution has accused Mr Lamarre-Condon of stalking the television presenter, including by breaking into his home at least twice, before allegedly using his police pistol to murder Mr Baird and his new boyfriend, Luke Davies, in Mr Baird's Paddington share house in February 2024.

Mr Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty and is claiming self-defence.

He also denies a charge of aggravated break and enter related to an alleged break in at Mr Baird's Brown Street terrace one night in August 2023, during which his mobile phone and wallet was stolen.

Mr Lamarre-Condon's evidence on that topic was that he went there upon Mr Baird's invitation so they could go for a morning run the next day, and that Mr Baird left a key in the letter box, but he then decided he would go through his phone to check he was not in another relationship.

He admitted to putting a bobby pin in the door lock, and said he picked up Mr Baird's phone to activate flight mode, before Mr Baird was woken when the charging cable dropped on the floor.

On his evidence, he "panicked and ran", not realising he still had Mr Baird's wallet and phone in his hand, before Mr Baird chased him outside without realising who it was.

Mr Lamarre-Condon has testified that he threw the belongings back and the phone went down a drain. He said they later went to dinner and he knew then that Mr Baird had not realised who it was that night.

"I didn't want to have that awkward conversation with him because it was stupid, and I admit that it was stupid," he told the jury.

He has given evidence of a deterioration in his mental health, and said that he was actively taking steps to plan to die by suicide by February 2024.

He cited "constant harassment" from various police officers as part of the reason, but said he was fearful of losing his job if he was prescribed medication.

On Friday, Mr Lamarre-Condon gave his account of the February 2024 events at Brown Street, Paddington.

He testified that he wanted to retrieve a surfboard, an expensive ring, and clothing from Mr Baird's share house.

He told jurors that the night before the alleged murders, he went with his mother to a hire car depot because her vehicle was in for repairs, and they had a conversation about his mental health and thoughts of suicide.

Mr Lamarre-Condon said that his plan was to drive to Mr Baird's home, retrieve his possessions, return his police pistol to a station, and submit a leave form to take time off.

"It was just going to be a normal day," he said.

According to his evidence, he arrived at Brown Street in a hire car and saw Mr Baird's housemates leave for work, but wanted to ensure Mr Baird had also left to avoid accusations of harassment and a potential AVO.

He recalled walking to a cafe to get a coffee, and coming across an Uber Eats motorcycle, hi-vis jacket, pants, gloves, and delivery bags.

"I wish that I didn't do this, but I had the thought process of 'If I was to put on this helmet … I could knock on Jesse's door and if he answered the door, he wouldn't be able to see my face' … I could just say 'Wrong address' in a different voice without any verbal argument.

"If he wasn't home, I could enter with the spare he got cut for me, and get my belongings."

He told jurors that he went inside the terrace and saw cardboard storage boxes in the hallway and kitchen, and looked in Mr Baird's ground-floor bedroom before looking through boxes for his belongings.

He said that as he moved towards the kitchen, he heard noises from a back door and ran upstairs to hide, before hearing what sounded like someone calling the police.

With the helmet still on, he said he returned down the stairs when he thought the person was going to leave, but saw Mr Baird to his right, holding a knife and masking tape and sealing a brown storage box.

"He started yelling 'We're getting robbed'," Mr Lamarre-Condon told the court.

"While he was saying that, he had the knife, he dropped the tape and he lunged at me.

"I said, 'Jesse it's Beau, it's Beau, it's me, calm the f*** down'."

Mr Lamarre-Condon gave evidence that he was "pinned" against a wall during a struggle, and recalled screaming for the knife to be dropped.

He claimed he was fearful of being stabbed in the neck and he entered "police mode", grabbed his service firearm, aimed for Mr Baird's shoulder and fired, intending to disarm him.

A second shot was accidentally fired as the two men fell to the floor, the accused said.

"I'm responsible for his death, but it wasn't intentional."

The court has previously heard Mr Baird's second injury was a gunshot through the temple.

Mr Lamarre-Condon has testified that the gun went "flying" into the living room. He appeared emotional and reached for tissues in court as he recalled putting Mr Baird into the recovery position and checking for a pulse.

In his evidence, he said he called Triple Zero (000) from a mobile phone in the kitchen, but then thought he could flag down an ambulance from the street given Paddington's proximity to a hospital.

He said he made his way to the door, still wearing the helmet, and saw Mr Davies.

He recalled lowering himself to make clear he was "not a threat" as Mr Davies had a finger on the trigger, but said his police training "kicked in" and described another struggle with the gun, during which it fired and hit Mr Davies.

The court has heard Mr Lamarre-Condon cleaned the scene with towels and, in subsequent days, spoke to several friends and attempted to dispose of the men's bodies in surfboard bags using a hire van on a trip to rural Bungonia.

In his evidence, he said the situation "didn't feel real", and described a kind of "outer body experience".

He said it was "like having a moral dilemma when I knew I should go to police", but feared he would be killed in prison "not because of who I am as a person, but because of the uniform I wear".

He was asked in court about the decision to hand himself in four days after the deaths, having by that point left the men's bodies in the surfboard bags near a Greek monastery.

"I guess I just knew I had to trust in God and just do the right thing, and if I was going to go to jail and something was going to happen to me, I just had to trust," he replied.

Mr Lamarre-Condon's cross-examination began briefly on Friday afternoon.

He has so far denied suggestions by crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC that he went to the Brown Street property to kill Mr Baird.

"I have never had a thought or intention of ever wanting to cause physical harm to Jesse," he replied.

"He did nothing to me to deserve to be killed."

He said he "stood by" his decision to fire the first gunshot in an attempt to disarm Mr Baird.

"The first shot was intentional, the second was not," he said.

"I 110 per cent stand by that first shot because if I didn't do it, Jesse Baird would be sitting here in the box today."

The cross-examination will continue on Monday.